The Malta Financial Services Authority last year spent more than €55,000 on parties, receptions, dinners and the purchasing of food and alcohol, it has emerged. The bill for such expenses, totalling €55,355, is notably higher than that of other authorities, figures tabled in Parliament this week showed.

The information was supplied by Prime Minister Joseph Muscat in reply to a parliamentary question by Opposition MP Jason Azzopardi. It outlined the expenses of the different authorities within the remit of the Office of the Prime Minister.

These included the MFSA, the Malta Gaming Authority, the Malta Communications Authority as well as the Malta Information Technology Agency and Identity Malta, among others.

The costs of events and food and alcohol purchased by the entities ranged from a meagre €158 by the Resources Support and Services Limited to the amount spent by the MFSA.

Identity Malta spent €11,134 last year, the data shows, while the MGA forked out a further €14,517. While the MCA and the MCST both spent less than €3,000, MITA exceeded this mark, spending a little over €3,300.

Last year’s total for all the authorities that fall within the remit of the OPM stood at €89,829, the figures show.

So far this year, the MFSA has already spent €24,266 on parties, food and alcohol, while the MGA has surpassed the amount it spent last year in the first 10 months of the year. According to the data supplied, the MGA has already spent €17,994.

Questions sent to the MFSA asking for a breakdown of the expenses were not answered by the time of writing.

The financial regulator has come under fire in recent years for what various members of the European Parliament and other institutions in Brussels say is lack of action.

Just last month, MEPs on a fact-finding mission to Malta described a meeting with the authority’s representatives as “disappointing”. 

The authority has also been heavily criticised by MEPs for not carrying out promised changes to address shortcomings flagged by the authorities in Brussels.  

claire.caruana@timesofmalta.com

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