The following circular issued by the Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA) highlights its expectations with regard to the internet sites used by VFA Licence Holders (LHs).
Conditions applicable to LHs vis-a-vis the internet site:
- The LH is to assume full responsibility for all information that is communicated or displayed on the internet site and the overall quality of any such information displayed therein;
- The Compliance Officer of the LH shall be the main point of contact with the MFSA with respect to the internet site;
- The LH shall ensure that the appropriate warnings and disclaimers can be viewed in the same browser format as the rest of the site so as to be visible by all visitors of the site; and
- The LH shall ensure that the internet site clearly distinguishes between services that fall within the scope of its VFA services licence, and which it is licensed offer, and other services which the LH provides, and which fall outside the scope of the VFA.
Minimum information to be included on the website:
- The name, address and contact details of the LH;
- Details on the LH's authorisation, including the specific services the LH is authorised to provide; and
- Procedure for the submission of complaints and a description of the complaints handling procedure of the LH, as required by R-33.4.3.11.
In view of the above, LHs are requested to ensure that their internet sites reflect the above requirements at the earliest, and in any case by no later than 1 month from the publication of this circular. Further updates and developments to the VFA framework will be made public on: https://www.mfsa.mt/fintech/virtua-lfinancial-assets/
