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The Malta Financial Services Authority has recently launched a consultation paper highlighting its vision for the coming years. Labelled as MFSA's Vision 2021 it outlines the authority’s aim to strengthen its processes and paving the way for the future of the financial services industry. Concurrently, the MFSA also launched a consultation document on the MFSA's FinTech strategy, proposing the introduction of a regulatory sandbox and innovation hub.
Vision 2021 sees MFSA setting the blueprint for its mission to enhance its position as a forward-looking, proactive and trustworthy supervisory authority with one clear purpose - safeguarding the integrity of markets and maintaining stability within the financial sector.
Furthermore, based on the assumption that new business models, products and services in the fintech sphere are often shaped by the increasing significance of data and analytics, risk management and compliance, security, digitization, enterprise mobility, payments and enhanced customer experience, the MFSA aims to provide a tailored approach to authorisation for innovative firms. This is clearly articulated in the vision document, with a focus on the Authority’s approach to risk management, conduct, enforcement, and anti-money laundering / counter-financing of terrorism supervision.
The Authority’s objective is to work with startups and companies scaling-up their operations, as well as with established global financial institutions, to capture additional financial technology investment and help drive increased investment, entrepreneurship and employment across the industry.
The MFSA is thus currently assessing a number of viable solutions to nurture innovation and to facilitate the industry’s access to fintech, including through the establishment of a Fintech Regulatory Sandbox and supporting the development of Innovation Hubs and Innovation Partnerships.
The MFSA's fintech strategy consultation document also takes into consideration the European Commission’s FinTech Action Plan which seeks to harness the opportunities presented by technological innovation and the Commission’s efforts to build a true Digital Single Market. The MFSA aims to adopt RegTech and SupTech solutions and to educate the industry as a whole on the benefits and risks of FinTech and related technologies.
