On the 11th of October 2021, the Malta Financial Services Authority (“MFSA”) issued a circular to inform the industry on two matters: the Investment Firms Classification and XBRL Submission Testing Phase.
Investment Firms Classification
Following the implementation of the Investment Firms Regulation and Directive (“IFRD”), investment firms are required to state under which category they classify:
- Class 1, meeting the criteria under Article 1(2)(a) or (b) of the IFR;
- Class 1 Minus, meeting the criteria under Article 1(2)(c) of the IFR;
- Class 2, meeting none of the criteria under the IFR; or
- Class 3, meeting the criteria under Article 12 of the IFR.
Investment firms should fill in the excel sheet found on the MFSA website and submit it duly compiled through the LH Portal using the ‘Investment Firms Reporting Project – OTH’, by not later than the 1st November 2021.
XBRL Submission Testing Phase
The MFSA has recently launched the XBRL Submissions Testing Phase through the test repository of the LH Portal. The MFSA would like to encourage those individuals responsible for submission to create a test account through a link provided in the MFSA Circular. Access to the ‘Securities & Markets – IFR EBA Return’ project can be requested on [email protected], indicating the Investment Firm represented.
Once validation is granted, test files can be submitted following the provided guidelines. Files validation are to be carried out in two phases:
- Phase 1 – Verification of file type and name as per the guidelines in the ‘File Upload’ section;
- Phase 2 – Validation checks of content in line with the EBA 3.1 Reporting Framework.
Investment Firms have the discretion to either cover Phase 1 only, or both Phase 1 and Phase 2.
Do not hesitate to contact us should you require any additional information on the above.
