Malta is positioning itself at the centre of global regulatory thinking with the launch of a first-of-its-kind academic journal dedicated exclusively to financial supervision. Prof. CHRISTOPHER BUTTIGIEG, chief officer Supervision at the MFSA, explains why the initiative matters – and how it reflects Malta’s growing regulatory maturity.
The Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA) has taken a decisive step to cement its role in international regulatory discourse with the launch of the Journal of the Financial Supervisors Academy (JFSA), an academic publication dedicated to research and innovation in financial regulation and supervision.
According to Prof. Christopher Buttigieg, chief officer Supervision at the MFSA, the journal is the culmination of a multi-year effort to strengthen the Authority’s internal capabilities while contributing more meaningfully to global regulatory thinking.
“Over the past five years, we have been steadily building capacity in supervisory work,” Buttigieg explains. “The first step was the establishment of the Financial Supervisors Academy, through which we carry out a yearly training needs analysis and deliver targeted programmes to ensure our staff have the expertise required for an increasingly complex financial landscape.”
That commitment to continuous learning has seen the MFSA invest heavily in emerging areas such as artificial intelligence and crypto-asset regulation. This year alone, the Authority brought leading experts from Bocconi University to Malta to explore the regulatory challenges posed by AI, while also rolling out training on the EU’s Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA) across all supervisory functions.
The next milestone was academic collaboration. In partnership with the University of Malta’s Faculty of Economics, Management and Accountancy, the MFSA jointly developed a post-graduate diploma in financial regulation and compliance. The programme, which is practice-driven, covers areas ranging from governance and risk management to digital finance, sustainable finance and anti-money laundering.
“The aim is to build capacity within the industry itself,” Buttigieg says. “We want practitioners to be properly equipped to serve in key roles such as compliance officers and directors. Launching our own journal was the natural next step in this journey.”
Filling a global gap
What sets the JFSA apart is its exclusive focus on financial supervision – an area Buttigieg believes has been underrepresented in academic publishing.
“There are journals that deal with regulation and others that focus on compliance, but very few that bring supervision into sharp focus, particularly from a practical perspective,” he notes. “Our goal is to tackle the most pressing issues being debated internationally, combining academic insight with supervisory experience.”
The inaugural volume reflects this ambition. It addresses topics such as the Capital Markets Union, supervisory independence, artificial intelligence and crypto-asset regulation. On independence, the journal draws directly on recent European developments, including principles issued by the European Supervisory Authorities in 2023.
“We invited contributors who are actively working on these issues at European level,” Buttigieg explains. “That ensures the discussion is grounded in real supervisory practice, not theory alone.”
A personal and institutional vision
For Buttigieg, the journal is also deeply personal. Having joined the MFSA in 2000 as an analyst, he has spent 25 years progressing through the Authority while simultaneously pursuing an academic career, including a PhD with the University of Sussex.
“I’ve always been interested in research and writing,” he says. “One of the reasons I’ve stayed at the MFSA is that it allows you to be at the heart of European supervisory developments. Supervision as a discipline has evolved enormously, and I find that evolution fascinating.”
The idea for the journal was crystallised following discussions with MFSA CEO Kenneth Farrugia, who saw the value in creating a dedicated platform to share research on supervision with both industry and fellow regulators.
Malta’s international reach
Although published by the MFSA, the JFSA is firmly international in scope. Malta’s early adoption of structured regulatory frameworks for digital finance, crypto-assets and cyber supervision has already attracted attention from other jurisdictions.
“We are particularly advanced in areas such as digital finance and cyber supervision,” Buttigieg says. “We actively share our frameworks with other regulators and even provide training here in Malta. From the outset, the journal was distributed to supervisory authorities across Europe and beyond, together with a call for papers.”
The journal’s target audience includes supervisors, regulators, policymakers and academics, while also offering value to industry professionals working in compliance and financial regulation. Submissions are open globally, provided they meet the journal’s academic and professional standards.
To ensure credibility, the JFSA is published annually and subject to rigorous peer review. “It took us two years to issue the first volume,” Buttigieg notes. “Quality is essential if the journal is to be accepted within the academic community.”
Looking ahead
Work is already under way on the second issue. Future themes are expected to include digital finance, cross-border financial activity, geopolitical risk, and regulatory simplification.
Ultimately, Buttigieg is confident the journal will succeed in its mission to bridge the gap between academia and supervision.
“We’re giving it visibility, engaging widely across Europe and investing the effort required to make it work,” he says. “This is about contributing meaningfully to the future of financial supervision – and ensuring Malta has a voice in shaping it.”
