Bank of Valletta head office, Santa VeneraHSBC Malta head office, Valletta
The following list of banks in Malta is to be understood within the framework of the European single market and European banking union, which means that Malta's banking system is more open to cross-border banking operations than peers outside of the EU.
Policy framework
European banking supervision distinguishes between significant institutions (SIs) and less significant institutions (LSIs), with SI/LSI designations updated regularly by the European Central Bank (ECB). Significant institutions are directly supervised by the ECB using joint supervisory teams that involve the national competent authorities (NCAs) of individual participating countries. Less significant institutions are supervised by the relevant NCA on a day-to-day basis, under the supervisory oversight of the ECB.[1] In the case of Malta, the NCA is the Malta Financial Services Authority.[2]
Significant institutions
As of 1 September 2025, the ECB had two Maltese banking groups in its list of significant institutions:[3]
A study published in 2024 estimated that, as of end-2023, Bank of Valletta had €14.5 billion assets in Malta, followed by HSBC Bank Malta with €7.7 billion and MDB Group with €5 billion.[4]:29 Since then, HSBC has sold its Maltese subsidiary to Athens-based CrediaBank,[5] and MDB has been separately acquired by Prague-based Banka Creditas[cs].[6] No other SIs based in the euro area have subsidiaries in Malta.[3]
Less significant institutions
As of 1 September 2025, the ECB's list of supervised institutions included 18 Maltese LSIs.
High-impact LSIs
Of these, three were designated by the ECB as "high-impact" on the basis of several criteria including size:
