The Securities & Markets Supervision Unit of the Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA) has issued today a request for brokers licensed in the country to report the effects of the CHF crisis on their business.
The MFSA is a few days behind regulators of other Forex hubs in finally requesting such information. The Cyprus regulator (CySEC) urged an assessment of investment firms licensed on the island on the 17th, and the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) demanded the information be provided by the 19th.
The Maltese regulator wrote: "On Thursday 15th December 2015, the Swiss National Bank (SNB) announced that it will no longer be enforcing and maintaining the minimum exchange rate for the Swiss Franc against the Euro. As a result of this event, there has been significant Volatility in FX markets in relation to Swiss Franc against a number of other currencies. In this scenario, the Authority requests that any licence holder affected by this market event should inform the Authority immediately without undue delay."
The MFSA requested the following:
1. Comments regarding the materiality of any losses (whether realised or
unrealised) vis-à-vis the scale of company’s operations, including, but not limited, to
the maintenance of minimum regulatory capital; and
2. any other factors which should be brought to the Authority’s attention.
Brokers are requested to provide this information as soon as possible and, in any event, by close of business Thursday, January 22nd, 2015.
