The Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA) is the country’s single regulator for all banking, investment and insurance business and for regulating the activities of the Malta Stock Exchange. The MFSA also houses Malta’s Companies Registry.

The MFSA is a statutory body that operates independently of government, though it is publicly accountable to Malta’s Parliament. Established in October 2002 the MFSA is responsible for all the regulatory and supervisory functions previously carried out by Malta Financial Services Centre, The Central Bank of Malta and The Malta Stock Exchange.

The Malta Financial Services Centre was established in 1994 to promote Malta as a centre for international financial services and to act as the regulator of financial services in Malta. The Centre evolved from the Malta International Business Authority (MIBA), which was set up to supervise offshore activities.

The strategic management of the MFSA is vested in its Board of Governors. The Governors are obliged to report annually to Parliament and the organisation is also subject to scrutiny by Malta’s Public Accounts Committee, consisting of Members of Parliament from government and opposition parties.

Moving to a single regulator was a structured part of Malta’s long-term strategy to create a mainstream finance centre in the country. Malta is a jurisdiction that follows and helps develop international best practice.
Over the past decade, Malta has moved from being an offshore to an onshore jurisdiction. It has completed a programme of reforming all its finance sector legislation along EU-directive lines and was one of the first six countries in the world to reach an advanced accord on fiscal matters with the OECD. It is actively involved with the OECD, the EU and the Commonwealth in modelling global regulatory policy and is fully cooperative with other global supervisory bodies such as the Financial Action Task Force.

Malta’s finance industry has benefited significantly from the country’s national policy of moving to the mainstream. Financial services is now the fastest growing sector of the Maltese economy and one of the most important employers of trained professional staff.

Creating a unified regulatory structure enhances the potential for the finance industry, for consumers and for the protection of Malta’s international reputation.

Finance companies benefit from a reduction in bureaucracy, streamlined procedures, and more efficient compliance costs. Further benefits include greater consistency in policy and decision-making and greater harmonization of standards and practices across the finance industry.
On the consumer front, people now know that there is one single point of decision-making and policy creation and one single point of statutory authority for dealing with consumer concerns.

The establishment of the MFSA means that Malta now has one skilled, experienced and powerful body seeking to protect consumers whilst encouraging product innovation and fair and open competition in the financial services sector.

For further information visit the website of the MFSA.