Financial services activity in Malta on the increase

23rd November 2009 - The number of Maltese investment services licences increased by 7 during the first 9 months of 2009, reaching a total of 82 in spite of the international economic crisis.

The number of fund administrators recognised by the Malta Financial Services Authority correspondingly declined from 16 to 13 as shown in the November 2009 Economic Survey, compiled by the Finance Ministry’s Economic Policy Division.

The MFSA also issued 62 new Collective Investment Scheme Licences, bringing the total number of licences at the end of September to 400. There was no change in the number of licensed credit and financial institutions, which stand at 22 and 15 respectively.

The MFSA also issued 2 new licences for affiliated insurance companies and 1 for a general insurance company. The number of licensed insurance managers increased by 1 to 13, while registered insurance brokers increase by 2 to 69 during the period under review.

1,914 new companies were registered with the Registry of Companies during January-September 2009, of which 1,867 represent local companies and 47 are partnerships.

The MFSA was established in July 2002, and is the regulator and supervisory authority for the Maltese financial services sector. One of government’s targets for 2015 is to increase the contribution of the financial services sector to GDP from 12 to 25 per cent.