Stability
Maintain monetary stability, safeguard confidence in the monetary system and contribute to financial stability.
Central Bank of the Order of Malta
Mandate, objectives and functions.
Organisation Mondiale du Numérique L.P.B.C. is the central monetary and financial institution of the Order of Malta.
Mandate
A stable, credible, secure and resilient monetary framework.
OMNL is established to safeguard monetary and financial stability within the institutional monetary framework entrusted to it; preserve confidence in that framework; maintain sound and resilient monetary infrastructure; and exercise central banking responsibilities conferred upon it by its constituent instruments and applicable law.
The Bank's monetary and financial operations are supported by DBIS, the institutional and technological infrastructure through which authorised central banking, monetary, reserve, treasury, payment, settlement, reporting and control functions may be executed.
- OMNL retains: authority over policy and institutional decision-making.
- DBIS provides: controlled infrastructure for authorised administration and execution.
- Legal boundary: powers are exercised only to the extent conferred by governing instruments and applicable law.
Priority rules
What happens when objectives conflict
| Conflict | Current public rule | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Monetary stability vs. liquidity | Monetary stability remains the primary objective; liquidity support requires separate authority. | Published at a high level; operational triggers still pending |
| Monetary stability vs. financial stability | Financial-stability work is subordinate to the primary mandate unless an instrument states otherwise. | Published at a high level |
| Monetary stability vs. humanitarian mission | Humanitarian purpose informs institutional context but does not override monetary discipline. | Published |
| OMNL vs. Treasury on issuance | Treasury issuance authority remains separate from OMNL administration unless a later instrument changes that structure. | Published at framework level |
| OMNL vs. DBIS on settlement instructions | DBIS executes authorised instructions; it does not originate legal authority or policy. | Published |
| Prohibited monetary financing | No public blanket rule yet; prohibited financing must be controlled by source instrument. | Not yet published |
| Related-party transactions | Require conflict management, governance and arm's-length discipline. | Published at principle level |
| Emergency authority | Exceptional operations only where expressly authorised and subject to approval, collateral, valuation and reporting controls. | Published at principle level |
| Lender-of-last-resort | No explicit public grant currently published. | Not published |
1. Mandate
Institutional responsibilities
OMNL's mandate is to establish, administer and protect a stable, credible, secure and resilient monetary and financial framework for the Order of Malta.
Infrastructure
Maintain appropriate monetary and reserve arrangements, provide secure monetary infrastructure through DBIS and support safe payments, clearing and settlement.
Integrity
Preserve the integrity and resilience of central banking operations while maintaining sound governance, compliance and risk management.
Analysis
Maintain monetary, economic and financial statistics and conduct appropriate research and analysis.
2. Primary objective
OMNL's primary objective is the maintenance of monetary stability and confidence in the monetary framework entrusted to the Bank. Where implementation occurs through DBIS, monetary authority remains with OMNL's duly authorised decision-making bodies.
3. Financial stability
Without prejudice to its primary objective, OMNL contributes to orderly functioning of the financial framework by assessing liquidity, reserve adequacy, counterparty exposure, concentration, interconnected exposures, payment and settlement risk, operational disruption, cybersecurity, market disruption and emerging systemic risks.
4. Monetary policy
Subject to applicable authority, OMNL may establish monetary-policy objectives, instruments, liquidity management, eligible counterparties and collateral, standing facilities, reserve requirements, authorised foreign-exchange operations and communications for material policy decisions.
5. DBIS
DBIS supports monetary and reserve ledgers, institutional accounts, monetary issuance records, GRU infrastructure, treasury, payments, clearing, settlement, liquidity facilities, foreign exchange, conversion, reconciliation, counterparty administration, compliance, risk, accounting, statistics, cybersecurity, authorisation and connectivity.
6. Prohibitions and boundaries
Functions OMNL does not claim
OMNL does not claim powers that are not grounded in its constitutive instruments or applicable law. It does not claim independent sovereign authority, general governmental authority, or automatic regulatory power over persons or activities outside its published perimeter.
OMNL does not claim that DBIS, operational infrastructure, publication pages or generated records create authority by themselves. Each function must be backed by an identifiable legal source and subject to governance, segregation of duties and accountability.
7. Monetary units and GRU
Lifecycle and separation of monetary instruments
Where legally authorised, OMNL may administer, supervise or support monetary units, settlement assets or digital monetary instruments. Treasury issuance authority, OMNL EMCB administration and DBIS settlement functions remain separate unless a later instrument expressly changes that structure.
Where applicable, the GRU shall be administered within OMNL's monetary framework and supported technologically through DBIS. Appropriate distinctions shall be maintained between central-bank monetary liabilities, reserve assets, settlement assets, institutional balances, participant assets and privately issued financial instruments.
8. Reserve and treasury management
OMNL maintains a reserve-management framework guided by security, liquidity, capital preservation, diversification and appropriate risk-adjusted return. Policies govern eligible assets, allocation, custody, liquidity, concentration, counterparty exposure, valuation, accounting and risk limits.
9. Payments, clearing and settlement
Where authorised, OMNL may operate settlement infrastructure, maintain settlement accounts, establish participation requirements, provide settlement assets, establish technical standards, facilitate authorised transactions, establish settlement-finality procedures and administer reconciliation.
10. Central banking services
Subject to legal authority, OMNL may provide services to eligible institutional counterparties, including institutional, reserve and settlement accounts, custody, payments, settlement, liquidity facilities, foreign exchange and reserve-management services. These activities remain distinct from ordinary commercial banking.
11. Liquidity and exceptional operations
Where expressly authorised, OMNL may establish facilities addressing exceptional liquidity conditions or material threats to monetary or financial stability under predefined legal authority, eligibility, approval, collateral, valuation, exposure, risk and reporting requirements.
12. Financial integrity and compliance
OMNL maintains safeguards covering AML, CFT, sanctions, KYC/KYB, counterparty due diligence, transaction monitoring, anti-fraud, anti-corruption, cybersecurity, information security, data protection and operational risk. DBIS supports these through permissions, monitoring, data controls and auditability.
13. Statistics and analysis
OMNL may collect, compile, analyse and publish information relating to monetary conditions, its balance sheet, monetary aggregates, reserves, liquidity, settlement activity, GRU activity, conversion activity, financial-system indicators and other relevant economic measures.
14-19. Governance and accountability
Independence, transparency, audit and resilience
OMNL shall exercise its responsibilities independently within lawful authority. Its governance framework shall establish decision-making bodies, monetary-policy authority, reserve authority, delegated authorities, executive responsibilities, DBIS authorisation hierarchies, financial controls, risk-management responsibilities, conflicts-of-interest requirements, audit and reporting obligations.
Subject to legitimate confidentiality and security considerations, OMNL shall seek to publish appropriate governing documents, mandate information, monetary-policy decisions, methodologies, statistics, reserve information, financial statements, annual reports, audit information, public notices and institutional policies.
OMNL shall maintain effective accounting, controls, internal audit, independent external audit, enterprise risk, balance-sheet risk, operational risk, cybersecurity assurance, business continuity and disaster recovery. DBIS and critical infrastructure shall be subject to identity and access management, multi-level authorisation, cryptographic protection, transaction authentication, monitoring, redundancy, backup, incident response and independent security assurance.
Mandate gaps
What still needs to be published
| Required item | Status | Public disclosure needed |
|---|---|---|
| Prohibited monetary financing | Not published | State the full rule or explicit prohibition. |
| Lender-of-last-resort | Not published | Publish the authority, if any, and the eligibility conditions. |
| Liquidity support triggers | Not published | Publish the operational triggers for exceptional liquidity support. |
| Target hierarchy | Not published | Publish the formal priority of monetary, financial and humanitarian objectives. |
20. Institutional principles and public commitment
Integrity governs both the mandate and infrastructure.
OMNL provides a monetary and financial foundation intended to support the wider institutional mission of the Order of Malta. The humanitarian, medical, social and development objectives associated with the Hospitaller mission do not displace OMNL's responsibility for monetary discipline, financial integrity, reserve protection, institutional independence and responsible governance.
Organisation Mondiale du Numérique L.P.B.C. is committed to exercising every central banking responsibility entrusted to it with discipline, independence, transparency and accountability.
- Monetary Stability
- Financial Stability
- Institutional Independence
- Accountability and Transparency
- Prudence and Financial Integrity
- Operational Resilience, Proportionality, International Cooperation and Service
- Stability. Integrity. Stewardship.
Public notice
Policy and mandate backlog notice
Open the policy gaps backlog notice for the current target, quorum and decision-record gaps.
Public notice
Role-separation backlog notice
Open the role-separation backlog notice for the current Treasury, OMNL and DBIS separation record.