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The Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA) and the Financial Intelligence Analysis Unit (FIAU) have taken an important step towards introducing the Harmonised Regulatory Reporting Framework (HRRF).
The HRRF had been identified by the Malta Financial Services Advisory Council as a way to reduce duplication by eliminating, as far as possible, overlapping data requests across different domestic returns and bodies.
Apart from reducing the operational burden for companies involved, the new framework will also create a standardised ecosystem which will reduce the possibility of data errors.
Scope and phased approach
The new framework will affect domestic returns (as opposed to internationally mandated ones) such as regulatory returns, templates, or reporting formats designed and issued internally by the MFSA and/or the FIAU to meet national supervisory requirements.
The MFSA recently issued a circular explaining the phased approach it has adopted to the introduction of the framework, working with each sector to ensure that operators are well prepared.
Apart from rationalising data points to ensure consistency in definitions and proportionality, it also had to ensure that these comply with the eventual Regulatory Technical Standards issued under Article 40(2) of Directive (EU) 2024/1640 (AMLD6).
Conversion tool
Another milestone was the creation of a conversion tool, which allows Authorised Persons and their service providers to complete domestic returns in spreadsheet software format, then converting it into the required JSON format for submission.
This tool was specifically designed to help entities that do not wish to generate machine-readable JSON files directly from their own systems, or those planning to transition to automated reporting at a later stage.
Other details relating to the framework will be issued over the coming weeks, to ensure that all entities are prepared by January 2027, when formal submissions in the new JSON-based format will become mandatory.
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