An evaluation of the impact of GDPR on the local financial services industry

Abstract

Purpose: This dissertation evaluates the impacts and implications of the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) on the Financial Services Industry in Malta. Institutions, being either directly or indirectly involved in the Financial Services Industry, collect and process information regarding their customers. The GDPR came into force on the 25th of May 2018 and addresses the issue of privacy with regards to personal information. The regulation presents institutions with several requirements that they must adhere to. These enable the author to evaluate the impact of such requirements and the GDPR in general, on the local Financial Services Industry. Design and Findings: Both quantitative and qualitative approaches were taken for this study. The primary source of data gathering was through schedule interviews via a Likert Scale questionnaire distributed to various financial services companies. A qualitative approach was then used to analyse the additional remarks made by the participants. Conclusions and Recommendations: The author concluded that institutions in the local Financial Services Industry have been impacted in terms of the level of trust shown towards them from their customers and the general public. Administering training to employees also proved to be another important impact. Additionally, there are also improvements in cybersecurity, the standardisation of regulation and the increase in the use of different resources. It is imperative that data subjects feel that their data is being protected and that organisations can be trusted and thus, minimise reputational risk.