Reference is made to the Malta Financial Services Authority’s (‘the Authority’) Media Release concerning Money+Card Payment Institution Ltd (‘the Institution’) dated 15 May 2019, whereby it was notified that the Authority restricted the licence of the Institution, in terms of Article 6(4) (c) and (d) of the Financial Institutions Act (‘the Act’). The restriction imposed was based on the following grounds:

• the Institution no longer possesses sufficient own funds to cover the minimum required by law; and
• the Institution, due to the deficiencies at management and Board level, no longer meets its governance requirements in terms of Article 5(1)(d) of the Financial Institutions Act.

Further to the above, on 10 June 2019, the Authority notified the Institution that after due consideration, given that the serious circumstances of the Institution subsisted, the following regulatory action was taken:

• require the institution to wind up its business in accordance with the Authority’s power in terms of Article 17(1)(e) of the Act;
• direct the institution to take all the necessary steps to pass an extraordinary resolution for the dissolution and consequential members’ voluntary winding up of the Institution in terms of Article 16(2)(b) of the Malta Financial Services Act , including the appointment of the liquidator to be chosen from a list of persons provided by the Authority.

Upon appointment of Dr Louis Cassar Pullicino as the liquidator, the Authority has on 09 August 2019:

• removed the restrictions imposed on the institution in terms of Article 6(5) of the Act insofar as this is required for the liquidator to perform the duties necessary` for the winding-up of the business;
• withdrawn the licence issued to the Institution in terms of Article 6(1) of the Act.

It should be noted that, in terms of Article 21(17) of the Malta Financial Services Authority Act, the Authority’s decision to cancel the Financial Institution’s licence shall not become operative until the expiration of the period within which an appeal can be filed, and if an appeal is made within such period, the decision shall become operative on the date of the decision of the Tribunal dismissing the appeal or the date on which the appeal is abandoned.

This notice is being published in terms of Article 6(8) of the Financial Institutions Act and Article 16(8) of the Malta Financial Services Authority Act and as part of the MFSA’s standard enforcement policy.