The Malta Financial Services Authority has suspended Ariadne Capital Malta Limited's licence in terms of the Investment Services Act with immediate effect, the MFSA said in a statement this evening.

The MFSA said that as such, the company is no longer in a position to provide investment services under the Act.  The decision may be appealed before the Financial Services Tribunal.

The decision comes after "careful consideration of the facts available and due process" and after the MFSA "identified a number of serious breaches of licence conditions committed by the Company".

These serious breaches were specifically stipulated by the MFSA as follows:

[a] failure to have in place a Compliance Officer at all times;

[b] failure to cooperate and collaborate with the MFSA;

[c] failure to abide by the 'dual control' principle;

[d] inadequate resources to carry out management of Alternative Investment Funds; and

[e] failure to establish a risk management function, which is separate from the investment management function.

The MFSA added that it is committed to: [a] investigate allegations of activities detrimental to consumers of financial services, and to identify any practices which may be unfair or harmful to the integrity of Malta's financial system; and [b] ensure high standards of conduct and management in the financial services sector.

The MFSA confirmed that it has been investigating the conduct of the company, its sole director Ms Julie Meyer as well as Ariadne Capital ECO2 VC Limited Partnership since November 2017.

The Company was licensed as a Category 2 Investment Services Licence Holder to control clients' money and assets as well as an Alternative Investment Fund Manager pursuant to the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive.