Tough agenda for new MFSA chairman

When the new chairman takes over at the Malta Financial Services Authority at the end of March 2018, he faces a tight agenda to give this organisation a better image in the coming years.

John Mamo has the right credentials to define and execute a practical strategy for the financial services regulator as his past and present academic and business success is acknowledged by most of those who have worked with him.

At the top of his agenda should feature the restoration of Malta’s image among local and foreign financial services operators as a reputable regulator that demands from licence holders high standards of adherence to financial regulation, including anti-money laundering and anti-financial crime. It is a worrying reality that, in the past few years, the MFSA was not always seen to be sufficiently determined to challenge abuse by a few rogue operators who used Malta’s attractive financial services legislation to conduct unethical business.

Some operators argue that another issue the MFSA needs to address with urgency is that of the conflict of interest that exists between its role as regulator of financial services and as promoter of the industry on the international...