From Times of Malta

FOI request about Joe Bannister’s financial interests turned down

The Finance Ministry would not give this newspaper information on the financial interests of the Malta Financial Services Authority’s chairman Joe Bannister.

A request made in terms of the Freedom of Information Act was turned down on grounds that “such information is not given for the purpose of publication to the general public”.

Prof. Bannister has long been accused of having a conflict of interest in his role in view of claims that he holds directorship on several collective investment schemes in the Cayman Islands, which he had allegedly not declared to the MFSA.

Education Minister Evarist Bartolo had first called for Prof. Bannister’s dismissal in 2012 when he had asked then prime minister Lawrence Gonzi to investigate the chairman’s links with the Cayman Islands funds. Speaking during the height of the Panama Papers scandal in April 2016, Mr Bartolo told Parliament he had no confidence in Prof. Bannister.

Prof. Bannister, who has always denied having a conflict of interest, has led the MFSA since it was set up in 1999. He had also headed its predecessor, the Malta Financial Services Centre.

Prof. Bannister insists he had explained his position on the matter to both Dr Gonzi and Prime Minister Joseph Muscat.

In rejecting the request, the Finance Ministry said the information about the MFSA chairman’s financial interests was given for the purposes of enabling the Prime Minister to determine whether the person was fit and proper to hold office.

It also argued that publication of the information requested would run counter to the principles of data protection.

Prof. Bannister’s role came under renewed scrutiny last year after German MEP Sven Giegold wrote to several European supervisory agencies over what he termed as the “serious” conflicts of interest.

Mr Giegold said Prof. Bannister’s claimed directorships were a serious breach of international standards in terms of the operational independence of financial supervisors.

The MEP said Prof. Bannister’s vice-chairmanship of Finance Malta was another conflict of interest as it meant that he was simultaneously responsible for promoting the financial sector and also regulating it.

Prof Bannister, who was reappointed MFSA chairman in 2014, will be leaving office towards the end of the year.

IMAGE: MFSA chairman Joe Bannister. Photo: Darrin Zammit Lupi

For more on this story go to: https://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20170804/local/mfsa-chiefs-financial-interests-are-not-for-public-consumption.654832