CBM and MFSA Publish Regulatory and Reporting Updates in March 2022
The Central Bank of Malta (CBM) launched its Corporate Strategic Plan, with continued focus on the digital transformation strategy. Additionally, the Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA) issued a circular on reminding authorized persons about their expectation with respect to cybersecurity as well as a circular on reporting on correspondent banking payment transactions.
Below are the key details of the recent updates:
- The key strategic objectives highlighted in the CBM Corporate Strategic Plan include enhancing the macro-prudential toolkit, strengthening the stress testing framework, enhancing financial crisis preparedness, enhancing risk mitigation and security measures, integrating sustainable finance and the effects of climate change in the relevant areas of competencies of CBM, and enhancing overall efficiency and effectiveness, while actively promoting environmental awareness, corporate social responsibility, inclusiveness, and diversity.
- MFSA issued a circular to remind authorized persons about their expectation to conduct proper situational awareness and regularly assess their exposures to developing Information and Communications Technology (ICT) and cybersecurity threats, while taking timely measures to address them. Authorized persons are expected to continue to follow the developments from reputable sources, revisit, and re-assess their ICT and security risks (including third-party risks), and ensure that they have business continuity and disaster recovery plans in place that address severe but plausible scenarios. Authorized Persons are expected to ensure that their backup and recovery processes are functioning correctly and in line with secure backup best practices.
- MFSA issued a circular to credit institutions on amendments to template for reporting on correspondent banking payment transactions. The main amendments in the revised reporting template to be utilized as from June 2022 reference date include change in terminology from correspondent bank to correspondent entity, addition of a new column identified as Geographical Location both in the Outward and Inward tab of the template, and setting 12 currencies as fixed columns in the reporting template while including a drop-down list for the other reporting currencies.
Related Links
- CBM Press Release on Corporate Strategic Plan
- CBM Corporate Strategic Plan (PDF)
- MFSA Circular on Heightened Cyber Threat (PDF)
- MFSA Circular on Reporting on Banking Payment Transactions
- MFSA Correspondent Banking Reporting Template (XLSX)
Keywords: Europe, Malta, Banking, Strategic Plan, ESG, Climate Change Risk, Cyber Risk, Reporting, CBM, MFSA
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