The chief executive of the Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA) handed in his letter of resignation on 25 November 2020.
The finance ministry was informed of Joseph Cuschieri’s decision shortly afterwards, by the MFSA board of governors.
Cuschieri had already suspended himself from the top job after local media revealed that he took an all-expenses-paid trip to Las Vegas with casino owner Yorgen Fenech, just one month after he started working at the financial regulator.
Fenech is currently being investigated over his alleged involvement in the murder of Maltese journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia.
At the time, Malta’s Nationalist Party called for Cuschieri to be sacked.
Not an ‘admission of misconduct’
In his resignation letter, Cuschieri said he made the decision to “avoid any unnecessary media attention and external pressures at such a critical juncture”, local newspaper Times of Malta reports.
But the move, he added, “should in no way be interpreted as an admission of any wrongdoings and/or misconduct”.
“I came to this conclusion after a period of deep reflection – that in the circumstances it is both in the interest of the Authority and myself to part ways.”
A spokesperson for he MFSA said: “On 25 November 2020, the Malta Financial Services Authority received the report of the board of review, which had been appointed by the board of governors on 3 November 2020 to carry out the necessary verifications regarding a possible breach of ethics by Mr Joseph Cuschieri and Dr Edwina Licari.
“On the same day, the board of governors of the Malta Financial Services Authority received Mr Cuschieri’s resignation from his role of chief executive.
“The Authority has taken note of Mr Cuschieri’s resignation. It has also taken note of the board of review’s opinion on the cases of both Mr Cuschieri and Dr Licari. The board of review’s conclusion regarding Mr Cuschieri leads the MFSA board to ratify his resignation.”
The regulator added that Christopher Buttigieg will serve as interim chief executive while the process to recruit a new chief executive gets underway.
