EU watchdog backs proposal to withdraw Malta's Pilatus Bank licence

Updated 6.10pm Europe's banking watchdog has backed a recommendation by the Maltese financial regulator to withdraw Pilatus Bank's banking licence following the indictment of its chairman for money laundering. EBA's move puts pressure on the European Central Bank which is expected to make a decision on whether to withdraw Pilatus's licence as early as this week. A spokesman for the ECB declined to comment. In a letter, dated September 24 and sent to European Union lawmakers, European Banking Authority chairman Andrea Enria said the move by the Maltese Financial Services Authority (MFSA) was justified by "the current circumstances of the bank's ultimate beneficial owner," Ali Sadr Hashemi Nejad. He was indicted in the United States in March for bank fraud, money laundering and the evasion of US sanctions against Iran. Malta's regulator had recommended the withdrawal of Pilatus' licence in June after Ali Sadr's arrest in the United States. Read: Withdraw Pilatus Bank’s licence, MFSA tells European Central Bank The MFSA was investigated by EBA for its decision to grant a banking licence to Pilatus in 2014 and for its supervision of the bank. That investigation has now been now...