The Malta Financial Services Authority has confirmed that it will not be disclosing the name of the firm that carried out due diligence checks on Pilatus Bank prior to it being handed its licence.
During a public hearing organised by the European Parliament’s Special Committee on Financial Crimes, Tax Evasion and Tax Avoidance (TAX3) in April, MFSA officials Anton Bartolo and Marianne Scicluna told MEPs that the due diligence on Pilatus Bank was not carried out by KPMG but refused to say which firm had carried out the checks. They insisted that they could not divulge the name before seeking consent from the firm itself first.
They insisted they could not divulge the name before seeking consent from the firm
Replying to a letter from TAX3 chair Petr Jazek last week, who again asked for the firm’s name, Ms Scicluna told the committee that the MFSA could not say who carried out the checks on the Ta’ Xbiex bank.
“With respect to the request for the disclosure of the name of the firm that carried out artificial intelligence works to assist the MFSA in its due diligence process, due to confidentiality reasons I have to advise that we are not in a position to disclose the name thereof,” Ms Scicluna wrote.
In a reaction, PN MEP David Casa said even despite reassurances during the hearing that efforts would be made to overcome confidentiality issues, the MFSA had replied, stating that it would not do so.
“This is extremely disappointing – particularly now that the US authorities claim to be in possession of evidence that Pilatus Bank was set up using the proceeds of crime.
“To safeguard its reputation and that of Maltese financial sector, the MFSA must find a way to reassure the public that this intelligence report does in fact exist and that the compilation of the report as well as the decisions made based on the report were not reckless and did not amount to gross negligence or complicity in serious crime. Not doing so will only further damage the MFSA’s credibility,” the MEP said.
Mr Casa last month called on the financial watchdog to publish the intelligence report, insisting this would “slightly mitigate the huge damage this whole affair is doing to the MFSA’s reputation”.