Tribunal overturns MFSA fine for late submissions of accounts ‘due to COVID’

A tribunal has overturned a fine the financial regulator slapped on an investment firm for submitting its accounts late due to “administrative difficulties” caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Curmi & Partners were fined €5,000 last year for filing their audited accounts and other statutory returns with the MFSA three weeks after the April 2020 deadline. In an appeal before the tribunal, concluded this summer, the firm argued that the regulator had itself acknowledged the challenges posed by COVID-19 in a public notice it published in March 2020. The circular notified investment firms and other licensed entities that it would apply “flexibility” in the submission of regulatory filings due over the next few months. Curmi & Partners argued the MFSA had reversed on its own commitment to apply a degree of flexibility when it came to their regulatory submissions. The onset of the pandemic, it continued, was a time of great uncertainty, with the company and other industry players turning their focus on ensuring continuity in their operations. It accused the MFSA of acting “in the most arbitrary manner and in clear abuse of its discretion” by imposing the fine, given the circumstances and...