BDO Malta CEO, Mark Attard, reacts to Malta's removal from the grey list

 

Reacting to Malta’s removal from the FATF grey list in a short time of just 12 months, Mark Attard, CEO & Partner at BDO Malta, said that the FATF’s decision is welcome news and provides the best possible certification for the country’s commitment to prevent dirty money flows and financial crime.  

 

He explained that the process of carrying out reforms to Malta’s regulatory structures and financial intelligence capabilities had been under way for some time however efforts were accelerated very significantly in the past 12 months to ensure that Malta is removed from the grey list in the shortest timeframe possible.  

 

“The FATF decision to remove Malta from the list of countries under increased monitoring, known as the grey list, endorses Malta’s efforts to get back on track in offering a reputable jurisdiction for international investors and foreign direct investment while providing the necessary assurances to the existing financial services and gaming ecosystems present in Malta. At the same time, new industries developing in Malta, such as aviation, tech, life sciences, fintech and other start-up ecosystems can continue growing in a business-friendly environment” Mr Attard said. 

 

He attributes this success to the incalculable hours of hard work that were put into this massive national effort by policy makers, regulatory bodies, regulated entities, practitioners and other professionals. “Both the private sector and policy makers understood very early on that such a massive undertaking would require streamlined communication, more resources and effective coordinating channels to reach the desirable outcome of removing Malta from the grey list as soon as possible. The lessons learnt must not be forgotten and the pain of remediation should now be converted into reputation building efforts while ensuring responsible decision making by all players, always”, Mr Attard explained. 

 

He emphasized that all stakeholders must continue working together responsibly to attract business, which is based on substance, with eyes wide open to the risks that the jurisdiction still faces such that this sector continues its healthy contribution to the economy and job creation in a sustainable manner.   

 

BDO Malta is Malta’s fifth largest corporate services provider and assists international business owners to start up in Malta through a wide portfolio of relevant services including company formations, tax, audit, compliance, business services and advisory, licensing, risk advisory, technology regulatory and internal audit.