Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1495990
5 NEWS 30.3.2023 'Abundantly clear' Cuschieri infringed MFSA's guidelines ECB code of conduct Construction authority holds meeting with stakeholders on proposed contractors licensing AROUND 300 individuals at- tended a consultation meeting organised by the Building and Construction Authority on the proposed licensing of contrac- tors. e BCA said in a statement that a considerable number of contractors and builders at- tended the discussion, high- light the sector's interest in the proposed regulation. Earlier in March, Planning Minister Stefan Zrinzo Azzo- pardi announced the licensing of building contractors will kick off in June and close in Oc- tober under government plans. He said the licensing of build- ing contractors will kick off in June and close in October un- der government plans. e final cut-off date for all contractors to be licensed is January 2025. A reform of the sector has been on the table for several years but calls intensified after the tragic death of Jean Paul Sofia, who was killed when a building under construction collapsed last year. Government is proposing that applicants will have to have in- surance policies in place, safe- guarding protecting both third parties and their employees. Applicants have to be over 18 and cannot be bankrupt. e BCA said the meeting was addressed by CEO Jesmon Muscat, who explained the proposed Bill. He said the Bill will increase professionalism in the sector. Muscat the authority will be taking on board any sugges- tions and recommendations put forward by the stakehold- ers, in order to improve the Bill. FROM PAGE 1 At the time of the Las Vegas trip, Cus- chieri had just been appointed CEO at the MFSA after stepping down from the Malta Gaming Authority. When news of the trip emerged two years later, Cuschieri denied having had a conflict of interest, insisting he was no longer CEO at the MGA, which regu- lated, among others, casinos in which Fenech had a direct interest. However, the board of review, com- posed of former chief justice Joseph Az- zopardi and lawyer Mark Simiana, disa- greed with Cuschieri's assessment. e eight-page report, written in poor Eng- lish, was only published today by the MFSA despite having been completed on 23 November 2020. e MFSA was ordered to release the report by the In- formation and Data Protection Com- missioner (IDPC) in relation to a Free- dom of Information request submitted to the authority, which had asked for a copy of the Board of Review's report. In a statement the MFSA said it will not be appealing the IDPC decision and published a redacted version of the re- port in line with the IDPC's notice. In its findings, the board said it was "abundantly clear" Cuschieri infringed the MFSA's guidelines on hospitality and the European Central Bank's code of conduct when he accepted hospitali- ty which was both expensive and exclu- sive. e board said that Fenech's many in- terests in companies, which although not engaged directly in financial servic- es, operate in different areas and it was "very probable that in one way or anoth- er, the MFSA may have to be engaged with one or more of these companies". e board noted that this was con- firmed by the MFSA's general counsel Edwina Licari, who was subjected to a separate but parallel review given that she had also been on the Las Vegas trip. Licari had abstained from her MFSA duties on at least three occasions in which Fenech was involved. "A person of Mr Cuschieri's undoubt- ed intelligence ought to have realised this… e Board therefore does not agree with Mr Cuschieri that there was no possible conflict of interest in accom- panying Mr Fenech and advising him," the board said. It added: "In any case it is abundantly clear to the Board that Mr Cuschieri infringed both the [MFSA] guidelines on hospitality and the ECB code of conduct even if no future con- flict of interest would have occurred in that he accepted hospitality which was both expensive and exclusive." e board cleared Cuschieri of any wrongdoing or unethical behaviour on several other issues that were raised at the time, including the expression of interest for the relocation of the MFSA offices to a different office block in Mrieħel, the number of trips abroad he took as CEO, and the recruitment of Li- cari with the MFSA. At the time of the Las Vegas trip, Licari was not yet an employee of the MFSA but still general counsel at the MGA. e review board's remit was limited to Licari's behaviour as an employee of the MFSA and thus the trip fell outside the scope of review. On whether she was employed at the behest of the MFSA's CEO, the board noted that this allegation would not suggest wrongdoing on her part any- ways. e board also found that Licari's ap- pointment to the FIAU Board was not irregular, and that she always declared any conflicts of interest when needed, including with Yorgen Fenech. Her trips abroad with the CEO as part of her du- ties as General Counsel for the MFSA were not irregular. Cuschieri has reservations on board's findings regarding ethics breach Meanwhile, in a reaction to the re- port findings, Cuschieri reiterated his disagreement with the conclusion he breached the MFSA's and ECB's ethical frameworks. "While I respect the Board's con- clusions, I have my reservations as to whether I was in breach of the ethics framework referred to in the report. As far as I was aware at the time, the Tu- mas Group and/or its subsidiaries did not fall within the scope of the MFSA's supervisory oversight," Cuschieri said. He insisted that key decisions at the MFSA were always taken by groups of people and collectively by management at various layers and statutory commit- tees within the organisation. "Rarely [were these taken] unilaterally by the CEO except for ordinary day-to-day business." Cuschieri said that while the board's statement that the Tumas Group's vast commercial interests may make it pos- sible for a conflict to arise, was "broadly true", he insisted that conflicts could be managed and declared. "ere are policies and procedures in place to that effect. In a small coun- try like Malta, it is not uncommon for conflicts to arise when you are in pub- lic office. In this respect, I would like to make it clear that at no point in time (throughout my tenure) I felt conflicted or prejudiced where I had to formally declare a conflict. Having said that, if I ever felt conflicted, I would have imme- diately declared the conflict in line with the MFSA's accepted procedures," Cus- chieri said. He also underlined the fact that he had resigned his position at the MFSA on his "own free will, solely to protect the institution from unnecessary media scrutiny and criticism". Edwina Licari