S.L. 545.19 Art. 5Refusal of application, suspension or revocation of an authorisation.

(1) The Regulator may refuse the application for the issue or transfer of an authorisation, and in the case of a renewal of an authorisation, suspend or revoke an authorisation, if an applicant for the issue of an authorisation or an authorised provider has -

(a) contravened any provision of, or committed an offence against -

(i) the Act, any regulations prescribed thereunder, any subsidiary legislation prescribed under any of the provisions of the Petroleum (Importation,

Storage and Sale) Ordinance, the Enemalta (Transfer of Assets, Rights, Liabilities and Obligations) Act or the Water Services

Corporation Act or any regulations kept in force by virtue of the provisions of any of the aforesaid Acts or deemed to have been issued thereunder, or of any other law for which the Regulator is the competent authority;

(ii) the Consumer Affairs Act, the Competition Act, the Companies Act, or any regulations prescribed thereunder;

(iii) the Public Health Act or the Metrology Act; or

(b) committed a voluntary criminal offence liable to a punishment of imprisonment for at least one year.

(2) When making a decision under subregulation (1), the Regulator shall take into account -

(a) the seriousness of, and circumstances surrounding the offence or the contravention;

(b) the explanation offered by the convicted person;

(c) the relevance of the offence to the proposed role in the case of an application for an authorisation or for the transfer thereof and the relevance to the authorisation in the case of an authorisation already issued by the Regulator or deemed to have been issued by the Regulator;

(d) the passage of time since the offence was committed and evidence of the individual’s rehabilitation: Provided that the Regulator, when considering whether an applicant for the issue or transfer of an authorisation or for a renewal of an authorisation, is a fit and proper person to be a holder thereof, the Regulator shall also have regard to the following matters:

(i) any evidence of actual harm or detriment to other authorised providers or consumers;

(ii) evidence pointing to risks to authorised providers and consumers from dealings with the applicant or the authorised provider.