Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/959046
maltatoday WEDNESDAY 28 MARCH 2018 11 Business Today www.creditinfo.com.mt info@creditinfo.com.mt Tel: 2131 2344 Your Local Partner for Credit Risk Management Solutions Supporting you all the way Twitter follows Facebook and Google with ban on cryptocurrency adverts Twitter is to ban most advertis- ing of cryptocurrencies on its platform, joining Facebook and Google in a clampdown on the nascent industry, the company said in a statement. The San Francisco-based firm will this week launch a policy that prohibits advertising of initial coin offerings (ICOs), a form of crowdfunding used to raise cash by creating new coins, as well as adverts that promote token sales and crypto wallet services, the company said in a statement. The policy will also ban adverts from crypto-exchanges, with some limited exceptions. Twitter said this month it was taking measures to prevent crypto-related accounts from 'engaging with others in a deceptive manner', but it has faced calls to go further after bans by Facebook and Google. Regulators have stepped up warnings that bitcoin and other virtual currencies are highly speculative, some potentially fraudulent and that investors should be prepared to lose everything. But last week the G20 group of rich nations failed to reach a consensus on how to supervise them. 'With the increasing number of ICOs coming to market it is an impossible task for anyone, much less platforms like Twitter or Facebook, to keep on top of which ICOs and cryptocurrencies are genuine versus frauds,' said Zennon Kapron, director of financial consultancy Kapronasia. TIA RELJIC "In view of the gravity of the recent events" MEPs have sent a letter urging the ECB to "assess the adequacy" of the measures taken by the Maltese Financial Services Authority (MFSA) in response to the arrest of Pilatus Bank chairman Sayed Ali Sadr Hasheminejad in the United States. The MFSA imposed a freeze on the business of the bank, and the regulator ordered the removal of the chairman as bank director, suspending his voting rights as shareholder of the bank and ordering him to refrain from exercising legal and judicial representation of it. In the letter, the MEPs explained how the delegation sent to Malta in November met with the MFSA and inquired about the ownership of the bank. The Authority subsequently assured the European Parliament (EP) that all checks had been done – particularly on the owner of the bank – who was last week arrested for bank fraud and money laundering among other charges. The charges against the chairman "came as a particularly relevant new element to the EP delegation," the letter read, as the delegation was reassured that the owner was properly vetted by the MFSA just a few months prior. The letter was signed by MEPs forming part of the ad-hoc delegation – namely Ana Gomes, David Casa, Monica Macovei, Sophie In't Veld, Sven Giegold, and Takis Hadjigeorgiou. MEPs also called for the ECB to "systematically check whether the business model of other Maltese institutions pose risks stemming from financial criminality, e.g when it comes to requirements about fit and proper management," as well as to assess the "adequacy of the organisational structure of the MFSA." "We regret that, after months of warnings and allegations on the integrity and compliance on Pilatus Bank's activities with Union law, dating back to reports and investigations of the murdered journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, no visible action was taken by either Maltese or European supervisory or law enforcement bodies," the letter read. MEPs urge ECB to assess adequacy of MFSA measures In a letter written to the president of the European Central Bank, Mario Draghi, MEPs requested further action on Pilatus Bank and checks on other fi nancial institutions Facebook founder Mark Zuck- erberg has said he will not ap- pear before MPs investigating fake news, but will send one of his senior executives instead. The tech giant and data analytics firm Cambridge Analytica are at the centre of a dispute over harvesting personal data and whether it was used in Donald Trump's presidential election campaign. Zuckerberg has apologised for a "breach of trust". His stand-in will give evidence to MPs after the Easter Parliamentary break. Over the weekend Zuckerberg took out full-page advertisements in several UK and US Sunday newspapers to apologise. He said his company could have done more to stop millions of users having their data exploited by Cambridge Analytica. "This was a breach of trust, and I am sorry," the back-page ads said. The select committee is currently hearing from whistleblower Christopher Wylie, who accused his former employer, Cambridge Analytica, of gathering the details of 50 million users on Facebook through a personality quiz in 2014. He alleges that because 270,000 people took the quiz, the data of some 50 million users, mainly in the US, was harvested without their explicit consent via their friend networks. Wylie claims the data was sold to Cambridge Analytica, which then used it to psychologically profile people and deliver pro-Trump material to them. Cambridge Analytica denies any of it was used as part of the services it provided to the Trump campaign. On Friday, enforcement officers from the UK's information commissioner carried out a seven-hour search of Cambridge Analytica's London offices after the High Court granted the data watchdog a warrant. MPs have also written to Alexander Nix, Cambridge Analytica's suspended chief executive officer, to ask him to return before the committee after his previous appearance in February. Data row: Facebook's Zuckerberg will not appear before MPs