BusinessToday Previous Editions

2 NEWS 11.3.2021 THE Malta Financial Services Author- ity ('MFSA'), together with the Malta Digital Innovation Authority ('MDIA'), yesterday issued a consultation doc- ument to obtain industry feedback in relation to the proposed adoption of Innovative Technology Arrangement (ITA) certification with the MDIA in relation to applicants of Virtual Finan- cial Assets services licence and licence holders (VFASPs). Herman Ciappara, Head, Virtual Fi- nancial Assets at the MFSA said, "the proposal will provide an additional layer of assurance on the technology being adopted, thus making the VFA framework more robust." Stephen McCarthy, CEO of MDIA said that through MDIA audits and certification, with their focus on ap- plying appropriate due diligence on the underlying technology, the proposed changes to the VFA framework will mitigate further technology risks and strengthen user and investor protec- tion. e document includes several pro- posals including: making ITA certifica- tion with the MDIA a requirement for the licensing of VFASPs, synergies that alleviate any potential duplication and added costs that may occur with the in- troduction of the MDIA certification, as well as proposed implementation guidelines. e Consultation is open until 30 March 2021. Industry participants and interested parties are invited to submit their feedback via email to VFA@mfsa. mt. FOR the seventh year running, the Malta Bankers' Association (MBA) in conjunc- tion with the European Banking Federa- tion (EBF) is joining in a series of activities held across Europe as part of European Money Week (EMW), which is aligned with OECD's Global Money Week. e MBA is a member of the EBF. is year the MBA, in collaboration with the Home Economics Seminar Centre with- in the Directorate for Learning and As- sessment Programmes and supported by JAYE Malta Foundation and ĠEMMA, is organising several initiatives to promote awareness related to financial literacy, fi- nancial education and financial inclusion for EMW 2021, scheduled between 22 and 26 March. Further information on these events, which will be held in line with the COV- ID-19 health directives, will be issued by the MBA in due course. At this stage, the MBA takes the oppor- tunity to highlight the series of webinars which will be organised by the EBF for this year's EMW, with the theme, "Count- ing Everyone In". e theme highlights the importance of including all social groups in financial education efforts, with a special focus on the elderly, women and youth. e first webinar will be held on 23 March at 16:00CET on "Financial secu- rity at an older age: What do we need to prepare for". e topic of the webinar held on the second day, on 24 March at 4pm is "Addressing the Gender Gap in Financial Literacy as Part of a Broader Strategy for Economic Empowerment". e EBF's series of webinars concludes on Day 3, 25 March at 4pm, with the topic being "Financial literacy for young Europeans: Joining forces to help build a future-proof skill set". e MBA urges all interested stakehold- ers to visit the EBF's website - https:// www.ebf.eu/europeanmoneyweek/ - for further information, including registra- tion, on the webinar series and other ac- tivities for EMW 2021. Malta Bankers' Association teams up once again with the EBF for European Money Week MFSA and MDIA in first joint consultation on VFASPs BOV to refund customers with dormant accounts and minimum balance fees BANK of Valletta has decided to re- verse fees applied thus far to dormant accounts and account balances below €200, following discussions with the regulator. e bank had already suspended the applications of these fees following feedback from the public and stake- holders, when it became apparent that despite the bank's communication programme between June and Decem- ber 2020, some customers remained unaware of the introduction of these charges. BOV had introduced these fees to partially recover costs of retaining ac- counts for clients who choose to keep their accounts inactive or with a low balance. e bank will be pursuing discussions with the Regulator and will be communicating afresh with its customers in this regard. ese fees will be reversed automati- cally and there is no need for custom- ers to contact their branch or the cus- tomer service centre. Notwithstanding the above, Bank of Valletta continues to encourage its clients not using their bank accounts to either activate these accounts, close them should they not be needed any more or opt for a basic payment ac- count which is exempt from the appli- cation of such charges.

• Cover