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Malta’s financial services sector has welcomed moves by the Financial Action Task Force, the intergovernmental group overseeing the fight against money laundering and terrorist financing, to remove it from a “grey" list.

The Mediterranean island, which is a European Union member state and former British colony, was no longer on a list of jurisdictions subject to increased monitoring. The jurisdiction’s placement on this list had been a blow to its banking, wealth management and other financial sectors, which are important drivers of Maltese GDP. 

“FinanceMalta welcomes FATF’s decision to remove Malta from the grey list. It is a development that reflects the jurisdiction’s longstanding commitment to be a robust and trusted partner in the observance of AMLFT regulations,” FM, which is a public-private organisation speaking for the country’s financial sector, said in a recent statement. 

“As part of its remit, FinanceMalta has always promoted the jurisdiction as an international financial services centre of repute, and FATF’s latest position statement on Malta reinforces the fact that as an international financial centre, Malta is now more robust than ever,” it said.

Meanwhile, FATF has included Gibraltar – a fellow Mediterranean jurisdiction and British Overseas Territory – on its list of “jurisdictions with strategic deficiencies,” along with such places such as the Cayman Islands, Barbados and Panama.