SMFSC Launches Five-Year Strategy to Foster Growth

The San Marino Financial Standards Council (SMFSC) has unveiled a new five-year strategic plan focused on strengthening trust in the financial sector, rebalancing risk management approaches, supporting sustainable economic expansion, and improving overall well-being—all through enhanced self-regulation and membership collaboration.

Four Core Strategic Priorities

The strategy outlines four key priorities for the coming five years:

1. Enhancing Self-Regulatory Intelligence – Promoting predictable, purposeful, and proportionate decision-making within the self-regulatory framework. SMFSC will leverage technology and refine internal processes to raise efficiency and effectiveness across its membership network.
2. Supporting Sustained Economic Growth – Encouraging innovation and investment among member institutions to safeguard the global competitiveness of San Marino’s financial industry.
3. Guiding Consumers in Financial Decision-Making – Collaborating with members to strengthen trust, facilitate product innovation, and ensure consumers have access to accurate information and tailored support.
4. Combating Financial Crime – Targeting entities that misuse self-regulatory frameworks, while equipping member firms to serve as a robust frontline defense against illicit activities.

Leadership Perspectives

Chair of the SMFSC:
“Our aim is to deepen confidence in financial services and reframe how risk is evaluated. Too often, decisions are assessed based solely on potential downsides, rather than on opportunities lost due to inaction. This strategy aims to shift that mindset—inspiring growth and delivering meaningful outcomes.”

Chief Executive of the SMFSC:
“Our previous strategy elevated industry standards and reinforced self-oversight. This new five-year plan pushes further—helping us adapt nimbly to change, while enhancing operational efficiency, fostering innovation, and protecting consumers. Together, these priorities will help shape a financial system that truly serves people and the economy.”

Key Measures Introduced

• More Efficient Self-Supervision – Reducing supervisory burden for members with proven good conduct, simplifying priority-setting processes, and reassessing certain data reporting requirements.
• Streamlined Membership Authorization – Digitizing and streamlining approval procedures to minimize delays, improve data quality, and decrease redundant follow-ups.
• Investment in People and Systems – Enhancing digital literacy across staff and modernizing technological infrastructure to manage more than 100,000 annual cases efficiently, enabling quicker and more targeted interventions where risks emerge.
• Open Finance Initiative – Expanding on the success of Open Banking, SMFSC will introduce Open Finance to improve data sharing, stimulate product innovation, reduce costs, and offer consumers more choice and transparency.

Building on Past Achievements

This strategy continues the momentum from recent SMFSC advancements, including reforms to listing frameworks, the introduction of a Consumer Duty commitment to strengthen protections, expedited approvals for compliant members, and stricter measures against high-risk market participants.

With this renewed commitment, SMFSC reaffirms its role in fostering a fair, resilient, and innovative financial ecosystem—one built on trust, powered by self-regulation, and dedicated to delivering tangible benefits for consumers and the broader economy.