Partit Demokratiku said today it is “a myth” that ING’s decision to pull out its correspondence banking with Bank of Valletta “is a symptom of BOV's success”, as the Prime Minister has said. It is also insulting people’s intelligence, PD said in a statement.
“ING's decision is a wake-up call. Some see us as dodgy and shady. We want to show the opposite. Led by PD, Malta will do good business, not shady business," stated interim leader Godfrey Farrugia.
PD insists that Joseph Muscat should stop taking the entire finance and gaming industry for a ride. The whole world is ramping up its fight against money laundering following recent scandals whilst Malta, as a jurisdiction, is internationally being seen to be moving in the other direction. This is undoubtedly why BOV is losing its last Correspondent Bank, not because of "Its success". Outside of the EU, a US Correspondent Bank acts as an international clearing house easing the process of connecting banks in order to allow payments. Without it, each BOV transaction outside of the EU will take much longer and will cost much more to process.
Partit Demokratiku reminded the public that:
(1) a significant portion of the Maltese gaming sector is active in targeting clients outside of the EU;
(2) credit cards from such countries generally block gaming transactions; and
(3) no other Maltese bank that has access to a Correspondent Bank is currently active in the Gaming industry.