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Young Maltese Student Struggling To Open A Foreign Bank Account Because Of Greylisting, Bernard Grech Warns

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Malta’s greylisting has left its mark on students enrolled in courses overseas and attempting to open foreign bank accounts, Opposition leader Bernard Grech has warned.

Addressing a political rally yesterday, Grech warned greylisting is already leaving its mark on Maltese citizens beyond the immediate impact to the financial services industry.

He said he recently spoke to the father of a student who wanted to specialise in a medical field for which no courses are offered by Maltese institutions.

“Thanks to greylisting, he’s spent the past three months trying to open a bank account for his daughter overseas, simply so he can send her money to study.”

Grech also recounted how a small business owner told him how tough it’s become to transfer payments to foreign suppliers, and how a large business owner warned a foreign contractor had scrutinised his history before agreeing to work with him.

He said this culture of suspicion has infiltrated across all levels of society to the point where even a hairdresser complained that excessive enforcement was “making her go crazy”.            

Even buying a property has become extremely bureaucratic, with added scrutiny on the source of funds, property acquisition history and more red tape. 

“The absolute majority of people were honest, but a couple of people, including some politicians and their friends, did as they pleased, even setting up a bank to mess things up, but no action was taken against them.”

“Now these people have still not been prosecuted and everyone else, all the regular people, are being treated as criminals and most prove that they have everything in order.”

Have you been impacted by greylisting? Feel free to reach out on [email protected] to share your experience. 

READ NEXT: Half Of Malta Will Soon Receive A Government Cheque, Prime Minister Announces 

Tim is interested in the rapid evolution of human society and is passionate about justice, human rights and cutting-edge political debates. You can follow him on Instagram or Twitter/X at @timdiacono or reach out to him at [email protected]

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