The first edition of the Malta Workshops wrapped up on Saturday after a series of sessions led by international experts on money laundering, terrorist financing, organised crime, the risks associated with high net worth individuals, and the evasion of sanctions.

More than 2,500 officials from 65 countries and territories, 45 financial authorities, and six international institutions participated in the sessions, discussing the challenges and vulnerabilities they face to attract and regulate international business.

Participants included representatives of important international institutions, including MONEYVAL, the International Monetary Fund, the Council of Europe, the European Central Bank, Egmont, the Eurasian Group and UNODC.

The foreign ministry, which organised the event in collaboration with the National Coordinating Committee on Combating Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing, said its success provided a solid platform to strengthen cooperation between different jurisdictions, crucial to overcoming the common enemy of financial crime.

In his concluding address, foreign minister Evarist Bartolo said the initiative stemmed from the basic tenet that these challenges are universal in nature and not unique to one territory, country, region or continent.

He stressed the need for countries to work together for the sustainable development of small international financial centers because, however wide-ranging they may be, individual efforts of a single country may only come to fruition when they form part of a collective effort and when they operate within the global framework.

Bartolo said Malta intended to hold a second edition next year not only to continue the exchange of information and intelligence in the sector, but also to report on concrete results and successes.