Introduction The European Union (“EU”) is currently undergoing a significant reform within its payment services framework. This development is reflected in the proposed Third Payment Services Directive (“PSD3”) and the accompanying Payment
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Open banking has always carried a paradox between the promise of revolutionary innovation shadowed by the practical and legal challenges of implementation. PSD2 opened the door to third-party providers, enabling fintechs to aggregate accounts, ini
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On 10 June 2025, the European Banking Authority (“EBA”) issued a No Action Letter in the form of an Opinion (EBA/Op/2025/08), providing targeted supervisory guidance to national competent authorities (“NCAs”) designated under Directive (EU
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Fraud has always been the shadow lurking at the edges of digital payments, but the Payment Services Directive II (“PSD 2”)’s introduction of strong customer authentication seemed, at first, to have turned the corner. Yet reality proved less
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For a decade, the European payment services landscape has been defined by tension posed by the desire to open markets to innovation and competition, counterbalanced by the imperative to protect consumers and maintain financial stability. Directive
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In the operation of payment institutions, safeguarding client funds is a fundamental regulatory requirement. Traditionally, this has been achieved through the segregation of client funds in separate accounts. However, Maltese law recognises altern
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Banks seeking to expand their operations into Malta from another EU Member State benefit from the EU’s single market framework, which streamlines cross-border banking while maintaining rigorous prudential and operational safeguards. The establis
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On 19th August 2025 the Malta Financial Services Authority (“MFSA”) has published the findings of a thematic review into compliance of Financial Institutions with the Payment Account Regulations (SL 371.18). The review focused on the three I
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On the 10th of June 2025, the European Banking Authority (the “EBA”) published a No Action letter advising the European Union (“EU”) Commission, EU Council and EU Parliament to avoid dual authorisation under two EU legislative regimes. The
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The Digital Operational Resilience Act (“DORA”) and the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (“MiFID II”) are two significant components of the EU’s regulatory landscape aimed at ensuring financial market stability, transparenc
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The European Union (the “EU”) shall be revising the rules of the Payment Services Directive (the “PSD 2” or “Directive”) due to digital payment methods which have emerged since the last time the Directive was amended. The current versi
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By means of a notice issued by the Malta Financial Services Authority (the “MFSA”) on the 15th July 2020, the MFSA reminded all licence holders of their obligations in relation to record keeping. In order to ensure consumer protection, complia
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Following the notice on the interim supervisory measures delineating the measures to be taken by the Malta Financial Services Authority (“MFSA”) in supervising licensed entities during the recent pandemic, the MFSA circulated another notice re
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The Malta Financial Services Authority (“MFSA”) has recently revised Financial Institution Rules FIR/01, FIR/02 and FIR/03 (the “Rules”) with the aim to reflect the recent amendments in the Financial Institutions Act, Chapter 376 of the La
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On the 25th September 2019, the European Banking Authority (“EBA”) launched a public consultation on its proposals for a simple, transparent and standardised (“STS”) framework for synthetic securitisations. This new STS framework was intro
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The European Central Bank ("ECB")has recently issued an Occasional Paper entitled "In search for stability in crypto-assets: are stablecoins the solution?" (the "Paper"). The Paper provides a description of stablecoin
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Changes in the PSD II While the previous EU Directive on Payment Services has provided for the legal foundation of an EU single market in the area of payment services and has established a safer and more innovative payment services across the EU,
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