Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1509516
3 NEWS 12.10.2023 Enemalta would like to bring to the market's attention the upcoming judicial sale by auction of various data centre equipment and material. The full list of items to be put up for sale, including, a valuation report by a court expert will be shared with any interested bidder free of charge by sending an email on datacentreauction@enemalta. com.mt. Date: 18th October, 2023 at 11am Location: Data Centre, One (1) Chamber at the former A Station, Marsa Power Station, Triq Belt il-Ħażna This advert is not to be taken as advice on court procedure and any interested bidders are to make their own independent verification and seek advice if they deem necessary. FROM PAGE 1 He pointed out that news media had reported that Cocozza and DeGiovanni had filed a Constitutional case claiming that an attachment order had been is- sued which breached their fundamental human rights. "This made us aware of that court case," Filletti said, exhibiting a copy of the relevant court application in that case. "In the very first paragraph of the con- stitutional case filed by Cocozza and DeGiovanni, they are claiming to be aware of an attachment order issued against them at the request of the Ital- ian authorities, on suspicion of money laundering and other offences." Filletti told the court that he wanted to have the bank testify now. It was not possible to bring ti to testify at an earlier stage, he explained, because the attach- ment order, once served upon the bank, obliged the bank to freeze all the assets of the subject person. "But the law also states that the bank and its officials can- not disclose any information that may reveal the fact that there is an attach- ment order because it would constitute tipping the subjects off, a crime which is punishable by imprisonment." This had denied the bank the possibil- ity of explaining to its clients why it was withholding their funds. It had also asked for the Criminal Court's permission to testify in these proceedings, but this was denied. But the legal impediment imposed on the bank, stopping it from testifying so as not to alert the suspects, was now stultified by the fact that the suspects themselves had filed a related case in September and declared their knowl- edge of the investigation. "The bank has been placed in an im- possible situation," said the lawyer, be- cause it had been served with an order from the Criminal Court to freeze the suspect's assets and forbidden from tell- ing him why. In the meantime, Cocozza had filed proceedings against the bank in front of the Financial Services Tribu- nal, demanding the release of his funds. The bank, unable to both release the money or explain why it couldn't, un- surprisingly lost the case and was or- dered to release the funds. "So now the bank is ordered not to re- lease the funds on pain of criminal pro- ceedings and an opposing judgement ordering it to release them, on pain of being found in contempt of court." The State Advocate had also objected to the bank's request to disclose the fact in its defence. "The bank is not a party to the investi- gation, it is extraneous to the issue," Fil- letti told the judge today. "It was given an order by the State, which it obeyed and ended up in this mess. It becomes more acute now when the bank tries to justify the reason to withhold the funds and the appealed party declared that they know the reason, but are still in- sisting that it release the funds and in so doing, commit a crime." Opposing counsel, lawyer Joseph Grech, objected to the exhibition of the appeal and to the bank testifying. Mr. Justice Mintoff ordered the bank to file a formal application, outlining the submissions it had made today, on which the court will provide a ruling at a later date. Lawyers Stefano Filletti and Frances- ca Galea Cavallazzi appeared for the appellant. Lawyer Joseph Grech repre- sented BOV. Bank of Valletta given conflicting instructions AN event held recently in Lon- don thighlighted how Malta punches above its weight – par- ticularly when it comes to in- surance, according to the chair of the Association of Insurance Brokers Ramon Mizzi. e well-attended event was organised by the Association in collaboration with FinanceMal- ta at the prestigious Lloyds' of London, and the first speaker was his Excellency Dr. Emma- nuel Mallia, the High Commis- sioner of Malta in the UK. e other speakers included Ray Schembri, the head of insur- ance and pensions at the Malta Financial Services Authority; and Marianna Papadakis, the Country Manager at Lloyd's in Malta, Cyprus and Greece. e venue was also very im- portant given Lloyds' history, which internationally remains synonymous with insurance. Having it at Lloyds elevated the event to a high level, especially since it was the first time for a Maltese entity to be present at this venue. e seminar had two main aims: to highlight the opportu- nities which the Maltese insur- ance market can offer and to promote Malta as an EU dom- icile of choice to participants in the London market. e scope was to promote Malta post-grey listing, reas- suring the audience about the country's well-regulated and supervised operations. is latter point was also stressed by FinanceMalta Governor, Matthew Bianchi, who along with AIB chair, Ramon Mizzi, explained that the insurance business brought to London is of quality, and that the sector is experienced with a strong cul- tural cohesiveness. e audience was made up of insurers from the London market and brokers from both countries. "Malta hosts several insurers and brokers for a number of reasons. Not the least of these is our language: speaker Tom Malcolm of New Dawn Risk (Europe) said the level of Eng- lish here is so fluent that noth- ing is 'lost in translation'," Mizzi said. "We are very grateful to Fi- nanceMalta, whose remit is to promote Malta as a financial services sector and who do so with such great enthusiasm." Malta promoted in London as centre for insurance services