Prime Minister Joseph Muscat today shrugged off questions concerning Pilatus Bank when approached by Net News, insisting that the application process of the bank started under a PN administration.

As was pointed out, the Bank’s application was approved in December 2013, nine months after Muscat became PM.

“What worries me is that the bank started the application under the PN,” he said,” the MFSA leadership of who approved the application was appointed by the PN.”

He then went on to insinuate that this was yet another attempt to tarnish Malta’s name.

In a statement, the Nationalist Party asked whether Prime Minister Muscat was protecting Malta's interests or those of the Pilatus bank chairman, who was arrested in the US on charges of money laundering.

The PN has for months been saying that the bank should not continue to operate from Malta as it was causing damage to the reputation of the country's financial services industry.

The bank's licence should be withdrawn to stop the rot, the PN said. The rest of the world is considering Malta as not being a normal country.