As we report on page 7, the CEO of HSBC Bank Malta, Andrew Beane said that it is essential to safeguard the jurisdiction's good name especially in a context of an increased complex international situation.
Elsewhere, Mr Beane was reported to have emphasized the importance of Malta's jurisdictional reputation moving in the right direction.
It all amounts to the same thing.
Just days before the HSBC presentation of the half-yearly results, Standard & Poor's downgraded the risk score of Malta's banking sector by two notches. Not surprisingly, this failed to make it to the news bulletins. On their part, as we report on page 4, the Central Bank and also the Malta Financial Services Authority both downplay the downgrade and are at pains to point out there are no risks for Bank of Valletta.
Standard & Poor's said that, due to recent events, particularly the report by the European Banking Authority on the failures of the Financial Intelligence Analysis Unit and the saga of the Pilatus Bank, it decided to "revise downwards the industry risk score for the Maltese banking sector from 6 to 4 (on a scale of 1 to 10 where 1 is the lowest risk."
It has now classified Malta as being in group 5 and it has revised downwards its anchor for banks operating primarily in Malta from BBB to BBB-.
The downgrade, S&P noted, reflected its view that allegations of money laundering against Pilatus Bank and the perception of poor transparency at some banks 'increased reputational and operational risks for the Maltese banking generally'.
S&P also downgraded the standing of Bank of Valletta from A to BBB+, particularly due to the ongoing litigation about trusts regarding Italian shipping company Deiulemar which entered bankruptcy proceedings.
Former Governor of the Central Bank, Francis Vassallo, told The Times that while BOV has enough liquidity and was sound enough to take the blow, he worried about how international investors would react to the news and correspondent banks could take decisions that affect the entire Maltese banking sector.
Mr Vassallo also expressed his worry about Malta promoting itself as a blockchain and cryptocurrency island. He warned that Malta should tread carefully in this regard to ensure that its reputation is not further damaged.
Even more outspoken was Paul Bonello, managing director of Finco Group who said that he was not surprised by the downgrade.
Blaming MFSA primarily for it, he told The Times that 'the reality is that certain adventurous initiatives should not have been allowed to happen by what is supposed to be independent and authoritative regulators.
'Moreover, when such events did have serious consequences and came out in the open, the necessary corrective action was not taken.'
Mr Bonello also called for a rethink of the government's latest fad of marketing Malta as a blockchain island.
'Our reputation does not depend on GNP growth alone. The last thing that should be on the regulator's mind to salvage our remaining product and, indeed start rebuilding our international reputation is further pushing the crypto psychosis that has taken hold of Malta, a phenomenon all other regulators shun. The dubious reputation we have acquired of being the crypto island of the world may in fact cause untold further damage'.