The Malta Financial Services Authority has confirmed the appointment of former FIAU head Kenneth Farrugia as its new CEO. 

In a statement is said that its board "took note of the several changes in the leadership of the Authority that took place over the last years and acknowledged that these were not beneficial for the Authority."

The board also agreed that the appointment of the right person to lead the Authority over the coming years was now "a matter of urgency".

It also acknowledged that the previous open and international call for applications for the position of Chief Executive Officer "had not benefited the Authority to the desired extent", and agreed that a public call for applications for the post would not be in the best interests of the Authority at this point in time.

Farrugia was Director General at the Internal Audit and Investigations Department (IAID before becoming director of the  Financial Intelligence Analysis Unit (FIAU).  

Times of Malta reported Farrugia's forthcoming appointment four days ago.

He will take on the CEO over the job vacated by Joseph Gavin last year, who stepped down after a short and rocky tenure at the financial regulator, which included walking out of a Times of Malta interview.

The Irish lawyer was appointed to the financial regulator in July of 2021 on a package reportedly worth €160,000.

Gavin himself took over from Joe Cuschieri, who resigned in 2020 for breaching MFSA ethics over a Las Vegas trip with murder suspect Yorgen Fenech. Cuschieri spent less than three years on the job. 

Farrugia will be following in the footsteps of FIAU chairman Jesmond Gatt, who was appointed MFSA chairman in February.