The Authority is responsible for the supervision of company service providers, who are entities or individuals providing corporate services, by way of business, including formation of companies, directorship/company secretary services and the provision of registered office, business or correspondence address for businesses. The overall aim is to monitor the supervision of registered company service providers and their level of compliance with the applicable legislative framework so as to ensure an appropriate degree of protection for the clients of persons carrying on such regulated activity. Company Service Providers are deemed to be gatekeepers to the financial system in view of the fact that the structures which they set up may have wide-ranging effects and uses within the financial sector as a whole. In this respect the MFSA’s scrutiny of the company service providers is taken very seriously in view of the heightened risks which these sectors may pose.

The Authority adopts a risk based approach with respect to the supervision of Company Service Providers (‘CSP’). A risk monitoring system is utilised whereby the data collated through the offsite supervision and any other intelligence available is inputted and a risk score is allocated to each company service provider. This risk score will determine the type and frequency of supervision conducted by the Authority.

The Authority adopts a mixture of tools with respect to supervision, with onsite inspections being the most frequently utilised method. This may take the form of either a comprehensive top down review of all the systems and procedures of the authorised person, or a focused inspection on a specific area.