Malta Financial Services Authority Releases Three-Year Strategic Plan

The MFSA, short for Malta Financial Services Authority, has released its strategic plan for the next three years, from 2019-2021. The authorities officially published the plan today which highlights the supervising priorities, as well as primary areas, which the MFSA aims to concentrate on through this timeline.

Since Malta has gradually become crypto and blockchain-friendly jurisdiction, the MFSA has set crypto on priority in the plan. Some of the authority’s priorities include fighting money laundering, terrorism financing, and financial crime. The report also stated that they would be tracking and administering business risks actively, that relate to licensed crypto businesses and virtual assets.

The report noted that the MFSA would strive to modernize their regulatory approach in order to be on top of the developments. It also disclosed that the regulator would continue working with the FIAU, as well as other authorities, both domestic and international, including the recently formed MDIA (Malta Digital Innovation Authority).

Higher Reliance on Technology:

The regulatory authority is going to heavily rely on technology for effectively supervising the Maltese financial industry. The report highlighted that the MFSA not only has invested but also has begun the process of executing SupTech intelligence tools. It will help the authority in identifying fraud, preventing terror financing, and money laundering, along with protecting investors, consumers, along with market stakeholders.

Apart from that, the SupTech tools’ implementation will offer strong oversight tools to the authority for automating regulatory procedures and auditing risk management of the Maltese licensed virtual asset trades.

CFD regulations and binary options:

The report also revealed that the MFSA would oversee companies to ensure their compliance with the MiFID II. The regulator stated that they intend to monitor, find out, and manage the misconducts by companies in due time. They also aim to mitigate the harmful effects of misuse on the market, accelerating their enforcement actions against supervised firms’ misconducts.

Moreover, the regulator will also implement the National Product Intervention Measures considered through 2019. It refers to limitations for binary options and CFDs (contracts for differences).