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The Maltese Herald

The Malta Financial Services Authority is encouranging people to buy cryptocurrencies

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by

Mark Camilleri
in

The Malta Financial Services Authority is supposed to safeguard retail investors from losing their money in markets to fraud and risky investments that are hard to understand. Instead, the MFSA is promoting and encouraging people through the press to literally buy cryptocurrencies.

There seems to be confusion at the MFSA about its actual role. The role of the MFSA is not to promote any specific asset and is not in the business of providing financial advice unless this advice is meant for retail investors not to lose their money. If the MFSA would like to promote financial assets, the only financial assets that it has the right to promote are local assets sold in local markets such as publicly-listed companies in the Malta Stock Exchange. The MFSA should not use its budget to promote financial assets that are not of local origin.

Quite a heavy blow to standards. It’s as if we are insistent on being successfully renowned as a Banana Republic. Below, please find examples of the MFSA’s equivalent in the US speaking to retail investors on the dangers of buying volatile and risky assets such as cryptocurrencies and trusting celebrities with endorsements. This is how a regulator should behave.

 

Comments

  1. Wish avatar
    Wish

    Surely those are fake adverts and not MFSA material!

    Reply
    1. camillerimark avatar
      camillerimark

      It’s not fake. They paid to produce this. Check out the original video in the hyperlink.

      Reply
      1. Manfred avatar
        Manfred

        I see the same message being conveyed by both MFSA and the SEC. It’s the style of portraying the message that is very different. Seems like the MFSA chose a less sombre approach of getting the message across. In all honesty having a middle aged man speaking in a composed manner may be more appealing to the general public than having a young woman speaking in layman terms. Your post has actually made a number of people aware of the local authority’s initiative, myself included. I see it as free PR to the authority. What are you suggesting to do different? Being more conservative? Would you want to get involved?

        Reply
  2. camillerimark avatar
    camillerimark

    The message is completely different, while the SEC is warning on risks, the MFSA is literally encouraging people to buy crypto-currencies. It is not a matter of approach and style, it is literally the essence of the content being published.

    Reply
  3. Frans Camilleri avatar
    Frans Camilleri

    Buzz off. What I see is a creative way of warning people about the perils of crypto if they decide to do it. What you are implying is that when the Health Department publishes advertisements of a packet of cigarettes with a warning on them, it is inviting people to smoke!

    Reply
    1. camillerimark avatar
      camillerimark

      I’m quite sure my ophthalmologist is better than yours, but the banter is welcome.

      Reply

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