Malta Financial Services Strategy Shows Strong Progress with 66% Completion Rate Across Key Sectors

The Malta Financial Services Advisory Council (MFSAC) has reported significant advancement in implementing its ambitious strategy to transform Malta into a leading specialised financial services jurisdiction, with 66% of projects now completed or underway since the strategy's launch in March 2023.

The comprehensive plan, developed through collaboration with over 120 industry professionals, regulators and government representatives, was consolidated from 175 original initiatives to 76 strategic projects. Of these, 29 have been successfully completed, with many others progressing toward full implementation.

At the core of the strategy are five vertical areas: Banking & Payments, Capital Markets, Asset Management, Insurance & Pensions, and Fintech & AI. As projects progressed, Banking and Payments transformed into the Payments Hub initiative, while Fintech & AI was split, with AI becoming a horizontal enabling initiative given its potential impact across all industries.

Projects associated with Wealth and Asset Management are essentially complete, as are Insurance-related initiatives, while good progress has been made in Capital Markets. The tender for Centralised Identity Management has been awarded, with deployment expected by Q4 2026. Significant efforts are also advancing towards establishing a National Digital Payments Hub, with ongoing discussions aimed at defining the optimal model.

Malta's legislative framework is being actively updated, with the Companies Act successfully passing its second reading in Parliament. The jurisdiction is strategically cultivating new opportunity areas, including Aircraft Leasing, where necessary legislative changes have been drafted by the MFSA with discussions progressing on incentives.

The comprehensive offer and marketing materials for Family Offices have been finalised, with promotional activities including international events now underway to attract this segment.

Four horizontal areas critical to the strategy's success include Human Resources & Education, Taxation, Sustainable Finance, and Artificial Intelligence as a critical enabler. A commitment to regulatory harmonisation is evident through ongoing technical analysis for a Harmonised Regulatory Reporting Framework across key authorities.

These wide-ranging endeavours collectively underscore the strategic intent to foster an agile, innovative and sustainably growing financial services sector, making Malta an increasingly attractive and competitive jurisdiction globally.

The full document detailing MFSAC’s milestones, progress and benefits can be read in the about section of the Business News Malta site.