General

Companies Act – Register of Beneficial Owners

By

  On the 1st January 2018, new regulations came into force, applicable to companies except where:   They are listed on a regulated market and disclosure is already required under the appropriate regulations; or Companies where shareholders are all natural persons disclosed to the companies registrar.   The First Schedule sets out a form which is to be delivered together with the M&As whenever a new company is being set up. Declarations must be submitted for each beneficial owner and … Continued

FIAU Press Release on Penalties

By

Following the coming into force of the Various Financial Services Laws (Amendment) Act, 2017 (Act XXVIII of 2017) on the  1st December 2017, publication of administrative penalties imposed by the Financial Intelligence Analysis Unit (“FIAU”) for one or more contraventions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (“PMLA”) and/or of the Prevention of Money Laundering and Funding of Terrorism Regulations no longer falls under Article 13A of the PMLA but by the new Article 13C. Article 13C now provides for the … Continued

Public Holidays for 2018

By

We wish to advise that the following National and Public Holidays are set for the coming year, 2018:   January 1, Monday                              New Year’s Day February 10, Saturday                        Feast of St. Paul’s Shipwreck March 19, Monday                              Feast of St. Joseph March 30, … Continued

Ballast Water Management Convention brought into Force

By

Transport Malta, the competent authority in Malta to regulate shipping and ports, has issued a Merchant Shipping Notice, addressed to owners, operators, masters, of ships, owners’ representatives and recognised organisations, concerning the implementation of the Ballast Water Management Convention.  This was transposed through regulations issued in 2017 The Convention, as well as the implementing regulations in Malta, came into force on the 8th September 2017. As from this date, all Maltese ships engaged under international voyages to which the Convention … Continued

Marine Insight’s Online Resources for Maritime Piracy

By

Information is available to help to keep informed on piracy on the high seas, as well as how best to deal with this problem Marine Insight has published links to 28 sources of information, useful to professionals in different aspects of the shipping industry.   “With the increase in piracy at the sea, several maritime organisations and defence agencies have started providing online updates on events related to maritime piracy which is taking place around the world,” reads the introduction.  This … Continued

Public Consultation – Antitrust Damages Directive

By

The Office for Competition has recently launched a public consultation on the implementation of the Antitrust Damages Directive in Malta. The draft legislation relates to Malta’s obligation to transpose Directive 2014/104/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 November 2014 on certain rules governing actions for damages under national law for infringements of the competition law provisions of the Member States and of the European Union.  The Directive is commonly referred to as the “Antitrust Damages Directive”. … Continued

EU Single Market Forum to be modernised over 2016

EU Single Market Forum to be modernised over 2016

By

The Government has issued a press release on the new EU Single Market Forum, one of the Commission’s agenda items for 2016. One of the aims of the European Commission for 2016 is to modernize the current Single Market Strategy. The Ministry for the Economy, Investment and Small Business, in collaboration with GRTU and the Malta Employer’s Association, held a seminar entitled “Single Market Forum – Tackling internal barriers to movement of goods and labour,” seeking to better gauge the  … Continued

Merchant Shipping Notice 124 (2015) – Malta

By

Transport Malta has recently issued a Merchant Shipping Notice to ships visiting US Ports.  It noted that many detentions arise from the deficiencies in terms of environmental protection and fire safety.  It therefore now requires ships to notify the relevant directorate of their intentions before entering US Ports. The timeliness of notifying Transport Malta is the responsibility of the Master and the ISM Manager. MS Notices are issued regularly by Transport Malta as directions to ships and shipowners in the operation … Continued

Thoughts on sanctions in the legal system

By

While reading the news on various media sites today, I have come across a number of irate comments by the general public, over fines which are either excessively high or excessively low. So yesterday, the news hit the media with a man who was fined 20 Euros for masturbating in public, decidedly a lewd act under Maltese criminal law, with minimum and maximum fines between 6.99 and 58 Euro. The fact that the amounts appear laughable is not the fault … Continued

European court grants compensation to Zabbar property owners who had rights violated

By

The Times of Malta reported today that the European Court of Human Rights ordered Government to property owners in Zabbar for the violation of their rights, since they were not allowed to seek an increase in rent for their property to reflect current market values. The court ordered the government to pay Carmel Zammit and Doris Attard Cassar €40,000 in respect of pecuniary damage and €10,000, plus any chargeable tax, in respect of costs and expenses. It said that Government … Continued