Hyzler calls in MPs to explain declaration of assets

Commissioner for Standards in Public Life, George Hyzler, will be sending letters to all of Malta’s MPs, asking them for clarifications about the declaration of assets they have presented to parliament for 2018.

A controversy erupted earlier this month after it was claimed that parliamentary secretaries had been given a pay rise by the government, without there having been any announcement.

While the government insisted that there had been no change in parliamentary secretaries’ or ministers’ salaries, this wasn’t immediately clear from the declaration of assets presented to parliament, owing to a lack of uniformity in the way these declarations are made.

In comments to MaltaToday, Hyzler said his office would be sending a letter to all members of parliament in order for them to “clarify certain aspects of the declarations made”. He wouldn’t elaborate on what clarifications would be requested.

All members of parliament, including ministers and parliamentary secretaries, are obliged to submit a declaration of assets, including work performed outside parliament along with details about their employer; details about any property they own, including any property owned by their spouse or minor children; shares in any companies and other investments; any directorships or other official position in commercial companies, or other organisations.

While the present system does allow for a level of scrutiny of Malta’s elected officials, the form on which the information is submitted isn’t very clear about the way in which it must be presented.

This was abundantly clear to those who attempted to make sense of this latest controversy. While some ministers broke down their income by source, others simply gave a global figure. Some, like the Prime Minister, simply declared their income to be “Prime Minister’s salary”.

In order to ensure better scrutiny and less confusion Hyzler said he would also like to see changes in the way these declarations are made.

“We will be making proposals to change the form that is sent by the Speaker to the members of parliament,” the commissioner said.

The decision on whether or not to change the current form on which assets are declared will ultimately be the Speaker’s.

Declarations must be consistent in order to facilitate scrutiny

While there is no global standard on how public officials should declare their income, there are some core principles which should be adhered to in order for a system to be truly effective, Emilia Berazategui, Global Advocacy Coordinator at Transparency International told MaltaToday.

“As a general rule such declarations should include both officials’ assets – their property, valuables, financial portfolios and other sources of income – as well as declarations about gifts and sponsorships,” Berazategui said.

She said it was essential that any system require declarations to be as comprehensive and as standardised as possible.

“It is important because if civil society or the press want to have some form of oversight over what government and its officials are doing, they must have accurate information that is presented in the same way across the board,” she stressed.

“You can’t have a situation where an official gives a breakdown of their sources of income one year and then provide a global figure the next.”

Asked whether the requirement to declare one’s assets should be extended to other government officials, Berazategui said that those occupying senior roles should always be required to make such public declarations.

“This also applies to those who might not be in a senior position but who, nonetheless, occupy positions where it is important for the public to have access to this type of information. A good example is people working in public procurement,” she said

Malta’s present declaration of assets system had also been flagged by the Council of Europe’s Group of States Against Corruption (GRECO) which noted in its fifth evaluation round on Malta, that stricter controls were necessary on the “ancillary activities of top officials, including their involvement in legal construction and offshore operations, conflicts of interest [and] declaration of assets”.

“There is a need to review the declaratory obligations in place for people entrusted with top executive functions, so that the more detailed and specific requirements set forth in respect of ministers and parliamentary secretaries apply to a broader number of categories of such persons.

GRECO also stressed that the declaration of assets should also be extended to spouses, beyond assets that are a part of their community of acquests.

Officials’ right to privacy

While one could argue that the public should be able to access all information about the people who are signing off on deals involving taxpayer money, there is also an argument to be made about officials’ right to privacy.

“It depends on the country and how they balance the right to access to information and the individual’s right to privacy,” Berazategui said.

She said that while some countries might decide that all declared information should be made public, others might decide that a section of the declaration should be scrutinised by an independent authority internally.

Berazategui also stressed that for an asset declaration system to be truly effective, an independent body with the necessary human and financial resources was needed to be able to verify the data.

“Otherwise you will have many declarations without having the financial and human resources to verify whether the information listed in them is correct,” she said.

Moreover, Berazategui noted that there must also be a “credible regime of punitive sanctions” in the case of late submissions or misreporting of information.

How does Malta compare with other countries?

United Kingdom

What needs to be declared? 

The Code of Conduct for MPs together with the Guide to Rules relating to the Conduct of Members requires any financial interests, falling under ten categories to be declared. 

The categories are: Employment and earnings; Donations and other support for activities as an MP; Gifts, benefits and hospitality from UK sources; Visits outside the UK; Gifts and benefits from sources outside the UK; Land and Property; Shareholdings; Miscellaneous; Family members employed; Family members engaged in lobbying. 

When it comes to employment and earnings, MPs and peers in the House of Lords must register:

• Salaries, fees and payments in kind; gifts received in recognition of services performed
• Taxable expenses, allowances and benefits such as company cars;
• Redundancy and ex gratia payments;
• Income as a member of Lloyd’s
• Payments for opinion surveys  
• Whether they are a director of the organisation;
• The name and address of the payer and a brief description of their business;
• The name and address of any client to whom the member has personally provided services, if different from the payer, and a brief description of their business;
• The size of the payment received and the nature and value of any taxable benefits and any payments in kind – payments must be given in gross.
• Nature of the work involved, and the number of hours’ work to which each payment relates;
• Date the payment was received
• Confirmation that the member has not engaged in paid advocacy

European Parliament

What needs to be declared? 

According to the Code of Conduct for Members of the European Parliament, declarations of financial interests shall contain:

• MEPs’ occupation during the three years before their election, including membership of any company boards or committees, NGOs or bodies established at law
• Any salary received from another parliament
• Any regular paid activity undertaken alongside the exercise of their office
• Any relevant outside activity undertaken irrespective of whether or not it is paid  
• Any occasional activity which is paid if the total of all occasional activities exceeds €5,000 in one calendar year
• Any holding in a company or partnership where there are potential public policy implications or where that holding gives them significant influence over the affairs of the body in question.
• Any form of support, additional to that provided by Parliament by third parties and granted in connection with the MEP’s political activities by third parties.
• Any other financial interests which might influence the performance of the member’s duties

Additionally, MEPs must also refrain from accepting any gifts or similar benefits other than those with an approximate value lower than €150. Any gifts received in their official capacity must be handed over to the president of the parliament and dealt with according to established procedures. All gifts received are kept in a register which can be viewed online.

United States

What needs to be declared? 

According to the Ethics in Government Act, lawmakers and other government officials must declare:

• The source, type and amount or value of income from any source, and the source, date, and amount of honoraria from any source, received during the preceding calendar year, aggregating $200 or more in value and, the source, date and amount of payments made to charitable organisations in lieu of honoraria, and the reporting individual shall simultaneously file with the applicable supervising ethics office, on a confidential basis, a corresponding list of recipients of all such payments together with the dates and amounts of such payments.
• The source and type of income which consists of dividends, rents, interest and capital gains, received during the preceding calendar year which exceed $200 in amount of value.
• The identity of the source, a brief description, and the value of all gifts aggregating more than the minimal value up until a maximum of $250 received from any source.