Accountants have slammed the uncoordinated effort to avoid greylisting which saw them inundated with regulatory and compliance requirements over a short period of time and with little to no consultation whatsoever with the sector.

Writing to more than 3,500 accountants, the president of the Malta Institute of Accountants, Fabio Axisa, told members that, although it was still too early to forecast the impact of the FATF greylisting on the country’s economy and the sector, it will “undoubtedly” have “some degree of adverse impact on interactions with international counter-parties and financial institutions”.

He warned “it might prove to be difficult to attract in a consistent manner international business for some time”.

'We have been existing to meet compliance requirements'

Axisa said the decision to subject Malta as a jurisdiction to increased monitoring was not only disappointing but also frustrating, “considering the significant efforts made by professional accountants to enhance compliance and risk management levels”.

“Our profession has been inundated with regulatory and compliance requirements,” he wrote.

“These requirements emanated from different authorities without the necessary coordination and streamlining required in the circumstances. As a profession we felt that we have been existing in the past few months to meet compliance requirements only.

“And, quite frankly, consultation with the profession and propensity to listen to our feedback were not always comprehensive,” Axisa added.

He said that playing the “blame game” on the reasons behind the greylisting will not add any value but “would demonstrate that we are a fragmented and dysfunctional jurisdiction”.

“This is the time to locate solutions and implement them decisively... this is the time for our profession to be an integral part of the nationwide solution with a view to exiting the grey list as soon as possible and thereafter never end up in this state again,” he wrote as he suggested ways to reach this aim, primarily having one, united front.

The institute was expecting robust consultation with the private sector, he said, including all professionals who had to be “an integral part of the national solution” by being actively involved and updated throughout the process.

“We need one agenda with one solution for the country,” he wrote.

Moreover, he called for political consensus on the financial services sector as the country goes about rebuilding its reputation and credibility.

“Clearly, our country’s reputation needs to be restored. As a country, we must be seen to be credible, trustworthy and consistent,” Axisa said.

“The fight against tax evasion, he said, “has to be taken seriously” and that tax evasion by local and international players had to be countered aggressively and decisively.

“Although there is much to do, I believe that we will recover and become, once again, a very strong reputable marketplace and sector. The situation is serious and there is clearly a lot of work to do. However, we are resilient as a nation if we row in the same direction. This is the time to demonstrate it,” Axisa wrote.