George M. Mangion

It comes as no surprise, but certainly with a touch of envy, that one reads how many illuminati (including an unpublished list from Malta) were lured by the secrecy of Swiss banks where they could accumulate and protect their wealth.

Conspiracy theories are plentiful about corrupt governments in shady African countries led by their Mandarins, and how they embezzled money and robbed the people they were meant to serve. Regrettably, these are no longer conspiracy theories created by the have-nots but true stories leaked by recent investigations instigated by a team of global journalists in the Swiss Leaks project and the Panama Papers that provided details on covert banking transactions.

The Swiss Leaks scandal centred on around 100,000 HSBC account holders. Ironically, beyond partisan politics, there has been a push by the public to know more about effective regulation in Malta after Kristy Debono, shadow minister for financial services, accused a major bank in Parliament of malpractices in its banking procedures. Following such allegations, the bank conducted an internal investigation which revealed no irregularities. Panama Papers disclosed over 700 cases of local names besmirched with potential tax avoidance, with bank accounts opened and maintained in a number of tax havens by principals of top law firms and senior partners of the Big Four audit firms. The Opposition ruffled no feathers when it said that such intermediaries are merely advisers to their clients and in its opinion have not aided and abetted the client in the opening of companies in shady tax havens.

Certainly fraud and its cousin corruption are contagious and the onus falls squarely on managers/political