This is the time to repair the damage that has been done - to Malta's reputation, internationally, and especially in the financial services and related areas.

Repairing the damage is even far more urgent than pointing fingers and indulging in a blame game.

So far, fears that a Labour reconfirmation would lead companies to leave Malta for fear of contagion do not seem to have materialized. On the contrary, last week we saw Betsson confirm they are staying in Malta. And we were told two international, 'world class' players are coming to Malta.

But these are early days. Our priority now is to ensure that those companies that are here remain here because they are happy here and because Malta has satisfied what they were looking for when they came here.

Next we must see that those who have expressed a willingness to consider Malta as a location get prompt replies to their queries and get to meet the regulators and thrash out any problems.

If we look at the wider context, we may have lost out on the huge opportunities that Brexit offers to companies in the UK, if there is such an exodus from the UK - or we may not have lost out at all since frankly this does not seem to have happened. The UK situation is still in a state of flux, made worse by the hung parliament as a result of the election. The Brexit negotiations proper begin next week but the May government is still not in place, is very shaky and may be voted out at any moment. So companies in the UK looking for an alternative location may not be at a stage where they have made firm choices.

This is of course skimming on the surface of the issue. Besides fall-out from Brexit, Malta's financial services sector needs to continue growing drawing companies from all over the world.

If we look back at how Malta's financial services grew over the years we can see they were attracted to Malta by a wide variety of advantages that Malta offers, not just tax incentives. They came, they saw and were conquered. And have remained here.

We can all understand that competitor countries are envious of Malta's success in this sector and as soon as any negative story about Malta's financial sector appears on the news, the airwaves are flooded with the claims of past times - that Malta is a tax haven, that anything goes here, that we have been flooded by Mafia money. You name it, they have probably said it.

It is important for Malta to ensure its house is in order all the time, its regulatory system alive and kicking, its regulators all in place and no gaps allowed, and its legislative framework up to date. In fact, the election has stopped the parliamentary approval of a new EU directive which had to be ratified over the past weeks. This will now be done in the coming weeks, after Parliament reconvenes.

The issues raised locally, and which were the subject matter of so many pre-electoral controversies are still all there and one cannot expect an election to have removed them. They must now be tackled by the same government that did not tackle them in the past years. Any further delay will unravel the work that has been done.