The parts of the former Principal Auditor's Report for 2018/2019 which relate to his attempt to carry out a compliance audit of the Gibraltar Savings Bank are another of the litany of sections of his report that reflect factual and legal errors as well as showing his clear tendency to bias towards the GSD.

Experience & expertise to carry out POCA / compliance audit

In respect of the former Principal Auditor's attempts to carry out a compliance audit of the Gibraltar Savings Bank, the Chief Minister was advised, by successive Financial Secretaries, that the Principal Auditor was not statutorily empowered to carry out such a compliance audit of the GSB. In fact, an initial Proceeds of Crime / compliance audit ('POCA/compliance audit') of the GSB, by the office of the Principal Auditor, at the GSB's invitation some years ago, identified that more expertise was required to carry out such an audit and the GSB therefore contracted with PWC for such audits to be carried out.

The Gibraltar Savings Bank already has, therefore, benefitted from POCA / compliance audits by PWC which the GSB has had carried out with regularity, despite not being required to do so.

PWC carry out such audits for licensed institutions regularly and have wide experience, expertise and qualifications to do so, quite unlike the office of the Principal Auditor that do not carry out any such audits of any institution as part of their statutory functions.

To have the GSB re-audited for POCA / compliance by personnel in the office of the Principal Auditor, without the same experience or expertise in this field as those in a Big Four firm of accountants that carry out such audits regularly for licensed institutions, made no sense and this could give rise to a public loss of confidence in the standards of compliance by the GSB given it had already subjected itself to voluntary POCA / compliance audit by PWC.

POCA / Compliance audit of GSB outside PA's Statutory Functions

A POCA / compliance audit of the Gibraltar Savings Bank is, in any event, OUTSIDE the Constitutional ambit of the office of the Principal Auditor and, therefore, not agreeing to his request to carry out such an audit, is not contrary to the Consititution but in full compliance and in keeping with it.

The former Principal Auditor was therefore not impeded, contrary to the Constitution. In fact, the former Principal Auditor was acting ultra vires, outside, his Constitutional powers.

Moreover, the former Principal Auditor was himself aware of this attempt by him being in excess of his powers, as he had previously written to the former Financial Secretary recognising that he had no power to carry out such an audit of the Gibraltar Savings Bank without being invited to do so.

That means that the former Principal Auditor's criticism of the Chief Minister in this section of this report is made by the former Principal Auditor despite his previous, written recognition of the opposite being the case.

GSB accounts gazetted upon publication of PAs Report for relevant financial year

Additonally, Mr Sacramento in not responsible for the Gazetting of the accounts of the Gibraltar Savings Bank.

The Minister with responsibility for the Savings Bank, the Hon Sir Joe Bossano MP, has repeatedly debated in Parliament with Hon Roy Clinton MP when the accounts of the Savings Bank must be Gazetted.

Sir Joe has stated repeatedly that he is sticking to the position established since he was given responsibility for the Gibraltar Savings Bank that its accounts should be Gazetted when the Principal Auditor’s report for that year is published.

For that reason, the accounts for 2018/2019 were published last week when the former Principal Auditor's report for 2018/2019 was published.

The former Principal Auditor has, on this issue also, therefore chosen to publicly take a position akin to that of the GSD, further illustrating the very biased, pro-GSD nature of his 2018/2019 report.

Former Principal Auditor irresponsible to suggest POCA / compliance audit issue with GSB

The Chief Minister, the Hon Fabian Picardo KC MP, said: "It is irresponsible in the extreme that the former Principal Auditor has suggested that there is any issue with compliance in the Gibraltar Savings Bank.

"He knows that the GSB has the benefit of a compliance audit by PWC who were qualified and experienced to carry out that audit that his office is not statutory empowered to carry out.”

"In fact, although he conveniently avoids saying so in his clearly biased report, the former Principal Auditor actually wrote to the former Financial Secretary and confirmed that he accepted that a compliance audit of the Gibraltar Savings Bank was outside of his statutory functions. It is therefore clear that, despite what the former Principal Auditor has now, unfairly and improperly, said in his biased report, he himself has previously said that he is NOT statutorily empowered to carry out a compliance audit of the Savings Bank, and there has therefore not been any constitutional failure on my part when I have communicated back to him his own written, previously expressed views.”

"It appears to me that, in his angst to add criticism of me and my Government to his biased report, Mr Sacramento has forgotten what he said in writing previously in relation to his lack of powers in respect of a compliance audit of the Savings Bank, in which he flatly contradicts himself. "

"Mr Sacramento is therefore wrong to suggest I have acted unconstitutionally.“
"In fact, it was he who was exceeding his legal authority in seeking to insist on carrying out a compliance audit which he previously specifically recognised was outside his statutory functions.”

"Again, alongside his views as to the formal Gazetting of the accounts of the Savings Bank, this part of the 2018/2019 report represents another massive failing in the facts and argumentation by the former Principal Auditor and is another nail in the coffin of the credibility of that report.”

"Despite all of the above, I have no doubt that the former Principal Auditor agrees that the Gibraltar Savings Bank provides the safest and most competitive option for savers and that, upon his retirement, he will join the thousands of Gibraltarian pensioners and savers who deposit their money with the GSB."