That’s how the Finance Minister characterised the news that HSBC might leave our shores and shed hundreds of jobs. “It’s a warning!” the Finance Minister Edward Scicluna said last week shortly after the news came out. 

HSBC might or might not leave. We certainly want them to stay because we know perfectly well that HSBC enjoys a solid reputation globally when it comes to the fight against money laundering and corruption more broadly. 

Edward Scicluna himself enjoys a good reputation both locally and in Brussels, particularly after the Maltese Presidency of the EU, as he and his team secured a deal on rules that aim to revive the EU’s securitisation market which was a massive achievement in itself.

Scicluna knows his subject very well and he built his career outside politics and as such he does not need his political master, the Prime Minister, to help him climb the ranks. On the other hand, he has everything to lose because his stint as one of the most senior Minister can be seen as the pinnacle of his career. He won’t be ready to throw his reputation to the dogs so easily and rightly so. The Nationalist Party can assure him a helping hand in safeguarding the integrity of the financial services industry in Malta and will do what it takes to save the hundreds of jobs that depend from it. 

The Finance Minister knows that the advent of HSBC in Malta put Malta on the map of the financial industries across the world. HSBC in Malta boosted the belief in the eyes of practitioners abroad that Malta can be a trusted partner. So HSBC is a very reliable and clean bank. 

Now that our financial services industry has taken quite a few number of hits recently, what does Minister Scicluna make of the HSBC news story? He tells us that it is a warning. A warning against what exactly Mr Scicluna? Who is your target audience? Us, the public? Or someone else?

Why did Minister Scicluna not say “This might be a warning” and instead said that it is a warning? Minister Scicluna is categorical and given that he himself revealed that he had a conversation with HSBC before the news was out we ought to know why HSBC is warning Malta. Is HSBC warning the Maltese government? Or is it not? 

The Nationalist Party is abundantly clear in its position. We will be at the forefront in ascertaining that Malta remains a leading financial services jurisdiction. 

But this government is not making our job easy, is it? No matter how hard we work and how diligent we are, this government is shooting itself in the foot, time and time again when it comes to safeguarding jobs in the financial services industry and other ancillary services.

There are indeed pertinent questions and the Prime Minister has got much to answer for.

MP David Stellini is the Opposition spokesperson on European Affairs and Brexit. He is also President of the Nationalist Party Administrative Council.