Credit Institutions
Malta's Banking Act defines the business of banking as the
business of a person who regularly "accepts deposits of money
from the public withdrawable or repayable on demand or after a
fixed period or after notice or who borrows or raises money from
the public, in either case for the purpose of employing such money
in whole or in part by lending to others or otherwise investing for
the account and at the risk of the person accepting such
money." Banks are referred to in the Banking Act as credit
institutions.
This law adopts EU Directives as the main reference for the
regulatory concepts and supervisory practices which it introduced.
The Authority responsible for issuing banking licences and for the
supervision of credit institutions is the Malta Financial Services
Authority ('MFSA'). The MFSA also licences branches of
foreign institutions carrying on the business of banking in Malta.
In the case of European credit institutions these are to be
