Financial and insurance activities contributed €149.0 billion or 97.9 percent to the total foreign direct investment position in Malta last year, according to official statistics published by the National Statistics Office (NSO).
The NSO data indicates that the position of foreign direct investment in Malta was estimated at €152.3 billion, an increase of €9.2 billion over the corresponding month in 2014.
In terms of flows, there was a net increase of €4.1 billion in FDI during 2015, compared to an increase of €8.4 billion in 2014. This increase in FDI flows was mainly driven by increases registered under other capital (Table 1). As for flows classified by economic activity, the largest increase of FDI was registered in financial and insurance activities by €3.7 billion in 2015.
The NSO figures reflect an increase in activity across all regulated financial sectors, with an increase in licensing activity noted particularly in the electronic money and payment services sector, insurance cell companies, retirement schemes and investment intermediation. A remarkable expansion in business has also been registered in a number of areas, following increases of 34% in in gross written insurance premiums, 36% in assets under management in the pensions sector and 5% in the net asset value of collective investment schemes reported in 2015.
The level of growth continues to be sustained by new legislation introduced in recent years, including changes in retirement pensions legislation, the extension of cell company legislation to new areas of the financial and insurance service activity, the introduction of the loan funds framework and changes in limited partnership legislation. The latest framework for Notified Alternative Investment Funds, launched in June this year, has also led to renewed interest in funds sector following the inclusion of the first scheme on the MFSA's Notified AIF List on 21 July.
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