Panama fallout hits Malta government
Malta's parliament was on Monday debating a resolution of no confidence in the island's government in the latest fallout from the Panama Papers revelations.
Prime Minister Joseph Muscat's left-of-centre administration was expected to survive the vote but is seen as having been damaged politically after his energy minister and his chief-of-staff were caught up in the scandal.
The vote was to take place late on Monday after 13 hours of debate in which 50 of the parliament's 69 members had asked to speak.
The Labour government has an eight-seat majority over the opposition.
Energy Minister Konrad Mizzi and Muscat's chief of staff, businessman Keith Schembri, were both named in the leak of millions of files from Panama-based law firm Mossack Fonseca.
The files appear to indicate the law firm had been instructed to open bank accounts for the two Maltese officials in the Caribbean, Panama, Dubai and Miami.
They also reveal that the banks concerned were asking for initial deposits of $1 million.
Both Mizzi and Schembri have denied any wrongdoing and have rebuffed calls for them to resign.
Muscat has said he he will await the outcome of an investigation before taking any decisions.
The Panama files have created problems for political figures in a number of countries around the world.
Spanish industry minister Jose Manuel Soria resigned on Friday after he was shown to have connections to offshore companies which he had initially denied.
Iceland's prime minister Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson was forced to resign after it emerged he had huge amounts of cash stashed in the British Virgin Islands.