Malta removed from Financial Action Task Force’s grey list
Decision will be a huge relief for igaming industry after EU state spent almost a year on Paris-based dirty money watchdog’s list
The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has taken Malta off its grey list, according to news organisations on the Mediterranean island.
The FATF plenary held a secret vote in Berlin on Wednesday, with the formal announcement due Friday, yet Times of Malta and Malta Today are reporting that member nations supported the country’s removal from the grey list.
Malta spent nearly a year on the list after the global anti-money laundering body discovered shortcomings around fighting tax evasion and the listing of ultimate beneficiary owners.
It was the first time an EU member state had been greylisted as Malta suffered the humiliation of joining the likes of Syria, Panama and Zimbabwe in June 2021.
The only countries on the blacklist are Iran and North Korea.
At the time, Malta’s Prime Minister, Robert Abela, branded the decision as “unfair” and “unjust” as his country came under extra scrutiny from international bodies.
As a result, Malta had to introduce comprehensive changes on how it would combat tax evasion, gather information of ultimate beneficial ownership, and how this information is shared between Maltese and international bodies.
However, there were positive signs earlier this year that the country was likely to free itself of the Paris-based FATF’s crosshairs after making positive steps to address failings.
In March, the FATF revealed that Malta had “substantially completed” its action plan to tackle money laundering.
Being removed from the list will be a huge relief for the Maltese government and businesses based on or operating from the Mediterranean island.
Malta’s financial services sector was particularly impacted by the greylisting, and it was bad news for the island’s reputation as a global igaming licensing hub.
The online gambling industry accounts for around 13% of Malta’s GDP, while around 300 licensees have more than 6,000 people working on the island.
Malta-based Julian Buhagiar, co-founder of RB Capital, said last July on the greylisting that “a few of us saw this coming in many ways” and that it was “self-inflicted and could have been averted”.
Buhagiar told EGR today that it was “truly a relief” to see the country whitelisted.
“The last year whilst being greylisted has thankfully been relatively painless compared with what other jurisdictions have had to endure.
“Hopefully, this now becomes a call to action for all important ancillary services, such as banking, to help support the expected renewed influx of demand thanks to this change in status.”
In a statement, the Nationalist Party welcomed the news, although the party insisted Malta should never have been greylisted in the first place.