Sweeping Financial Reforms Under Discussion In Malta

by Robert Lee, Tax-News.com, London

06 June 2002

Malta Labour Party spokesman, Leo Brincat has warned that the all-party consensus on reforms to the country's financial services legislation is likely to be broken as a result of 'government inflexibility'.

A new bill introduced for debate in parliament by Finance Minister John Dalli aims to radically reform Malta's financial services sector, increasing its competitiveness on an international level. It contains provisions for the regulation of a new product - the retirement investment fund, upgrades existing financial services legislation in order to bring Malta in line with best international practice, and amends the country's legal position with regard to information exchange.

The proposed law also contains provisions to strengthen the autonomy of the Central Bank, and to bring the entirety of the jurisdiction's financial services providers under one regulator.

However, although the Opposition - which made its position on the planned reforms clear during the consultation period - agrees with ten out of the twelve bills, it will be forced to vote against the entire package due to the intransigence of the Maltese government, according to Mr Brincat.

Following the introduction of the bill this week, the Labour spokesman reiterated his party's concerns with regard to changes being made to the Central Bank, and the regulatory structure for financial services, and said that if the government had wanted to maintain the consensus, it should have presented the ten non-contested bills as one package, according to a report in the Malta Independent.

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