meta_id 3416279

On August 19, 2026, the Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA) published an overview of its enforcement activity during 2025, revealing significant regulatory compliance concerns across Malta's financial services sector. The MFSA imposed 91 enforcement actions and administrative penalties totalling €570,673 while processing 943 potential enforcement cases arising from supervisory work and other sources. Regulatory reporting breaches dominated enforcement activity, accounting for approximately 69 percent of all actions. The MFSA issued 63 administrative penalties for late or non-submission of statutory documentation, with 25 cases resolved through settlement. The MFSA emphasised that timely and accurate regulatory reporting represents a core obligation of all licence holders and cannot be delegated. The Authority does not issue reminders for reporting deadlines and grants extensions only in exceptional circumstances. Beyond reporting failures, the Enforcement Function investigated unauthorised business activities, scams, and governance and internal control deficiencies. The MFSA identified safeguarding of client funds as a critical enforcement priority, uncovering inadequate segregation of client funds, insufficient or irregular reconciliations, and weak governance frameworks among certain financial institutions, including payment and electronic money institutions. During 2025, the MFSA cancelled the licence of one financial institution partly due to breaches of safeguarding requirements, with further investigations ongoing in this area. The MFSA reiterated that licence holders must maintain robust governance arrangements, effective internal controls, and full compliance with regulatory obligations. The Authority conducts investigations to establish whether breaches have occurred and whether enforcement action is warranted, with regulatory measures including administrative penalties, directives, licence suspension or cancellation, and public reprimands. Licence holders subject to potential action receive the opportunity to submit representations at the Minded Action stage, with settlement options available in accordance with MFSA policies.