The publication of the names of politically exposed persons (PEPs) found listed in the Swiss Leaks would be illegal, Minister for Finance Edward Scicluna has told parliament, despite Prime Minister Joseph Muscat promising in 2015 that he would publish the list.  

Replying to a parliamentary question by PN MP Karol Aquilina, Scicluna explained that he had been informed by the tax commissioner that the publication of the names of PEPs would be in breach of the Official Secrets Act. 

In 2015, The Malta Independent  found that $687.4 million in Swiss bank accounts belonged to individuals with Maltese passports, exposing former PN ministers Ninu Zammit and Michael Falzon as having secret Swiss bank accounts, hiding $3.2 million and €465,000 respectively. It also transpired that former Enemalta chairman Tancred Tabone held €880,000 in a Swiss accounts.

The Swiss Leaks files had been made available to The Malta Independent through an investigative partnership with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) and French newspaper Le Monde.

Three years ago, Muscat had said that “political responsibility has to be borne if politicians are on the list”, only for him to fail to apply the same yard stick when his Cheif of Staff Keith Schembri and Tourism and Public Private Partnerships Minister Konrad Mizzi had been found to hold offshore Panamanian accounts through the Panama Papers revelations.