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Matthew Vella
A former member of the National Euro Changeover Committee, the government body entrusted with the smooth adoption of the EU currency, has denied having used his position on the NECC to set up a Euro helpline which charges clients for professional advice on the Euro.
Having represented the Malta Chamber of SMEs (GRTU) on several of the NECC committees, Reuben Buttigieg, the managing director of Erremme Business Advisors, says he never used information he received as a member on the NECC committees to the commercial benefit of Erremme’s Euro helpline, which charges 40c a minute or 75c for each SMS on professional advice.
“If anything I used my own experience to actually feed the NECC on the Euro, and not the other way round,” Buttigieg told MaltaToday. “I have been providing consultancy on the Euro much before Malta’s accession into the EU, even in Italy.”
Buttigieg is a GRTU council member who served as chairman of the NECC’s pricing task force, as well as a member on the private sector, and IT committees. The GRTU ended its representation on the NECC in June, claiming the changeover committee was issuing positions and guidelines without consulting its members.
“One of our criticisms was the fact that we were getting to know of NECC positions through the media, while we were not aware of certain decisions,” Buttigieg said.
Asked whether the information provided by the NECC to its committee representatives served to be relayed to the public through Erremme’s helpline, Buttigieg claimed he had been instead providing the NECC with his own professional advice.
“I had been feeding the NECC, and not the other way round. In fact, the pricing task force had been discussing dual pricing long before the first communication was issued by the NECC. I’d say it was the NECC which benefited from my knowledge on the subject.”
mvella@mediatoday.com.mt
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