Regulatory environment

Ltd holds a broker/dealer license delivered by the MFSA in March 2009. The Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA) was established by law on 23 July 2002. It is a fully autonomous public institution and reports to Parliament on an annual basis. The MFSA has taken over supervisory functions previously carried out by the Central Bank of Malta, the Malta Stock Exchange and the Malta Financial Services Centre and is the single regulator for financial services. The sector incorporates all financial activity including banking, investment and insurance. The MFSA also manages the Registry of Companies and has also taken over responsibility as the Listing Authority. Malta is a member of the European community since May 1 2004. 

Ltd is due to submit monthly reports to the MFSA in order to ensure a full compliance with European norms in terms of capital adequacy ratios. All client funds are segregated when not used by the clients for their trading activities. Ltd has decided to keep the long standing banking relationship Realtime Forex SA had established with UBS and HSBC.

In accordance with the European norms, and in order to maintain the reputation and integrity of the Maltese financial system, the MFSA have further tightened controls, particularly in the area of money laundering. Ltd, as a Maltese financial institution, is subject to Maltese law and all applicable regulations. Under the Maltese anti-money laundering act, which entered into force 23 of September 1994, all financial intermediaries must be supervised directly by the MFSA for the prevention of Money Laundering. Ltd is in compliance with this act and its regulations, controls and sanctions.

With a Swiss secrecy culture inherited from Realtime Forex SA, Ltd has greatly appreciated the Maltese Professional Secrecy Act (Chap 377 of the Laws of Malta), which rules Ltd's obligation to disclose information held by it in respect of its clients in connection with its business activities or for the purposes of servicing its clients. According to this Act Ltd would have a duty to disclose information held by it in respect of any person/s only when required to do so:
- by a competent law enforcement or regulatory authority investigating a criminal offence or a breach of duty;
- by a magistrate in the cause and for the purposes of any preliminary criminal proceedings (in genere);
- and by a court of criminal jurisdiction in the course of a prosecution for a criminal offence.

Any request for the disclosure of information must in all cases be channelled through the Maltese Attorney General's Office, the Law Courts in Malta or through the appropriate diplomatic channels in Malta.