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ARTICLE · 27 AUGUST 2026

MFSA Supervisory Strategy Success Reflected In Academic Paper

Malta's Financial Services Authority has dramatically expanded its supervisory capabilities, growing its workforce by 160% and increasing supervisory engagements by 350%. An academic paper examines how the regulator's innovative outcomes-based approach, particularly through 'Dear CEO' letters and structured industry outreach, achieves market-wide behavioral change without resource-intensive individual inspections of every licensed entity.

MaltaGovernment, Public Sector

Since then, the MFSA has increased its workforce by 160% – up to 575 people as at the end of 2025.

It also introduced specialised technical training via the MFSA’s Financial Supervisors Academy, resulting in a 350% increase in overall supervisory engagements, up over 1,800 in 2025.

An academic article about its strategy and approach was recently published by its chief officer Christopher P. Buttigieg and one of the managing editors of the MFSA’s Journal of Financial Supervisors Academy, Benjamin Ellul, in pre-publication platform SSRN.

In 2024, the MFSA restructured its communication strategy and complemented traditional supervisory methods with a more structured outreach in the form of industry guidance, circulars, technical conferences, and ‘Dear CEO’ letters.

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