Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1060184
8 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 9 DECEMBER 2018 NEWS MASSIMO COSTA THE financial services tribunal has rejected a bank's argument that the amount it had been required to pay to the Deposi- tor Compensation Scheme, had been unfairly calculated based on a "transitory level" of depos- its held at the bank. In August 2017, Fimbank lodged an appeal against the Malta Financial Services Author- ity, arguing that money it was instructed to pay as part of its an- nual contribution to the deposi- tors' rescue fund, €8.49 million, had been calculated unfairly. The scheme is meant to safe- guard depositors and investors from the losses that might be incurred if a credit institution or investment firm is unable to fulfil its obligations and repay money belonging to its clients. But Fimbank protested the amount requested by the MF- SA, saying it had been calcu- lated on the balance of deposits held by the bank as at 31 De- cember 2016, which stood at over €623 million. The bank said this balance was the result of a deposit-raising effort during 2016 to increase retail deposits from the Ger- man market, having increased from around €99 million in De- cember 2015, to €623 million by 31 December 2016. In fact in the first half of 2017, Fimbank reduced its deposits, amongst other reasons because the MFSA had expressed con- cern about the bank's signifi- cant growth in household de- posits from other EU countries: by June its total deposits had fallen to just over €482 million. Fimbank argued that this meant its deposits balance in 2016 had been "transitory", and that the same level of deposits would "not be reached [again] in the foreseeable future". Fimbank said it duly paid the money "in order not to incur any regulatory sanction," but a request to the scheme to recon- sider its assessment was refused. The MFSA said that should deposits decrease in 2017 the bank would be eligible for a refund of the amount, but the bank did not agree, having in- curred the financial cost of the payment, with no correspond- ing income coming from it. In its appeal to the tribunal, Fimbank expected that it pays €6.5 million to the scheme, based on the deposits it held as at June 2017. The tribunal said the MFSA was not a party to the appeal, since the contributions are as- sessed by the Scheme adminis- trators. The tribunal said the law was clear that the annual compen- sation contribution should be determined by requesting a percentage of the covered de- posits at 31 December, and that the Scheme was correct in its assessment of Fimbank's dues. mcosta@mediatoday.com.mt Fimbank loses appeal over depositor compensation fund JAMES DEBONO THE film company that had set its eyes on a shooting range development near Mosta wants to develop a film facility in- side an 8,000sq.m disused quarry at Ras il-Gebel in Ghajn Tuffieha. The company, ACT Europe, was re- cently served with an enforcement order from the Planning Authority for illegal excavations in connection to a similar project in Mosta, in the same area previ- ously identified for a shooting range. The quarry is located in the Wardija ridge, which is scheduled for its high landscape value. It is also located in the vicinity of Bronze Age remains and the protected St Martin valley, 320 metres away from the Roman baths located on the opposite side of the Ghajn Tuffieha road. Despite the area's archaeological and ecological sensitivity, an industrial park for small workshops has already been ap- proved in another quarry, the tal-Qormi- ja quarry, in 2014. The film company wants to build its own deep-water tank of over 200sq.m, and an 800sq.m shallow water tank, a 720sq.m work area, a 336sq.m office ar- ea, and a tent for a 51-metre submarine structure. The application was submitted by Anastasia Budykho, the CEO of ACT, formerly U Group, which wanted to de- velop a water tank on the Busbesija site in Mosta where the shooting range was earmarked. That application was later withdrawn after the PA issued an en- forcement order against illegal excava- tions on agricultural land in September. The company had been previously issued with a permit to use the site for filming activities through a development notifi- cation order. The company's proposal for a massive shooting range in Mosta was scrapped in 2015 after having failed a due diligence process prior to governmental approval. Russian film company wants Ghajn Tuffieha quarry