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Malta’s fintech strategy doesn’t depend on size. It depends on structure.
As fintech matures, the global competition to attract it has become more intense—and more repetitive. From Asia to the Nordics, governments are showcasing the same toolkit: sandboxes, tax breaks, startup visas, headline deals.
But what happens when every country is using the same playbook? What makes one stand out?
According to FinanceMalta’s George Micallef and Graziella Grech, the answer isn’t louder marketing. It’s smarter coordination.
In recent years, Malta has emerged as a case study in what small jurisdictions can do right—not by outspending others, but by out-structuring them. With decades of experience between them in financial services, both leaders point to something fintech companies rarely mention in public but always ask about in private: who’s actually listening?
“You can’t build a resilient financial ecosystem around temporary incentives,” says Micallef. “Firms may come for the speed, but they stay for the stability.”
It’s a subtle point—and one that gets lost when conversations about fintech location strategy are dominated by headline-grabbing tax schemes. Malta, they argue, has bet instead on the things that compound over time: regulatory proximity, operational trust, and genuine dialogue between incumbents and newcomers.
Beyond the Sandbox
Regulatory sandboxes are now common across most jurisdictions—but they’re only as useful as what surrounds them. Malta’s sandbox, run by the MFSA, has become one node in a broader ecosystem of public-private collaboration, including startup incentives, community events, and working groups that operate with a rhythm more like product development than policy rollout.
It’s that cadence that seems to matter most. “We’re small,” says Grech, “but that allows constant dialogue. You can’t fall behind innovation if you’re never too far from it in the first place.”
That intimacy is structural, not just cultural. Malta’s fintechs don’t need to book weeks of meetings to get heard. Banks, regulators, and startups are in walking distance. Feedback loops tighten. Partnerships form. And in sectors like tokenization, payments, and digital asset services, that proximity has become a competitive edge.
Staying Power Over Hype
While some ecosystems focus on winning the startup attraction race, Malta has started framing the problem differently: not how to get firms in—but how to keep them when they start scaling.
It’s here where Grech stresses overlooked fundamentals. Reliable digital infrastructure. Cross-sector access to talent. Clarity on compliance expectations. “These aren’t headline features,” she says, “but they’re what separates a place to launch from a place to grow.”
That mindset also applies to how Malta sees its mature banks. Rather than resisting fintech entry, many incumbents collaborate directly—sharing regulatory expertise in exchange for product agility. It’s a dynamic FinanceMalta has actively supported, not just by matchmaking, but by advocating for regulatory models that enable shared value creation across firm types.
Regulation as a Design Problem
Micallef and Grech both emphasize the same core thesis: real innovation requires structural alignment. That means regulatory frameworks must be built not only for emerging tech, but with it—and with the people building it. Malta’s approach has prioritized modular, adaptable policy tools rather than one-size-fits-all templates.
This isn’t just a nod to startups. As technologies like AI and blockchain challenge the traditional lanes of finance, cross-disciplinary knowledge is becoming critical at every level—policy, ops, compliance, engineering. “No one’s rewarded for staying in their lane anymore,” says Micallef.
The Global Opportunity for Smaller Jurisdictions
Rather than seeing size as a constraint, Malta appears to be turning it into an operating advantage. Faster policy feedback cycles. Localised talent alignment. Better risk calibration across sectors.
But above all, it’s a different posture toward innovation—one that sees regulation not as something to tolerate, but as something to help shape.
For countries competing for fintech growth, that may be the most important takeaway of all. Because incentives can attract companies—but structure is what keeps them.
P.S. Enjoy the interviews!
Malta delegation - Money20/20 Europe 2025
George Micallef
1. You've worked at the intersection of finance and tech for nearly two decades. From your experience, what makes a jurisdiction attractive to fintech companies beyond just tax or headline incentives?
Fintech companies are attracted to Malta because it has a robust, attractive, and forward-looking regulatory environment that prides itself on agility and accessibility. We lead the way when it comes to regulating fast growing industries such as fintech and iGaming because we understand how to work in lockstep with the private sector to create new regulatory frameworks.
Underpinning regulatory ease, firms are looking for access to a strong professional cohort, the EU market, an attractive lifestyle, and a stable political and legal system. We know that these attributes may not initially attract a fintech company to a jurisdiction like Malta, but these are the reasons firms stay as they grow.
2. As financial services become more global and digital-first, how do smaller jurisdictions maintain relevance amid intense competition from larger regulatory markets?
Being a smaller jurisdiction is not necessarily a disadvantage because it allows us to be more agile, nimble, and accessible, creating regulations that respond to changing circumstances. It has also forced us to be more strategic and targeted than a larger market which can focus on a broader range of industries including land and space intensive ones.
It’s through this focused approach that we have been able to grow our financial services sector so successfully with recent statistics estimating that the industry now accounts for 97.5% of total FDI coming into Malta.
Despite our size, we have practitioners from several leading global audit and legal companies who have set up offices here and are on hand to support fintech firms as they expand. Not only are they on hand but they are on the doorstep of our fintech entrants, making collaboration far easier and more substantive.
3. You’ve seen both corporate and government-driven approaches to innovation. What are some practical lessons you’ve learned about aligning public frameworks with private sector needs, especially in fintech?
On a practical level, alignment between the public and private sector requires near constant dialogue, which is logistically far easier in smaller jurisdictions like Malta. This need for discussion is especially the case for industries that are rapidly evolving, such as fintech, because there is always a risk of regulation lagging behind innovation. To prevent this, there needs to be mechanisms in place for early ongoing engagement such as regulatory sandboxes, public-private working groups, and roundtables.
4. Sandboxing, licensing frameworks, and startup schemes are becoming standard in many markets. From your experience, what distinguishes a regulatory environment that truly enables innovation from one that just signals support?
In my experience, signalling support is far easier than embracing innovation because it does not require system change. In Malta, we believe that innovation should act as a key driver of regulatory effectiveness rather than just being isolated to the private sector. This is why our regulators are constantly in conversation with industry to ensure that frameworks and schemes are tailored to their specific needs rather than being a ‘one size fits all’ approach.
In 2023, the Malta Venture Capital Scheme was launched – a €10m venture capital fund solely dedicated to investment in tech including fintech firms. Alongside funding schemes, we also host annual startup festivals that encourage dialogue and are about to launch a new framework which will pave the way for a ‘national startup one stop shop’.
Additionally, the Malta Financial Service Authority (MFSA) has set up a fintech regulatory sandbox, that allows operators to test their innovation before launching on the market. FinanceMalta’s presence today at Money 20/20 alongside a 14-strong delegation is further proof of our commitment to carving out a leading role in the global fintech and digital finance space.
5. In your view, how have expectations from fintech firms evolved in the last five years when it comes to establishing operations in a new market?
Previously, the focus was exclusively on speed to market and how a jurisdiction could support that rapid growth through financing and gaining access to licences. Today, firms still value that speed when establishing operations but also expect regulatory stability so they can scale with confidence. From a regulator and government standpoint, it is a constant balancing act between fostering innovation and promoting regulatory predictability.
6. You’ve worked in everything from banking to cybersecurity. How has that cross-sector experience influenced how you think about financial ecosystem growth in today’s regulatory and technological climate?
Regardless of what industry you are in, the key is that innovation and regulatory due diligence move at the same pace. Fintech companies cannot outpace compliance and regulators cannot rely on static frameworks that do not accommodate for innovative technology. It is through this approach that we have been able to position Malta as a hub for digital innovation.
7. For professionals working to build globally competitive financial ecosystems, what kind of expertise or mindset is most valuable today?
It’s increasingly valuable to have a degree of expertise in emerging technologies such as blockchain and AI because they are going to play an increasingly big role in shaping future financial ecosystems. It’s going to be increasingly important to be a generalist when it comes to not only technology but also regulation and how these interact together. In short, no one is going to be rewarded for staying in their own lane.
Graziella Grech
Graziella Grech - Money20/20 Europe 2025
1. You’ve worked in both banking operations and industry development. Based on that experience, what are the most underappreciated operational capabilities a jurisdiction needs to support a thriving financial ecosystem?
A trusted regulatory infrastructure is often overlooked or seen as a given but it underpins a thriving financial ecosystem. Institutions, regardless of their size, need to have the confidence to engage with the regulator to help shape rules and policies. In Malta, this is why the MFSA set up the fintech regulatory sandbox so that fintech firms could test out their innovations.
2. You've spent decades inside the traditional financial system. What has changed most — not just technologically, but structurally — in how financial centres define competitiveness today?
Competitiveness is no longer defined solely by market size —it’s now about ecosystem agility and inclusivity. There is no better example than Malta which has become a competitive financial centre through being consistently agile, gaining expertise in rapidly emerging industries such as iGaming and esports.
Malta has also been strategic, carving out certain niches, for example in the insurance sector, we are the only full EU member with protected Cell Company legislation. This approach is paying off with recent forecasts suggesting that we will remain the fastest growing economy in the EU for 2025 and 2026, all the while being the smallest member.
3. As more countries compete to attract fintech companies and capital, what’s often overlooked when it comes to actually retaining those firms long-term?
There is often an emphasis put on shiny incentives and tax schemes but what is often overlooked is the importance of fostering a mature financial ecosystem. While incentives may initially attract a fintech startup to the country, it is unlikely to retain firms as they mature. This is why our regulators put so much emphasis on open dialogue with industry as this allows them to design and implement regulation that harnesses rather than constricts regulation.
The other important aspects are of course access to local talent, reliable digital infrastructure and a good standard of life. Luckily in Malta, we have all three allowing fintech professionals to enjoy the sunshine while they grow their business.
4. From your experience, how can mature banking sectors and newer fintech entrants collaborate in ways that benefit broader financial stability and innovation — especially in smaller or emerging markets?
Due to Malta’s small physical size, we have a unique situation whereby mature banks and newer fintech entrants sit on each other’s doorsteps, making collaboration far easier. I have seen this type of collaboration be deployed to solve industry-wide challenges with banks sharing their regulatory knowledge and fintechs sharing their agility and speed.
It is part of the reason why FinanceMalta is so important because it is a platform that allows financial players of all sizes, whether that's a fintech firm or a big institutional bank, to come together, helping to foster innovation across the financial ecosystem.
5. You’ve represented financial services interests at many global events. What conversations or concerns have consistently surfaced over the last few years that signal where the sector is heading next?
Unsurprisingly, the conversations at these global events have increasingly been shifting to AI and how it’s going to disrupt the financial services sector. Those who are going to succeed are ones that can adapt to the rapidly changing landscape and harness AI in their business models.
6. In your view, how do public-private collaboration models need to evolve to meet the speed and complexity of today’s financial innovation?
Traditionally, public-private models have relied too heavily on static policy cycles and reactive dialogue which means that regulation and policies are responding to the industry environment rather than helping to shape it.
It’s therefore crucial within these collaboration models to have embedded mechanisms that allow for near constant dialogue and feedback. It is conversations between the public and private sector which has led to the imminent launch of the startup framework which will carve the pathway for a startup one stop shop.
7. What skills or cross-disciplinary knowledge do you believe professionals should prioritize if they want to help shape the next generation of financial ecosystems?
On skills, professionals need to have fluency when it comes to emerging technologies like AI, and blockchain. Given how much these technologies are uprooting financial ecosystems, these digital skills are now a necessity rather than a nice to have.
It’s no longer about staying in your own lane as emerging technologies are disrupting the traditional boundaries of finance. Professionals need to have sound knowledge of both regulatory frameworks and emerging tech so they can truly understand how they all interplay. This is how you help shape the next generation of ecosystems.
About Graziella Grech
Graziella Grech - Chief Operations Officer, FinanceMalta
Graziella joined FinanceMalta in 2023 as Chief Operations Officer, leading the Foundation’s operations and initiatives. In her role, she actively promotes Malta as an international financial center, representing FinanceMalta, its members, and the country’s financial services industry to potential investors. She is also dedicated to strengthening relationships with the Foundation’s members, fostering collaboration, and driving collective success. As a seasoned speaker and moderator, Graziella has represented FinanceMalta at numerous prestigious local and international events, advocating for Malta’s position as a global financial hub.
She began her career in 1997 with Mid-Med Bank before moving to HSBC Bank Malta plc in 1999, where she held various leadership roles until joining FinanceMalta. With over 28 years of experience in financial services, she has developed expertise in retail and business banking, investments and insurance, back-office operations, complaints management, and project leadership.
Graziella holds a Master of Business Administration from Henley Business School, University of Reading, and is currently pursuing a Master of Arts in Diplomacy and International Relations at Lancaster University. She also holds the CertFinTech qualification from ACCA.
About George Micallef
George Micallef - Senior Manager Business Development
George Micallef is the Senior Manager of Business Development at FinanceMalta, where he leads strategic initiatives to promote Malta as a leading international financial services hub. His role centres on building industry relationships, supporting business growth, and ensuring Malta remains visible and competitive on the global financial stage.
With over 16 years of experience in the financial sector and 5 years in the tech industry, George brings a well-rounded perspective. He spent the majority of his career at HSBC Malta, holding roles across Operations, Finance, Mobile Banking, and Marketing. In 2016, he became HSBC Malta’s first Social Media Manager, launching and managing the bank’s presence in the social space.
In 2019, George shifted to the tech space, working with Altaro Software and later Hornetsecurity, where he focused on digital and affiliate marketing in the backup and cybersecurity solutions sector.
He joined FinanceMalta in 2024, combining his strategic insight and communications experience to connect businesses with opportunities in Malta. Whether in fintech, asset management, or insurance, George is committed to showcasing Malta’s strengths and supporting companies looking to establish or grow their presence in Europe.
George holds a Master’s Degree in Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Malta.
