Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1000343
3 NEWS maltatoday | SUNDAY • 1 JULY 2018 By William Shakespeare 13 to 22 July 2018 San Anton Gardens Book at www.madc.com.mt Roberta Cefai Gianni Selvaggi Stephen Oliver Chris Dingli Ste ake Chiara Hyzler Jonathan Dunn Directed by Philip Leone-Ganado As You Like It PAUL COCKS THE Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA) has formally asked the European Central Bank (ECB) to withdraw Pilatus Bank's banking licence. In a statement issued last even- ing, the authority said the deci- sion had been made following the indictment in the United States of the bank's owner, Ali Sadr Hasheminejad, in relation to allegations of financial crimi- nal offences. "As a result of this indictment, the MFSA is no longer satis- fied that the [ultimate beneficial owner] UBO is a suitable person as required by the Banking Act," the MFSA statement read. Hasheminejad, 38, the son of an Iranian banker and holder of a Saint Kitts and Nevis passport, was arrested in the US on 21 March on charges of having par- ticipated in a scheme to evade US sanctions and funnel more than $115 million paid under a Ven- ezuelan construction contract through the US financial system. He was charged in a six-count indictmentfiled in Federal Court in Manhattan, accusing him of a role in a scheme to evade US eco- nomic sanctions against Iran. The MFSA said it had also been monitoring the bank closely and noted that the bank had been persistently breaching the liquid- ity coverage required by law since Hasheminejad's indictment. The assets within the bank re- main frozen in line with the sanc- tions imposed by the MFSA on 21 March 2018. The MFSA said it would con- tinue to take all necessary actions to protect those assets until its ongoing joint investigation with the Financial Investigation and Analysis Unit into alleged money laundering at the bank was com- pleted. Furthermore, the MFSA said it would wait for the ECB's assess- ment of its recommendation be- fore proceeding with any further actions. Speaking to MaltaToday, MF- SA chief executive officer, Joseph Cuschieri, said the authority can- not unilaterally withdraw the licence of any bank but needs to make the case with the ECB as the EU's banking regulator. "Now that we submitted our recommendation to the ECB for withdrawal of the Pilatus Bank licence, the ECB will be car- rying out its own assessment, making sure that a proper due process has been followed by the MFSA based on sound legal arguments," he said. "The ECB is also expected to re- quest Pilatus Bank to submit its representations before the ECB will determine whether to pro- ceed with the withdrawal of the Pilatus Bank licence." Cuschieri said the ECB may al- so request more information and clarifications from the MFSA before it reaches its own conclu- sions. "It is important to point out that making a request to the ECB for a withdrawal of a banking li- cence is a serious matter which requires a great deal of analysis in making sure that the MFSA has sound legal grounds but also that any actions are reasonable, proportionate and based on con- crete evidence," he said. "Any suggestions that the MFSA didn't act or acted late are unfair for the simple rea- son that such matters need to have a strong legal basis in or- der to avoid potential repercus- sions and/or claims for damages against the MFSA." PN reaction In a statement, the Nationalist Party said the MFSA's recom- mendation for the withdrawal of Pilatus Bank's licence had come months too late, to the detriment of Malta's reputation. "People had been waiting all this time for the Government to take the decisions that needed to be taken so as to safeguard the financial services sector's repu- tation and the jobs it provides," Kristy Debono, PN spokesperson for financial services, said. "Instead the government re- sisted for months from making a decision that should have been made months ago." CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 Malta has, on the other hand, stood its ground, and has re- fused to be bullied by Italy into accepting migrants it was not legally responsible for. Tensions between the two countries continued to rise yes- terday, after the Open Arms, a vessel operated by the Spanish NGO Proactiva Open Arms, rescued 59 migrants off the coast of Libya. Salvini was quick to tweet that Malta was the closest safe port from the location the migrants had been rescued, a claim that was rejected by the Maltese government, with Home Af- fairs minister Michael Farrugia telling Salvini to stop spreading false information. "The rescue took place with- in the Libyan search and res- cue region between Libya and Lampedusa, Italy," tweeted Farrugia. "Stop trying to drag Malta into it by spreading in- correct information." Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) tweeted yesterday that while "all eyes were on the Eu- ropean Council this week", the only thing agreed upon was to "block people at the doorstep of Europe, regardless of how vulnerable they are, or what horrors in Libya they are es- caping". "People are condemned for trying to flee…for trying to reach a place of safety. Today I urge European governments to show some basic decency. They must remember we are talking about human lives and human suffering," MSF said. Similarly, the NGO Sea Watch said that while Mus- cat had "blocked" rescue ships from entering Maltese ports, more than a 100 people, in- cluding three babies, had died. Despite the fact that migrant crossings across the Mediterra- nean have fallen by some 78% compared to the same period last year, migration has again become a topic of intense de- bate across the EU. Italy's change in policy has placed Malta in a difficult po- sition of having to choose be- tween defending its interests and offering humanitarian as- sistance to those in need. The first dispute between the two countries centred around the fate of the MV Aquarius, a vessel that was carrying 629 migrants rescued within the Libyan search and rescue re- gion and in an area, which under normal circumstances, would have seen the migrants disembark in Lampedusa. Italy insisted that its ports were closed and that Malta should be the one to take the vessel. The standoff was even- tually resolved when Spain stepped in and took the mi- grants itself. Similarly, Italy insisted that Malta should be the country to take in yet another migrant vessel, this time the MV Life- line, which was carrying 234 migrants, also saved between Lampedusa and Libya. This time round, an ad hoc agreement for the migrants to be distributed among nine will- ing countries, led to the ship being allowed to dock in Mal- ta. Over the course of the MV Lifeline standoff, it emerged that the vessel was not regis- tered as a rescue vessel, but as a simple pleasure craft, and while the ship claimed to fly a Dutch flag, authorities in the Netherlands said they had no knowledge of it. The Maltese government said that this "previously unknown information" was grounds for an investigation into the ships operations. It added that NGO operations would be suspended in the interim, with no vessels allowed in and out of Malta's ports. European leaders have ar- gued that a significant amount of money was being spent on training the Libyan coast guard which should be allowed to work without interference, however, doubts have been raised on how well prepared the coast guard is to solely take on the responsibility of saving lives in the Mediterranean. In fact, the Captain of the Astral, which is also operated by Proactiva Open Arms, has stressed that the Libyan coast guard had never responded to requests to offer rescue. "For months now they have been presented as an official body, formal, very well-trained and legal, and these are the same people who have shot at us, who have kidnapped us," Capt. Riccardo Gatti said. MFSA recommends the ECB withdraw Pilatus Bank's licence Farrugia warns Salvini: 'Stop spreading incorrect information'