15th November 2024
The FIAU would like to remind financial institutions licensed under the provisions of the Financial Institutions Act of the changes to the Risk Evaluation Questionnaire (REQ) submission process.
As highlighted in the recent workshop organised by the MFSA on 30th October, as of 2025 these financial institutions must submit their REQ through the new single platform on the MFSA website, the ‘License Holder (LH) Portal’. This forms part of the pilot project under the Malta Financial Services Advisory Council (MFSAC) strategy to enable a harmonised reporting framework for subject persons.
The updated deadline for this submission is 31st January 2025, to align with the MFSA’s reporting requirements.
It is important to note that the Subject Person Profile and the Business Risk Assessment (BRA) uploading on the Subject Person Profile remain unchanged and must be submitted via CASPAR. Financial institutions will be prompted to complete the applicable payment for the REQ submission through the CASPAR portal. Payment instructions will be communicated through an official notification when due.
The FIAU would like to take this opportunity to remind financial institutions that the BRA needs to be submitted on CASPAR at any point during the year once it is updated. This implies there is no need to submit the BRA on 31 January 2025 if it is updated later in the year.
An Excel sheet containing the specimen REQ questions is available for preview and download following the below link.
We encourage MLROs and designated employees to review this document promptly to ensure timely and accurate submissions.
It is important to note that these changes do not apply to financial institutions that also hold licences under the provision of the Investments Services Act, the Insurance Business Act or the Insurance Distribution Act. The latter need to submit the REQ through CASPAR as in previous years.
For any queries about the REQ, kindly contact [email protected].