Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1122280
NEWS 5 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 26 MAY 2019 C O M F O R T W H E N Y O U ' R E C L O S E T O A L L T H AT M AT T E R S , Y O U H A V E A L L T H E T I M E I N T H E W O R L D . The Shoreline is a premier destination with a unique blend of luxur y residences and upscale retail. Contact us today for a detailed, no-obligation presentation on +356 9949 7518 / 9923 1553 or email us on sales@theshorelineresidence.com LI V E • E XPLO R E • S H O P • D IN E S M A R T C I T Y R I C A S O L I M A L T A THESHORELINERESIDENCE.COM MATTHEW VELLA THE financial regulator has restricted the licence of a pay- ments institution owned by a Hungarian businessman whose Caribbean bank's due diligence procedures had come under the spotlight of the Panama Pa- pers. The Malta Financial Services Authority restricted the licence of Money Plus Card Payment Institution Ltd, and ordered all its officials and connected per- sons to immediately cease any business activity. The institution will have to obtain the MFSA's written ap- proval before affecting any transactions for salaries and es- sential services. The MFSA could also remove the company's licence. Money Plus Card, and its re- lated companies Shop By Re- ward and Prifolio Investments, are all owned by the company Prifolio Holdings, a company whose ultimate beneficial own- er is Hungarian businessman Otto Hujber, also the owner of Loyal Bank of the St Vincent & Grenadines. Money Plus Card was li- censed in 2016 as an online payment institution, to provide payment accounts using a digi- tal platform. It is registered at a Valletta law office. Hujber was one of Hungary's most influential businessmen in the 1990s when he was also acting as the chairman of the then ruling Socialist Party's (MSZP) business division. In 1997 he founded Loyal Bank in the tax haven of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, together with an office in Bu- dapest. According to the Panama Papers, the bank had been ser- vicing some 60,000 customers, Hungarians, Russians and Japa- nese. It built a substantial busi- ness relationship with Mossack Fonseca, the Panamanian law firm at the heart of the off- shore world unearthed by the Panama Papers: Mossack Fon- seca recommended Loyal Bank to customers because the bank allowed customers to send scanned documents via email instead of reporting physically to their Saint Vincent office. The leaked documents raised questions about the bank's due diligence procedures. A memo of a meeting be- tween the representatives of Loyal Bank and Mossack Fon- seca suggests that Loyal Bank did not require companies opening bank accounts to re- veal their "beneficial owners" – the people who actually own or benefit from a company, and whose names are often hidden in offshore registrations. Loyal Bank had denied this allega- tion, saying Mossack Fonseca had misinterpreted the words of their representative in the memo. Slovakia's and Gibraltar's fi- nancial authorities had issued warnings against Loyal Bank, accusing the bank of unauthor- ised financial activities. The warnings were later withdrawn after Loyal Bank provided ex- planations for its activities. Hujber is also listed as a di- rector in the Maltese compa- ny Global Netprint (formerly Power Plant Advisory), whose ownership is vested in a com- pany registered at the address of his Loyal Bank. MFSA stops Hungarian's e-payment operations Panama Papers had unearthed questionable due diligence of Hungarian's bank in Caribbean tax haven Otto Hujber