Doreen Balzan - Head, Securities and Markets Supervision, MFSA

What was your best achievement in 2020?

The ongoing engagement with stakeholders, not only internally but also externally across the industry. We focused more on driving the efficiency and effectiveness of our operations. We consulted with Licence Holders and Listed Entities with regard to reporting deadlines and public disclosures. We participated in local and EU working groups on major projects and worked on a Capital Markets Strategy.

What would you like to achieve in 2021?

The Securities and Markets function plans to implement the MFSA’s Capital Markets Strategy, Securitisation Regulation, European Single Electronic Format (ESEF), the transposition of the Covered Bonds Directive as well as the Investment Firm Regulatory Package.  More focus will be given to data quality, due diligence procedures, governance, the Three Lines of Defence of Investment Firms, and the effectiveness of control functions, such as the Compliance function. We plan to continue working on the simplification/re-engineering of our internal processes, also introducing more automated initiatives to drive the efficiency and effectiveness of our operational work.

What is the first word that comes to your mind when you hear 2020?

Unprecedented – a year of the unknown.