B 2973
L.N. 392 of 2017
FINANCIAL MARKETS ACT 
(CAP. 345)
MALTA FINANCIAL SERVICES AUTHORITY ACT
(CAP. 330)
Financial Markets Act (MiFID and MiFIR Administrative 
Penalties, Measures and Investigatory Powers) Regulations, 2017
IN EXERCISE of the powers conf erred by article 49 of the
Financial Markets Act and articl e 20A of the Malta Financial Services
Authority Act, the Min ister responsible for  the regulation of f inancial
services, acting on the advice of the Malta Financial Services
Authority, has made the following regulations:
Title, scope and 
commencement.1. (1) The title of these regulations is the Financial
Markets Act (MiFID and MiFIR Ad ministrative Penalties, Measures
and Investigatory Powers) Regulations, 2017.
(2) The purpose of these regulations is to transpose and
implement Article 70(1), Artic le 70(3) to (6) and Article 71(1)  to (5) of
M i F I D ,  a s  h e r e i n  d e f i n e d  a n d  s h all be interpreted and applied
accordingly.
(3) These regulations shall com e into force on the 3rd January
2018.
Interpretation.
Cap. 345.
Cap. 330.2. (1) In these regulations, unless the context otherwise
requires – 
 "the Acts" means the Financia l Markets Act and the Malta
Financial Services Authority Act;
"APA" or "approved publication arrangement" means a
person authorised under MiFID to provide the service of
publishing trade reports on behalf  of investment firms pursuant
to Articles 20 and 21 of MiFIR;
 "ARM" or "approved reporting mechanism" means a
person authorised under MiFID to provide the service of
reporting details of transactions to competent authorities or t o
ESMA on behalf of investment firms;
Cap. 330."competent authority" means the Malta Financial Services
Authority established by the Malt a Financial Serv ices Authority
Act;Suppliment tal-Gazzetta tal-Gvern ta’ Malta Nru. 19,925, 22 ta’ Diċembru, 2017
Taqsima B
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 "CTP" or "consolidated tape provider" means a person
authorised under MiFID to provide the service of collecting
trade reports for financial instruments listed in Articles 6, 7, 10,12, 13, 20 and 21 of MiFIR from regulated markets, MTFs,
OTFs and APAs and consolidating them into a continuous
electronic live data stream providing price and volume data per
financial instrument;
"ETF" means an ‘exchange-traded fund’ being a fund of
which at least one unit or share  class is traded throughout the  day
on at least one trading venue and with at least one market make r
which takes action to ensure that the price of its units or sha res on
the trading venue does not vary significantly from its net asse t
value and, where applicable, fro m its indicative net asset valu e; 
"investment firm" means any person, other than persons to
whom MiFID does not apply in terms of Article 2 of the said
Directive, whose regular occupation or business is the provisio n
of any one or more investment se rvices to third parties on a
professional basis;
Cap. 370."Maltese investment firm" means a person licensed in
terms of the Investment Service s Act, whose head of fice is in
Malta and who is entitled to carry  on activity in a Member State
or EEA State other than Malta in exercise of a European Right; 
 "MiFID" means Directive 2014/65/EU of the European
Parliament and of the Council  of 15 May 2014 on markets in
financial instruments, as amended from time to time, and
includes any implementing measur es that have been or may be
issued thereunder;
 "MiFIR" means Regulation (EU) No 600/2014 of the
European Parliament and of the Council of 15 May, 2014 on
markets in financial instruments and amending Regulation (EU)
No 648/2012, as may be amended from time to time, andincludes any implementing meas ures, implementing technical
standards, regulatory technical standards, guidelines and simil ar
measures that have been or may be issued thereunder;
 "multilateral trading facility" or "MTF" means a
multilateral system, operated by an investment firm or a marketoperator, which brings together multiple third-party buying andselling interests in financial instruments – in the system and in
accordance with non-discretionary  rules – in a way that results
in a contract in accordance  with Title II of MiFID;
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 "organised trading facility" or  "OTF" means a multilateral
system which is not a regulat ed market or an MTF and in which
multiple third-party buying and selling interests in bonds,
structured finance products, emis sion allowances or derivatives
are able to interact in the system in a way that results in acontract in accordance with Title II of MiFID.
(2) Words and expressions which  are also used in the Acts
shall have the same meaning as in the Acts. 
Supervisory 
powers and powers to 
impose 
administrative penalties and 
other 
administrative measures.3. The competent authority shall exercise its supervisory
powers and its powers to impose administrative penalties and ot her
administrative measures, in suc h a way as to ens ure full and co mplete
adherence to the requirements and obligations arising out of th e Acts
and any regulations and Financial  Market Rules issued thereunder
and MiFIR, either directly or in collaboration with European
regulatory authorities and with o verseas regulatory authorities , in
terms of law as warranted by the relevant circumstances and sha ll
take all measures necessary to ensure that such administrative
penalties and administrative measures are implemented. 
Administrative 
penalties and 
other 
administrative measures.
Cap. 345.4. (1) Without prejudice to article 39A of the Financial
Markets Act, to any regulations made under the Financial Market s
Act and to the supervis ory powers of the competent authority re ferred
in regulation 3, the competent authority shall impose administr ative
penalties and other administrativ e measures in respect of breac hes of: 
Cap. 345. (a) the provisions of the Fina ncial Markets Act and, or
of regulations and, or Financial M arket Rules issued thereunder
transposing the provisions of MiFID; and
(b) the provisions of MiFIR.
(2) The administrative penal ties and other measures taken
pursuant to sub-regulation (1) sh all be effective, proportionat e and
dissuasive. 
Administrative 
penalties and other 
administrative 
measures for breaches of 
MiFID and 
MiFIR.5. (1) The competent authority shall exercise its
supervisory powers and its power s to the following administrati ve
penalties and measures:
(a) a public statement which indicates the natural or
legal person and the natur e of the infringement;
(b) an order requiring the na tural or legal person to
cease the conduct and to desist from a repetition of that condu ct;
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Cap. 345.(c) in the case of a market operator authorised to
operate an MTF or OTF, a regulated market, an APA, a CTP and
an ARM, withdrawal or suspension of the authorisation of the
institution in accordance with the provisions of the Financial
Markets Act and the regulations issued thereunder;
(d) a temporary ban on any Maltese investment firm
being a member of or participant in regulated markets or MTFsor any client of OTFs;
(e) in the case of a legal person, maximum
administrative fines of up to five million euro (€5,000,000), o r
10% of the total annual turnover of the legal person according to
the last available accounts approved by the management body:
Provided that where the legal person is a parent
undertaking or a subsidiary of the parent undertaking which hasto prepare consolidated financial accounts in accordance with
Directive 2013/34/EU of the Eur opean Parliament and of the
Council, the relevant total annual turnover shall be the total
annual turnover or the corresponding type of income in
accordance with the relevant Union law in the area of
accounting, according to the l ast available consolidated
accounts approved by the management body of the ultimate
parent undertaking;
(f) in the case of a natural person, maximum
administrative fines of up to five million euro (€5,000,000);
(g) maximum administrative fines of up to twice the
amount of the benefit derived from the infringement where that
benefit can be determined, eve n if that exceeds the maximum
amounts specified in paragraphs (e) and (f) above.
Publication of 
decisions. 6.  (1)  The competent authority shall publish any decision
imposing an administrative penalt y or measure which it shall ta ke
under these regulati ons on its official website, without undue delay
after the person on whom the pen alty or measure was imposed has
been informed of that decision. The publication shall include a t least
information on the type and nature of the infringement and the
identity of the persons responsible:
 Provided that this obligation shall not apply to decisions
imposing measures that are  of an investigatory nature.
(2)  Notwithstanding sub-regulation (1), where the publication
of the identity of the legal per sons or of the personal data of  t h e
natural persons is considered by the competent authority to be
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disproportionate following a case-by-case assessment conducted on
the proportionality of the publication of such data, or where
publication jeopardises the stabi lity of financial markets or a n on-
going investigation, the compete nt authority shall either:
(a) defer the publication of the decision to impose the
administrative penalty or measure until the moment where thereasons for non- publication cease to exist; 
(b) publish the decision to impose the administrative
penalty or measure on an anonymous basis in a manner which
complies with Maltese law, if such anonymous publication
ensures an effective protection of the personal data concerned;
or
(c)  not publish the decision to impose an
administrative penalty or measur e at all in the event that the
options set out in points (a) and (b) are considered to be
insufficient to ensure:
(i)  that the stability of financial markets would
not be put in jeopardy; 
(ii) the proportionality of the publication of such
decisions with regard to a dministrative penalties or
measures which are deeme d to be of a minor nature.
(3) In the case of a decision  to publish an administrative
penalty or measure on an anonymous basis in accordance with sub -
regulation (2), the publication of the relevant data may be postponedfor a reasonable period of time if it is envisaged that within that
period the reasons for anonymous publication shall cease to exi st.
(4) Where the decision to impos e an administrative penalty or
measure is subject to appeal in terms of regulation 8, the competent
authority shall also publish, immediately, on its official webs ite such
information and any subsequent information on the outcome of su ch
appeal. Moreover, any decision annulling a previous decision toimpose an administrative penalty or a measure shall also bepublished.
(5) The competent authority shall ensure that any publication
in accordance with this regulati on shall remain on its official  website
for a period of at least five years after its publication: 
Provided that personal data c ontained in the publication
shall only be kept on the official website of the competent aut hority
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for the period which is necessary in accordance with the applic able
data protection laws.
(6) This regulation shall be w ithout prejudice to article 16(8)
of the Malta Financial Services Authority Act. 
(7) The competent authority shall inform ESMA of all
administrative penalties imposed  but not published in accordance
with point (c) of sub-regulation (2) including any appeal in re lation
thereto and the outcome thereof.
(8) The competent authority shall provide ESMA annually
with aggregated information rega rding all sancti ons and measures
imposed in accordance with sub-regulations (1) to (4):
Provided that this obligati on does not apply t o measures of
an investigatory nature.
(9) Where the competent authority has disclosed an
administrative measure, penalty o r criminal sanction to the pub lic, it
shall, at the same time, report that fact to ESMA.
Applicability of 
these 
regulations.7. (1) These regulations shall apply at least in the case of
breach of any of the following: 
L.N. 395.
L.N. 400.(a) the provisions of regulations 3 to 8 of the
Algorithmic Trading Regulations, 2017;
(b) the provisions of regulations 3(1) to (6), 4, 5, and
6(1) to (3) and (5) of the Multi lateral Trading Facilities and
Organised Trading Faci lities Regulations;
(c) the provisions of Articles 4(1) and (2), 4B(1) and
(4), 4C(1), (2)and (3), 4E, 4F,  4G(1), 4H, 7, 8(2)(d), 10B(2),
17(1)(b), (d), (e) and (g) of the FMA;
L.N. 390. (d) the provisions of regulation 4(1) of the Financial
Markets Act (SME Growt h Market) Regulations, 2017;
S.L.345.06(e) the provisions of regulation 5(1) and 8 of the
Financial Markets Act (Membership and Access) Regulations;
L.N. 387.(f) the provisions of regulation 3(1), (2) and (4) of the
Central Counterparties Access Regulations, 2017;
S.L.345.04(g) the provisions of regulat ions 3, 8 and paragraphs 2,
3, 4, 5 of the Schedule of the Regulated Markets (Authorisation
Requirements) Regulations;
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S.L.345.11(h) the provisions of regulations 3(3) and 4(3) of the
European Rights for Regulated Markets Regulations; 
L.N. 389.(i) the provisions of regulations 3(1) to (3), (5), (15),
(17) and (19) and regulation 4(1)  to (7) of the Position Limits
and Position Management Controls in Commodity Derivatives
and Reporting Regulations, 2017; and
L.N. 391.(j) the provisions of regulations 7(1) to (5), 8, 9, and
10 of the Data Reporting Ser vices Regulations, 2017.
(2) These regulations shall apply at least in the case of breach
of the following provisions of MiFIR: 
(a) the provisions of Article  3(1) and (3) on pre-trade
transparency requirements for trading venues in respect ofshares, depositary receipts, ETFs, certificates and other
financial instruments;
(b) the provisions of the firs t paragraph of Article 4(3)
on waivers for equity instruments;
(c) the provisions of Article 6 on post-trade
transparency requirements for trading venues in respect ofshares, depositary rece ipts, ETFs, certificates and other simil ar
financial instruments;
(d) the provisions of the third paragraph of Article 7(1)
on the requirement to obtain the competent authority’s priorapproval of proposed arrangements for deferred trade
publication;
(e) the provisions of Article 8(1), (3) and (4) on pre-
trade transparency requirements for trading venues in respect o f
bonds, structured finance products, emission allowances and
derivatives;
(f) the provisions of Article 10 on post-trade
transparency requirements for trading venues in respect ofbonds, structured finance products, emission allowances andderivatives;
(g) the provisions of the th ird paragraph of Article
11(1) and the third paragraph of Article 11(3) on authorisationof deferred publication; 
(h) the provisions of Article 12(1) on the obligation to
make pre-trade and post-trade data available separately;
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(i) the provisions of Article 13(1) on the obligation to
make pre-trade and post-trade d ata available on a reasonable
commercial basis; 
(j) the provisions of Article 14(1), the first sentence of
sub-article (2), the second to t he fourth sentence of sub-artic le
(3) on the obligation for systematic internalisers to make publ ic
firm quotes in respect of shares, depositary receipts, ETFs,
certificates and other financial instruments and on the
requirement applicable to system atic internaliser on the size a nd
sizes at which they quote;
(k) the provisions of the first paragraph of Article
15(1), the first and third sentence of the second paragraph of
sub-article (2) and the second sentence of sub-article (4) on
execution of client orders;
(l) the provisions of the second sentence of Article
17(1) on the requirement of clear standards governing access toquotes of systematic internalisers;
(m) the provisions of Articl e 18(1), (2), (4) [first
sentence], (5) [first sentence], the first paragraph of sub-art icle
(6) and sub-articles (8) and (9) on the obligation for systemat ic
internalisers to make public firm quotes in respect of bonds,
structured finance products, emission allowances and
derivatives; 
(n) the provisions of Article 20(1) and (2) (first
sentence) on the post-trade disc losure by investment firms,
including systematic internali sers, in respect of shares,
depositary receipts, ETFs, cer tificates and other similar
financial instruments and the requirement for the information
which is made public and the t ime limits within which it is
published to comply with the requirement adopted pursuant to
Article 6 and the regulatory technical standards adopted in
accordance with Article 7(2)(a);
(o) the provisions of Article 21(1) to (3) on post-trade
disclosure by investment f irms including systematic
internalisers, in respect of bonds , structured finance products ,
emission allowances and derivatives;
(p) the provisions of Article 22(2) on the provision of
information for the purposes of transparency and other
calculations and the requirement of trading venues, APAs and
CTPs to store the necessary data for a sufficient period of tim e; 
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(q) the provisions of Article 23(1) and (2) on the
trading obligation of investment firms; 
(r) the provisions of Arti cle 25(1) and (20 on the
obligation to maintain records; 
(s) the provisions of the first paragraph of Article
26(1), (2) to (5), the first paragraph to sub-article (6) and the
first, fifth and eighth paragraphs to sub-article (7) on the
obligation to report transactions; 
(t) the provisions of Article  27(1) on the obligation of
trading venues and systematic internalisers to provide the
competent authority with identifying reference data for thepurpose of reporting under Article 26;
(u) the provisions of Article 28(1) and the first
paragraph of sub-article (2) on the obligation to trade on
regulated markets , MTFs or OTFs;
(v) the provisions of Article 29(1) and (2) on the
clearing obligation for derivativ es traded on regulated markets
and timing of acceptan ce for clearing; 
(w) the provisions of Article 30(1) on indirect clearing
arrangements;
(x) the provisions of Article 31(2) and 3) on the
requirement of investment firms  and market operators providing
portfolio compression to make public through an APA, thevolumes of transactions and the time they were concluded in
terms of Article 10 and the re quirement to keep complete and
accurate records;
(y) the provisions of Article 35(1) to (3) on non-
discriminatory access t o a central counter-party;
(z) the provision of Article 36(1) to (3) on non-
discriminatory access to a trading venue; and 
(aa) the provisions of Article 37(1) and (3) on non-
discriminatory access to and oblig ation to licence benchmarks.
(3) These regulations shall a pply in the following instances
related to product monito ring and intervention:
(a) exercise by ESMA of its temporary intervention
powers in terms of Article 40 of MiFIR;
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(b) exercise by the EBA of its temporary intervention
powers in terms of Art icle 41 of  MiFIR; and
(c) exercise of the product intervention powers by the
competent authority in ter ms of Article 42 of  MiFIR. 
(4) The provision of investment services without the required
authorisation or approval in accordance with:
Cap. 345. (a) the provisions of the F inancial Markets Act; 
S.L.345.04.
L.N. 391.(b) the provisions of the Regulated Markets
(Authorisation Requirements) Regulations;
(c) the provisions of the  Data Reporting Services
Regulations, 2017;
shall also be considered as an infringement of MiFID and of the
Financial Markets Act and thereaf ter subject to the applicabili ty of
these regulations.
(5) The provision of investment services without the required
authorisation or approval contrar y to the requirements prescrib ed in:
(a) the provisions of Article  7(1) on the requirement of
market operators and investm ent firms operating a trading
venue to obtain the competent au thority’s prior approval of the
proposed arrangement for defer red trade publication and to
disclose these arrangements to t he market participants and to t he
public; and
(b) the provisions of Article 11(1) on the requirement
applicable to market operators a nd investment firms operating a
trading venue to obtain author isation from the competent
authority for deferred publication of the details of transactions
based on the size and type of the transaction
shall also be considered as an infringement of MiFIR and
thereafter subject to the applicability of these regulations.
(6) Failure to cooperate or comply in an investigation or with
an inspection or request covered  by Article 69 of  MiFID shall a lso be
considered an infringement and subject to the applicability of these
regulations. 
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Right of Appeal.
Cap. 330.
Cap. 345.8. Subject to the provisions of the Acts, any person in respect
of whom a decision is taken by the competent authority under th ese
regulations may appeal to the Financial Services Tribunal in te rms of
article 21 of the Malta Financial Services Act and article 42 o f the
Financial Markets Act and Part VI of the Financial Markets Act shall
apply  mutatis mutandis to appeals that may be brought before the
Tribunal under this regulation. 
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