A high-profile American entrepreneur’s company has had its investment license suspended by Malta’s financial regulator, with the Malta Financial Services Authority highlighting multiple “serious breaches” it has committed.

Julie Meyer’s investment firm Ariadne Capital failed to cooperate with the MFSA and had inadequate resources to run an alternative investment fund, the financial regulator said in a statement issued on Friday evening.

Ms Meyer’s company, which was placed into administration last December, had also failed to have a compliance officer in place at all times, had not abided by the ‘dual control’ principle and had failed to establish a risk management function, the MFSA said.

The financial regulator has been investigating Ariadne Capital and Ms Meyer since November 2017, it said in its statement.

Its decision to suspend Ariadne Capital’s license is applicable with immediate effect, although it can be appealed to the Financial Services Tribunal.

Ms Meyer landed in legal hot water earlier this week after magistrate Donatella Frendo Dimech expressed consternation at the businesswoman’s decision to email her directly about pending cases.

In a sitting of the Industrial and Employment Relations Department, the magistrate said it was both “unethical and also illegal” to contact the court directly, and ordered the police to track down Ms Meyer and bring her to court.

Ms Meyer is being sued by a company in Malta for unpaid bills and is also being pursued by employees – both in Malta and in the UK – for unpaid wages.

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