WATCH: Finance Minister stresses no changes will take place overnight following greylisting decision

Finance Minister Clyde Caruana delivered an impassioned message on Wednesday evening, stressing that Malta’s inclusion in the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) grey list will not translate into drastic or minor changes overnight.

“What happened today in no way, and it is important to understand this because there are psychological factors at play, change anything drastically from one day to the next. The thinking that from tomorrow, something will happen that will change people’s lives drastically or otherwise, is not the case.”

His remarks were made as part of a joint press conference with Prime Minister Robert Abela after local media broke the news that the FATF has included Malta in its grey list, a group of countries around the world deemed as higher-risk in the fight against money laundering.

Minister Caruana also dedicated time as part of his message to praise the work and cooperation undergone by the private sector.

“The Government passed several laws in recent months” to comply with recommendations, he said, “but the private sector changed its modus operandi in a relatively short space of time. The private sector knew what was happening as they were experiencing it. It also knows that we must continue strengthening our efforts in the time ahead”.

Malta becomes the first EU nation to be greylisted by the FATF, despite this, Minister Caruana gave assurances that the Government will continue to ensure that the labour market continues to be strengthened and opportunities created, despite the fresh challenges ahead.