Central Bank of Malta suspends Satabank’s Target2 participation as MFSA comes down hard

The Central Bank yesterday suspended with immediate effect the participation of Satabank plc in Target2-Malta, after the Malta Financial Services Authority directed the institution to refrain, cease and desist from taking further deposits into the accounts of its current customers.

The MFSA yesterday ordered the bank to:

Refrain, cease and desist from taking further deposits into ac- counts of its current customers, (this includes the acceptance of any payment in any account of a customer held with the bank);

Refrain, cease and desist from accepting any new customers;

Refrain, cease and desist from affecting or processing any withdrawal or outward transfers from any accounts held by the bank;

Refrain from effecting any transfer, sale, placement or any other movements of the bank’s or the customers’ assets;

Retain and preserve all records, data and documents relating to its business and its clients, including those on the bank’s IT systems and networks whether in Malta or in any other jurisdiction, as well as any other documentation which relates in any way, whether directly or indirectly, to the business of the bank;

Ensure that all such records, data and documents, in what- ever form and however stored, are kept safe and not altered, destroyed, erased, concealed or disposed of in any manner; and

Ensure that all such records, data and documents, in whatever form and however stored, are accessible at any time to the Authority and/or to any person appointed by the Authority in terms of law.

Satabank plc is a small international bank and these measures will have minimal impact on the domestic economy, the Central Bank said yesterday.

The bank was named by a Sicilian prosecutor last year as having been used by fuel trader Gordon Debono to receive illicit payments through his Maltese company Petroplus Ltd, as part of an alleged ‘Dirty Oil’ €30 million fuel smuggling racket that also involved Darren Debono. Both are still believed to be on bail in Italy and fitted with electronic tagging devices.