MFSA did not breach EU law in Pilatus Bank case - EBA

The European Banking Authority found the Malta Financial Services Authority did not breach EU law in the case of Pilatus Bank and decided to close the preliminary inquiry. In February, the EBA confirmed it had opened an inquiry to assess if the MFSA had fulfilled its supervisory obligations in view of the apparent lack of action against Pilatus Bank and Nexia BT. It was also assessing if the MFSA was fully equipped and free from conflicts of interest to fulfil its supervisory duties. The inquiry was opened following requests and reports from the European Commission and the European Parliament. MEP David Casa, however, said the EBA had identified serious concerns with the manner in which the bank was handled, and which had to be addressed.  In a statement on Tuesday, the MFSA said that while it welcomed the recommendations from the EBA to further improve supervision of Malta’s financial services industry, it was pleased that its supervisory actions with respect to Pilatus Bank had been recognised, as well as its ongoing commitment to improve its overall supervisory practices especially on anti-money laundering supervision. MFSA CEO Joseph Cuschieri said it was clear there were...