19/12/2025

Circular to Credit Institutions and Foreign Branches on the Repeal of Banking Rule BR/06 and the streamlining of data submissions

The Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA), in coordination with the Central Bank of Malta (CBM), is issuing this circular to inform credit institutions and foreign branches of changes to the submission process for the BR/06 Statutory Financial Information. These changes follow a joint review by both Authorities aimed at streamlining data collection, reducing duplicative reporting, and ensuring full alignment with the "report once" and "single point of entry" principles. As part of this transition, the MFSA is hereby repealing Banking Rule BR/06 on Statutory Financial Information to be submitted by Credit Institutions authorised Under the Banking Act 1994 (BR/06).

The repeal of the Rule does not alter the underlying content of the BR/06 periodic data collection. The same data will continue to be collected by the CBM under its national statutory framework through the same return which will henceforth be titled "Statutory Financial Information to be submitted by Credit Institutions" (CBM-CIR).

This requirement will apply starting from the January 2026 reference data which must be submitted by the 15 February 2026 and will remain a requirement under the CBM's national statutory framework, specifically CBM Directive No. 5 on Statistical Reporting Requirements. 

The change introduced by this circular relates to the manner in which CBM-CIR data is submitted and shared between the two Authorities. Under the new process, credit institutions and foreign branches will submit the CBM-CIR return in both XML and XLS formats exclusively to the CBM. In turn, the CBM will transmit the data to the MFSA through a secure direct data connection. This approach removes the need for institutions to submit the statutory return in duplicate to the MFSA via email and ensures that both Authorities rely on a single, harmonised data source.

In view of the repeal of BR/06, the MFSA advises that the final BR/06 Excel submission to the MFSA will relate to the reference data of December 2025 which must be submitted by the 15 January 2026. After this final submission, the MFSA will no longer accept BR/06 Excel templates for future reference dates. Institutions may, however, continue to submit revisions for the final reference date and for earlier periods to both Authorities, where required.

The MFSA and the CBM will continue to coordinate closely to ensure the smooth implementation of this revised reporting process across the banking sector.

For any clarifications in relation to this circular, institutions may contact the  MFSA Banking Supervision Data Team or the  CBM Statistics Department,

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