It’s good to hear that Joe Bannister will have to go

People in financial services – those who are concerned about Malta’s reputation, and not those who are operating, for example, Pilatus Bank – are concerned that Joe Bannister will survive as chief of Malta Financial Services Authority no matter who wins the general election, as he has done for the last 20 years.

But this John Dalli stooge, who has since also become a Joseph Muscat stooge for that very reason, will survive only if Muscat is re-elected to power. He is part of that machine. Muscat has said already that Bannister will survive unmolested, so to speak, should he be returned as prime minister.

Simon Busuttil has said the opposite. When asked about Bannister, he first said that he will be asked to hand in his resignation as is customary when there is a change in government. But within days that stance changed and he said that Bannister will be fired.

The fact that Bannister has survived for so long is a problem in and of itself, quite apart from accusations of mismanagement, political interference and incorrect behaviour. Two decades is far too long for anybody to be in charge of anything, let alone a regulatory authority. The man clearly thinks he owns the place and has built his own fiefdom.

The results of this dreadful situation are there, but only rarely make the mainstream news, as with the Pilatus Bank shocker.

The chairman of the Malta Financial Services Authority, Joe Bannister

The chairman of the Malta Financial Services Authority, Joe Bannister, is also deputy chairman of the Financial Intelligence Analysis Unit