Hector Spiteri has been appointed as administrator of Malta-based Zenith Finance, according to a court order on 13 April 2021.
He will take control of the business as well as preserve all of the assets of Zenith Finance.
As a consequence of the court order, the Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA) will be terminating the appointment of Stephen Paris as a competent person for Zenith Finance, with effect from 28 April 2021, as Spiteri will take over the roles and responsibilities of Paris.
Paris will continue as a qualified person for Zenith (Tied Insurance Intermediary) until the MFSA states otherwise.
Directives
This latest act comes a month after the MFSA imposed a number of directives against the company, which offers investment and life insurance services, as well as appointing Paris.
The MFSA said on 26 March that the company “is not in a position to continue properly servicing its clients whilst adhering to the applicable legal requirements”, including fitness of the company and its shareholders.
The Maltese regulator directed the company to:
- Refrain from onboarding of new clients and refrain from providing existing clients with any new or additional services;
- Cease all outgoing transactions from the company’s client accounts, including intra-client account transactions; and,
- Ensure that the company and its directors maintain proper safeguard of all records relating to Zenith’s operations, including its investment services activities. The company should not destroy, conceal or alter such records in any way.
The directives will remain in place until the MFSA states otherwise.
