Malta’s financial sector is weathering the current financial storm and future prospects are encouraging, the Malta Financial Services Authority chairman, Prof. Joe Bannister, forecast in an interview last Thursday’s issue of The Malta Business Weekly.

A review the Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA) conducted at the end of March found Malta to be in good shape and operating at the previous year’s level.

According to MFSA’s recently issued Annual Report 2008, between 2004 and 2007 total premia for general insurance business grew from €116 million to €508 million while the life insurance sector virtually doubled to €265 million. Sixty per cent of total gross premia in the two sectors resulted from overseas business.

Assets of the aggregate banking sector meanwhile doubled to €41.9 billion between 2004 and 2008.

Asked about the prospects for Sharia finance, Prof. Bannister observed how the MFSA has set up a five-person working group chaired by its director for strategic development, Dr Michael Xuereb, to identify further necessary legal and regulatory changes and related implementation procedures with respect to Sharia institutions and Sharia funds.

“Sharia finance is a major, difficult issue,” Prof. Bannister acknowledged. “Opening up Malta to Sharia banking, however, poses a different set of challenges.”

In terms of employment in the financial sector, Prof. Bannister sees a challenge looming ahead with a high incidence of hard-to-fill vacancies cropping up in the insurance sub-sector.