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WWW.MALTATODAY.COM.MT WEDNESDAY EDITION €1.00 Newspaper post WEDNESDAY • 8 JUNE 2016 • ISSUE 472 • PUBLISHED EVERY WEDNESDAY AND SUNDAY EDITORIAL • PAGE 9 PAGE 4 #NowIsTheTime #MakingItHappen Approved and issued by HSBC Bank Malta p.l.c., 116, Archbishop Street, Valletta VLT1444 which is regulated by the Malta Financial Services Authority. @HSBC_MT Click hsbc.com.mt Call 2380 1000 REQ NO: 90944 With lending solutions that make your dreams a reality. /HSBCMalta We all have dreams and ambitions. It can be hard, but we can achieve some of them on our own. Then there are those that we can only achieve with help from a bank that really understands what is important to us. So whatever your next dream, whether it's a new home, a new car or maybe that boat you've always wanted, we are committed to provide lending solutions to help you make it a reality. We can't promise to make every one of your dreams come true, but you can rely on us to support you all the way, on those that we can. Speak to us today. Labour deputy leadership Delegates' poll finds Bonnici and Cardona in dead heat MATTHEW VELLA AN independent survey among party delegates has put Labour ministers Owen Bonnici and Chris Cardona almost neck and neck in Friday's election for a new deputy leader for party affairs. The independent poll surveyed 125 delegates, excluding party ad- ministration and MPs, from the entire delegates' total of over 700. The data shows that the young justice and culture minister, Owen Bonnici, 36, is leading slightly by two points, capturing 17% of sup- port from delegates who answered the question of who they wanted for Labour's second deputy leader. 15% said they wanted econ- omy minister Chris Cardona, 44, while just 11% said they would go for Stefan Zrinzo Azzopardi, 43, a former PL president who is now serving as ex- ecutive chairman of the Grand Harbour Re- g e n e r a t i o n Corporation. Labour is seeking a new deputy leader for party affairs after Konrad Mizzi, the for- mer energy min- ister – revealed to have opened an offshore company in Panama while in office – was told to step down from the party position. Mizzi retained his min- ister's position inside the Office of the Prime Minister. The deputy leadership post was traditionally created for non-MPs, but the Labour leadership's insist- ence on having Mizzi as deputy leader led to changes in the party statute and a one-horse race to elect the subsequently disgraced minister. In the survey, 56% of delegates polled refused to reveal their voting intentions. Extrapolating the result without these non-re- sponsive delegates, Bonnici would have the support of 39.2% of del- egates, Cardona 35.3% and Zrinzo Azzopardi 25.5%. Male delegates overwhelmingly favour Cardona and Bonnici (47%), while only 6% of such delegates fa- voured Zrinzo Azzopardi. Instead the latter took the support of 35% of female candidates, as did Bon- nici, while fewer, 29%, said they would support Cardona. The data, if indicative of the gen- eral mood, is a sign that Labour del- egates on Friday will not re- turn a new deputy leader for Joseph Muscat and instead will see a two- way race opening up on Saturday. Delegates will vote on Thursday and Fri- day, and again on Saturday for a run-off. Ministers Owen Bonnici and Chris Cardona can be expected to face off each other in Saturday run-off according to independent survey PAGE 5 German MEP: Bannister's independence 'compromised' with Cayman directorships A German MEP has written a letter of protest to the EU's financial su- pervisory agencies – the European Banking Authority, the European Securities and Markets Associa- tion, and the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Author- ity – to complain about the Maltese financial regulator's independence and the supervisory role being car- ried out by chairman Joseph Ban- nister. In his letter to the chairs of the au- thorities, Green MEP Sven Giegold reiterated Bannister's tenability as MFSA chairman had been compro- mised by his position as a director on several collective investment schemes in the Cayman Islands. Since the conflict was flagged in 2012, Bannister has retained his di- rectorships on the Kairos funds, but the MFSA chairman insists that this conflict was 'cleared' by the then prime minister. "I regard Prof. Bannister's di- rectorships as a serious breach of international standards on opera- tional independence of financial supervisors, set by the Basel Com- mittee of Banking Supervision, the International Organisation of Securities Commissioners and the International Association of Insur- ance Supervisors. Operational in- dependence of national competent authorities is also required in terms of European regulation. Financial supervisors should not be financial market players simultaneously," Giegold said. The MEP – a member of the Banking Union Working Group in the European Parliament – called on the authorities to inform him of any peer reviews they carried out on independence and conflict of inter- est of national supervisors. "Bannis- ter's position as a longtime financial supervisor whilst at the same time a director of a number of collective investment schemes in the Cayman Islands constitutes a serious conflict of interest. Being a supervisor and industry player at the same time is a serious breach of international standards. Joseph Banister Chris Cardona (left) and Owen Bonnici are the leading contenders for the PL deputy leadership race