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 2025-9-1, 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] Since then, HSBC has sold its Maltese subsidiary to Athens-based CrediaBank,[5] and MDB has been separately acquired by Prague-based Banka Creditas.[6] No other SIs based in the euro area have subsidiaries in Malta.[3]
Less significant institutions
As of 2025-9-1, 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:
- APS Bank plc
- FIMBank plc
- Lombard Bank Malta plc
Other Maltese LSIs
The other 11 domestic Maltese LSI were:
- Banasino Investments Ltd (in Cyprus), owner of ECCM Bank[7]
Third-country branches
As of 2025-10-13, Akbank was the only banking group established outside the European Economic Area with a branch in Malta.[9]
Other institutions
The Central Bank of Malta and Malta Development Bank are public credit institutions that do not hold a banking license under EU law.[10]
Defunct banks
The following former Maltese banks are documented on Wikipedia in English, listed in chronological order of establishment:
- Nemea Bank (2008-2017)
- Pilatus Bank (2014-2018)
See also
- List of banks in the euro area
- List of banks in Europe
References
- What are less significant institutions? European Central Bank, 2024-8-2^
- Members and Observers European Banking Authority, retrieved 2025-11-19^
- List of supervised entities - Cut-off date for changes in group structures: 1 September 2025