An independent panel has been set up to review allegations about a Las Vegas trip attended by the MFSA’s CEO and General Counsel, the financial services watchdog said on Tuesday.
The panel is made up of Former Chief Justice Joe Azzopardi and independent lawyer Dr Mark Simiana.
Joe Cuschieri and Edwina Licari have suspended themselves after it emerged that they had travelled to the US in May 2018, on invitation by businessman Yorgen Fenech. At the time, Cuschieri had just taken up his role at the MFSA after he left the Malta Gaming Authority, while Licari was still serving as legal advisor at the MGA. She joined the MFSA a few months later. Last week, Licari also resigned from the board of the Financial Intelligence Analysis Unit (FIAU).
Cuschieri said he had travelled with Fenech to advise him on regulatory matters. Fenech, back then a director of Tumas Group, which owns a casino company, was reportedly interested in investing in the United States. He told The Malta Independent that he had not been paid by Fenech but would not go into detail about the kind of advice he provided.
A fourth person, Charlene Bianco Farrugia, who was former OPM chief of staff Keith Schembri’s personal assistant, also went on the trip.
The MFSA said last week that its Board of Governors had given notice of its intention to initiate an assessment of the facts reported in the local media to safeguard the interests of the Authority.
“In this regard, the Board of Governors is giving notice that a panel made up of independent third parties has been set up to carry out necessary verifications with regard to a breach of ethics. The panel is being made up of Former Chief Justice Joe Azzopardi and independent lawyer Dr Mark Simiana. The panel have been instructed by the Board of Governors to carry out the assessment process in an expeditious manner. Once the necessary assessments are concluded by the panel, recommendations will be presented to the Board of Governors for a final decision to be taken on both cases.”
The Board of Governors of the MFSA is responsible for establishing the policies and risk parameters to be pursued by the Authority. The Board is bound by confidentiality and, in this regard, every single member of the Board categorically refutes that he or she gave any comments to the media. Information is issued only collectively as a Board, the authority said.
The Board of Governors affirmed its commitment that the MFSA’s management and staff remain totally focused on the implementation of the Authority’s vision and strategy to ensure proper consumer protection and a safer and sounder financial system.