The European Commission ("Commission") representing the European Union ("EU") has presented the Swiss Federal Council in its capacity as the Depository of the 2007 Lugano Convention ("Convention") with a Note Verbale regarding the United Kingdom's application to accede to the Convention, submitted on 8 April, 2020. Accession to the Convention would only be possible if the United Kingdom ("UK") were to secure the approval of all existing Convention members, being the EU, Iceland, Denmark, Norway and Switzerland. Iceland and Switzerland have already given their form...

Bill No. 233 of 2021 proposes a number of amendments to the Companies Act, Chapter 386 of the Laws of Malta. These amendments relate to the qualifications required for a person to be a director of a company, the registration of electronic addresses and the obligation of every company to have a register of officers' and shareholders' residential addresses. One of these amendments falls under Article 69 of Chapter 386, which reflects the contents which are to be established within the memorandum of association of a company. Currently, Article 69(1)(d) of the Compani...

This article was written by Dr Simon Pullicino , Dr Petra Attard , and Dr Laura Spiteri The Malta Financial Services Authority (' MFSA ') has issued a circular directed at authorised company service providers (' CSPs ') that were registered to provide CSP services prior to the entry into force of the new CSP rules . CSPs that offered CSP services on the date of entry of the new rules – 16 March 2021 – could only continue to offer such services if they applied for authorisation with the MFSA by the 16 May 2021. This application for authorisation resulted in the MFS...

This article was written by  Dr. Simon Pullicino  & Dr. Laura Spiteri In this second instalment of our series 'Navigating the new regulatory landscape for Company Service Providers', we take a closer look at the application process for CSPs seeking regulatory authorisation, the appointment of key office holders and applicable exemptions to the new regime. Part 1 of this series can be accessed here . The Application Process Any person operating in or from Malta who acts, or holds himself out as acting as a CSP by way of its business is required t...

This article was written by Dr Simon Pullicino, Dr Petra Attard and Dr Laura Spiteri Following the entry into force of the Company Service Providers (Amendment) Act 2020 (the " Amendments ") on 16 March, 2021 a number of significant amendments have been introduced to the local regulatory framework governing the provision of company services. The most notable amendments consist of the removal of previous exemptions available to warranted professionals and the end of the de minimis rule . The Amendments also introduce a classification system, assigning CSP...