Five years on: 2016 ministers’ asset declarations finally made public

Declaration of assets for ministers dating back to 2016 have finally been made public, five years after they should have been tabled in parliament.

The missing asset declarations were provided by Prime Minister Robert Abela on Monday, in reply to a parliamentary question by Opposition MP Karol Aquilina. 

Submitted by cabinet members in February 2017, the declarations refer to assets held by cabinet members in 2016 - the same year the Panama Papers scandal was exposed. 

The data leak revealed how a sitting minister, Konrad Mizzi, and a top-ranking government official, Keith Schembri, both owned undeclared offshore structures. 

Abela tabled the declarations some weeks after the Nationalist Party called for the government to do so. 

The ministerial code of ethics obliges cabinet members to list their property holdings, bank deposits, investments, and income for the previous year. 

Assets and liabilities are listed on a one-page form which is filled in by hand. There is no standardised way of filling in the form, or any way of confirming submissions made in illegible handwriting. 

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