Malta: Financial Services

With AIFMD II now transposed into Maltese law, fund promoters, asset managers and family offices have access to new regulatory pathways for establishing loan origination and private credit vehicles in Malta. The revised framework expressly permits corporate lending by Alternative Investment Funds, while the updated NAIF regime brings loan origination within scope, opening doors to EU-wide distribution through the AIFMD marketing passport.

Capital Markets are often surrounded by misconceptions and technical jargon, yet they play a central role in how businesses grow and economies develop.

The Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCAR) introduces comprehensive requirements for crypto-asset service providers to identify, prevent, manage, and disclose conflicts of interest. Drawing from established MiFID II principles while adapting to the unique characteristics of digital assets, Article 72 of MiCAR establishes a robust framework that addresses conflicts between service providers and clients, among clients themselves, and within organizational structures, requiring effective policies, transpa

The European Commission has published new delegated regulations amending the EU prospectus disclosure regime, introducing streamlined content requirements and standardized formats for various categories of prospectuses. These reforms, part of the broader EU Listing Act package, aim to reduce regulatory burdens for issuers while maintaining investor protection, with key changes including reduced historical financial information requirements and simplified disclosure obligations.

Ganado Meets returns with a new series exploring Malta's sophisticated funds industry ecosystem. This introduction episode delves into fund administration, legal innovation, tokenisation, digitalisation, private equity, family offices, and digital-asset valuation, showcasing the depth of services that have developed over decades in Malta's financial sector.

The Malta Financial Services Authority has issued new guidance to credit institutions outlining supervisory expectations for dividend distributions, emphasizing prudent capital planning and financial resilience. While not introducing new regulatory requirements, the circular formalizes current supervisory practices and provides detailed documentation requirements for banks proposing distributions at both institutional and holding company levels.

The commercial agent exclusion in EU payments regulation has evolved from a narrow carve-out for genuine sales intermediaries into a structure that regulators increasingly view as a means of circumventing licensing requirements. This regulatory tension, which predates PSD3, is now being directly addressed through the forthcoming Payment Services Regulation (PSR). How will these reforms reshape the landscape for payment service providers and commercial agents operating within the European Union?

FinXP and Buckzy Payments have formed a strategic partnership to enhance cross-border payment capabilities for internationally-active businesses. The collaboration combines FinXP's regulated European infrastructure with Buckzy's real-time international payment network and stablecoin technology. This integration aims to streamline European account management, SEPA payments, and global payment operations while reducing operational complexity for clients of both platforms.

The Strategic Plan for 2023-2025 That that we launched in April 2023 laid out on the way in which we deliver transformation. The objectives were very clear but at that time, the work needed seemed insurmountable.