Pilatus Bank Chairman – the Maltese angle

Opposition leader Adrian Delia called on the Prime Minister not to keep on washing his hands _ a play on the name Pilatus. "Suspend Pilatus Bank licence now!" he insisted.

He said approval of the bank's licence was rushed in four weeks by the government. Malta's reputation was being tarnished across the world, and the government was doing nothing about it. He insisted the bank's licence must be revoked immediately. Not doing so would indicate that somebody was being protected, at the expense of the people and the financial services industry.

Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, questioned by Net News on whether the Pilatus Bank licence will be revoked, said that was up to the MFSA’s supervisory council, acting autonomously.

Reacting to various other questions, he said that the bank applied for a Maltese licence in 2012 (under the PN) and although it was granted a licence in 2013 under the Labour government, the MFSA was still composed of people engaged by the former government.

Former Opposition leader Simon Busuttil wrote that the wheels of justice have started to turn. 'Pilatus is caught and he can no longer wash his hands in Malta.'

Nationalist MP Jason Azzopardi said Finance Minister Edward Scicluna today had to explain why Pilatus Bank was given a clean bill of health in September 2016 by FIAU Deputy Director Alfred Zammit. "Who bribed whom?" he asked.

Prof. Scicluna was less than forthcoming when asked for a reaction by Lovin Malta, telling a journalist "come on, these are serious things" when asked whether Pilatus Bank's licence would now be revoked.