Irish lawyer Joseph Gavin has been appointed chief executive officer of the Malta Financial Services Authority. 

Gavin, a former general counsel with the Central Bank of Ireland, will take up his role in September. 

The former CEO, Joseph Cuschieri, resigned in November, a month after Times of Malta revealed that he had flown to Las Vegas with casino owner Yorgen Fenech in 2018, with Fenech footing the bill.

Christopher P. Buttigieg has been acting CEO since.

As CEO, Gavin will chair the authority’s executive committee and sit on the authority’s board of governors.

He was selected following an open call for applications through local and international channels, the MFSA said.

An assessment was undertaken by a specially appointed committee, chaired by independent assessor Carlo Cottarelli, an Italian economist and former director of the International Monetary Fund, and also comprising members from the board of governors.

Gavin will be responsible for the overall management and performance of the authority, and the implementation of reforms and consolidation in the financial services sector.

He acted as general counsel within the Central Bank of Ireland between 2009 and 2015, at a time in which the Irish regulator was undergoing significant policy and structural change. 

The MFSA say he was instrumental in guiding the Irish watchdog during a sensitive time, post-recession.

Gavin was more recently employed as a partner and head of financial services at an Irish law firm, providing specialist input in areas relating to regulation and enforcement in financial services.

The authority thanked Christopher P. Buttigieg who has been CEO ad interim since October 30 and who, it said, was instrumental for the authority during this challenging period.