The Government of Malta has published Legal Notice 105 of 2021 which provides for a list of persons who will be exempt from seeking authorization from the MFSA to act as company service providers, thus being exempted from complying with the provisions of the Act.
The exempted persons are the following:
- Persons authorized to act as trustees or to provide other fiduciary duties in terms of the Trusts and Trustees Act
- Persons registered to act as VFA agents, when providing the activity of a company service provider, provided that the said activity shall not be or include the service of acting as a director or secretary of a company, as a partner in partnership or of acting in a similar position in relation to any other legal person
- Natural persons who only offers the services of acting as a director or secretary of a company, as a partner in a partnership or of acting in a similar position in relation to any other legal entity where such company, partnership or other legal entity is licensed, registered or authorised either by the MFSA or by an authorised regulatory authority in a recognised jurisdiction
- A natural person who only offers the services of acting as director or secretary of a company whose financial instruments have been admitted to listing on either a regulated market in Malta in terms of the Financial Markets Act or on a regulated market by an overseas regulatory authority in a recognised jurisdiction.
Persons referred to in (a) and (b) above are required to notify the MFSA of their intention to act as company service providers by way of business and that they are not required to apply for authorisation under the Act.
A recognised jurisdiction is defined as an EEA or EU member state or any other jurisdiction which, in the opinion of the MFSA has an equal or comparable level of financial services regulation to that in Malta.
