On 10 July 2025, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) published the results of a peer review that looked at the authorisation of crypto asset service providers (CASPs) in Malta under the Markets in Crypto Assets Regulation.
The peer review analyses the approaches adopted by the Malta Financial Services Authority in the authorisation and early supervision of a CASP and provides recommendations to strengthen these processes. It identifies overall a good level of resources and supervisory engagement within the authority, with some areas for improvement related to the assessment of authorisations.
ESMA also recommends that all Member State competent authorities, currently in the process of authorising CASPs, to pay particular attention to certain aspects of the authorisation, related to:
- Business growth where it is important to keep up with adequacy of resources, approaches and systems.
- Conflicts of Interests including those related to the combination of CASPs services and the related disclosure requirements.
- Governance and intragroup arrangements.
- ICT architecture including intragroup reliance and use of sub-providers.
- Web3 and decentralised products, including the promotion of unregulated services.