‘Next year does not look great for businesses but there will still be opportunities to exploit’

Matthew Zampa, co-Founding Partner of Zampa Debattista, believes Malta has already addressed various shortcomings in the past year, with a view to creating a robust regulatory environment to combat money laundering, financing of terrorism and tax evasion, but that several areas still demand attention if the country is to get off – and stay off – the grey list.

“All sectors are effectively connected and will be impacted in varying degrees,” he says in comments forming part of the Cover Story on the Autumn edition of Business Now Magazine, which deals with setting politics aside to explore the impact of Malta’s greylisting on the wider business community.

In June, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) voted to place Malta among a list of countries under increased monitoring, also called the grey list, which acts as a signal to the global community that there could be increased risks in doing business with Malta.

“Some will be more affected than others, but all will experience a general shrinkage, at least in the short term. Government will also suffer since less revenue will be generated from direct taxes.

“Thus, the next year does not look great for businesses but there will still be opportunities to be exploited. At this stage I feel we should consolidate on the good things we have created, focus on creating value when rendering services and become more specialised by tapping into more valuable niche areas.”

Mr Zampa concludes by stressing that the greatest challenge ahead for the country is restoring its reputation and taking concrete steps towards getting our house in order, assessing its systems and procedures with a view to making them more robust.

“We must be prudent and humble as a jurisdiction and work hard, as we have always done in the past. All the while, we must keep in mind the weaknesses that brought us here and identify long-term solutions that will ensure we get off the list and reduce the chances of a relapse.”

This forms part of a wider feature in the Autumn edition of Business Now magazine, the sister publication to BusinessNow.mt