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THE TIMES BUSINESS • Thursday, July 29, 2004
FINANCIAL SERVICES
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
SEC Ð new regulations for hedge fund managers
On July 14, America’s Securities Exchange Commission (SEC)
proposed a rule requiring hedge fund managers to register with
the commission under the terms of the 1940 Investment Advisers Act. This rule will subject hedge fund managers to auditing
and disclosure requirements. If the proposal is adopted, funds
will have to publish information on fees and managers’ conflict
of interest, and be subject to spot audits by the SEC.
The SEC believes this could deter problems such as the theft
of clients’ money and the deliberate exaggeration of assets or
performance.
FSA publishes final rules on financial groups
The German delegation during its meeting at the MFSA.
The FSA has published its final rules for financial groups.
These rules will implement the requirements of the Financial
Groups Directive, which introduces for the first time a financial regime for financial conglomerates – those firms whose
activities span both the banking and investment sectors, and
the insurance sector. These new requirements are designed to
improve the stability of the financial system, and by doing so
protect customers of financial groups. A key aim of the directive is the consistent application of group supervision for all
financial groups operating in Europe.
German supervisory Warnings to investors
authority delegation in O
talks with the MFSA
A
DELEGATION from the Bundesanstalt für
Finanzdienstleistungsaufsicht (Bafin), the
German financial supervisory authority,
has visited Malta for talks on financial market
supervision. The delegation, led by Bafin president, Jochen Sanio, met MFSA chairman Joe
Bannister and held talks with the MFSA regulatory team.
Themes covered included the implementation
of the home country regulation principle in the
provision of cross-border financial services
between the two countries, regulatory co-operation and regulatory developments in the context
of EU financial services market integration.
Discussions also focussed on the European
passport for credit institutions, investment firms
and management companies, including the fine
tuning of notification procedures and supervisory
mechanisms for the provision of cross-border services and the establishment of branches in the
respective jurisdictions.
The two sides also discussed general good principles that companies operating under the free-
dom of services and establishment must follow in
undertaking any business activity in the respective host state.
Another part of the delegation discussed cooperation on the supervision of cross-border insurance activity and the exchange of regulatory information. The lines were also cleared with respect
to company authorisation procedures and notification requirements in this area.
Host authority responsibilities with regard to
non-EU/EEA subsidiaries registered in the
respective host state were also discussed.
The German delegation included Frank Pierschel, banking supervision and international
affairs, and Jorg Willems, senior inspector, insurance supervision.
The MFSA delegation also included Andrè
Camilleri, director general, Karol Gabarretta,
director, banking, Cristina Parlato Trigona, director, investments and Marisa Attard, director,
insurance.
A memorandum of understanding between the
two sides is expected to be signed shortly.
ÔOnshore EuropeÕ Ð MFSA
10th anniversary conference
The Malta Financial Services Authority will be
holding a conference on September 13 to mark the
10th anniversary of the approval of legislation setting up Malta as an onshore finance centre.
“The challenges that financial services have had
to face over the past decade have fundamentally
altered the way business is conducted at both the
international and the domestic level. The aim of the
conference is to take stock of Malta’s development
as a mainstream financial centre at a very significant time for financial services on the world stage”
the MFSA said.
Close Private Bank, Close
bank (Isle of Man) Limited,
Close Investment Management (Isle of Man) Limited and
Close Trustees (Isle of Man)
Limited.
The website appears to have
been copied, in parts, from the
website of the genuine Close
Bank (Isle of Man) Limited.
The commission said it was
satisfied that the website
using the above URL did not
represent and was in no way
associated or endorsed by the
genuine Close Bank (Isle of
Man) Limited, Close investment Management (Isle of
Man) Limited or Close
Trustees (Isle of Man) Limited.
Full releases can be accessed
from the warnings for investors
section in the MFSA website
(www.mfsa.com.mt).
Licences issued
during July 2004
Investment services
Revision of IS Licences
The MFSA has revised the IS Licence of Epic Stockbroking and Investment Services Limited to remove stockbroking services from their licence
and change their name to Epic Financial Services Ltd.
The authority has revised the IS licence of Benchmark Advisory Limited to include management services and investment advice to non-private clients.
The conference will be addressed by Prime
Minister Lawrence Gonzi; Pierre Delsaux from DG
Internal Market, European Commission; Arthur Collective Investment Schemes
Docters Van Leeuwen, chairman of The Commit- A CIS licence was issued to The Timeless Precious Metals Fund SICAV
tee of European Securities Regulators; Piero p.l.c.
Ugolini from the International Monetary Fund;
Michael C. Bonello, governor of the Central Bank Insurance business
of Malta and Prof. Joe Bannister, chairman of the
MFSA.
agents
The conference will be held at the Hilton Con- Insurance
Insurance Agency Ltd has been granted authorisation to act as
ference Centre, St Julians. Further details may be anRausi
insurance agent of Atlas Insurance Ltd in the general business classes.
found on the MFSA website: www.mfsa.com.mt
Features in the foreign press
The Malta Financial Services Authority featured
in the June/July issue of the Captive Review. The
article entitled Malta Joins the Club quoted Prof.
Joe Bannister, MFSA chairman, as saying that
“Malta has identified captive insurance, along with
trust and fund management, as areas of realistic
growth”.
Malta was also featured in the July issue of the
French magazine Entreprises – Rhone-Alps in an
article entitled Tonique, Malte? which highlighted
VER the past month
the MFSA has received
and circulated a number of warnings to investors
issued by overseas regulators
as follows:
July 7, 2004: The Isle of
Man Financial Supervision
Commission has warned that
Capital Investment Corporation (www.capitalinvestmentcorporation.com) which claims
to have a presence in or connection with the Isle of Man is
not, nor ever has been,
licensed by the FSC to undertake banking, investment or
corporate service provider
business in or from the island.
July 8, 2004: The Isle of
Man Financial Supervision
Commission has become aware
of a website using the URL:
www.closeprivate.com
and
falsely purporting to represent
the fact that Malta is not just a tourist destination,
but also a flourishing business and industrial centre.
The July issue of Portfolio International also mentioned that financial centres in the Mediterranean
are gearing up their cross-border expertise after
gaining full EU “passporting” rights for the first
time. The article entitled Financial Futures provided a brief overview of developments in Malta and
Cyprus.
Sub-Agents
11 new sub-agents were enrolled in the sub-agents list.
MFSA website: www.mfsa.com.mt
Registry website: http://registry.mfsa.com.mt
Emoney website: http://www.emoneymalta.com
Consumer website: http://www.mfsa.com.mt/consumer