Investment Services Law in Malta: Presentation

We've put up a handy presentation on the basic Maltese legislative framework for investment services on Slideshare providers. This should be useful for anyone looking for a succinct overview of the topic.

You can find the link here: Investment Services Law in Malta

You can read more about our firm's services in the area here: Investment Services law firm

Dr Charles Cassar
Malta Financial Services Lawyer
Chetcuti Cauchi Advocates, Malta Law Firm

Some recent work highlights

We've put up a very interesting section on our website. Basically we're highlighting some of the work that we've been engaged to handle over the last few months. This should be useful reading for anyone who is interesting in getting to know better what is going on with the Maltese financial services industry, how it's growing, and the kind of activity that takes place. Some of the material will be familiar to more regular readers of this blog, but there are various interesting bits and pieces such as work relating to the regulatory implications of social networks with a focus on securities trading activity. Some of the other engagements highlighted include, in no particular order:

• Advising on the tax and regulatory implications of a cross border loan
• Creation of PIF structures for start up fund managersAssisting own account securities, commodities and forex traders
• Obtainment of exemptions from regulation
• Set-up and passporting of investment advisory firms

I think the diversity of engagements serves to show how interesting and well-populated the local financial services industry has become. Get in touch if you'd like to discuss situations similar to the above.

Charles Cassar
Financial Services Lawyer
Chetcuti Cauchi, Malta

Side Pockets in Malta Hedge Funds

We've put up a detailed publication dealing with side pockets under Maltese legislation on our website www.ccmalta.com. The material should be of interest to any Malta fund manager looking to use side pockets, as well as to anyone who is interested in learning more about the flexibility which Maltese hedge funds can afford.

In essence, side pockets are a mechanism which allows for the segregation of problematic assets e.g. assets which cannot be valued in an accurate manner. A side pocket involves the transfer of problematic assets to a new class of shares within the fund, i.e. a side pocket, and are thus separated from the main pool of assets.

You can find a lot more about the topic on our website 

Charles Cassar
Financial Services Lawyer, Malta
Chetcuti Cauchi Advocates, Malta Law Firm

Malta Highly Qualified Persons Rules: CCA Secures Approvals

Our firm has over the last few months successfully concluded a number of applications under the new Malta Highly Qualified Persons Rules which seek to encourage the growth of the Maltese financial services and i-gaming sectors by introducing attractive tax rates for individuals operating within these industries and having particular skill sets. Essentially if the relevant conditions are satisfied the relevant individual can benefit from a flat rate of tax of 15%.

You can find more information about this on our website by following the link here: Malta Highly Qualified Persons Rules.

Get in touch if you think you may be eligible. 

Charles Cassar

Chetcuti Cauchi Advocates - Malta Financial Services Law Firm

Legal 500 features the Maltese forex domicile

Legal 500 are featuring our article on the growth of Malta as a forex jurisdiction. The article touches upon the factors driving growth in the forex industry as well as the future prospectes of the Maltese forex industry. You can read the full article by following the link: Forex in Malta

Get in touch if you'd like to learn more about the topic.

Dr Charles Cassar,
Chetcuti Cauchi Advocates, Malta forex law firm

Hedge Fund Management in Malta: HFM Week Interview

I was recently interviewed by HMF Week, a leading hedge funds publication, with respect to the prospects and challenges facing Malta's funds industry, with a specific focus on the management of funds from Malta. The full text of the interview can be found on our website. You can also find the original interview here.

Here's a snippet of the full interview:

HFM: Malta has long had a solid reputation as a destination for fund managers and their investment vehicles – how has this strengthened?

CC: Throughout this year the jurisdiction has attracted plenty of positive press, with Bloomberg, Business Insider, HFMWeek and the Financial Times all making very positive statements about Malta. The country is now a well-established fund jurisdiction that can host a variety of investment strategies and a broad range of fund sizes and structures. I think this is the key change we’ve seen over the past couple of years – whereas before it was commonplace for people to speak about Malta as an emerging domicile, nowadays it is pretty much tried and tested.

Charles Cassar, Malta Funds Lawyer
Chetcuti Cauchi Advocates, Malta

Malta fund platform structures: a comparison

In a previous post I spoke about the introduction of the Recognized Incorprated Cell Company structure and how it could be an interesting new option for platform providers. As a firm we are now seeing increasing interest in the use of this structure (as well as continued interest in the set-up of Malta hedge funds in general). We have therefore prepared a publication which analyzes in further detail the nature of this structure, and are also providing a comparison table that highlights the differences between RICCs and other vehicles that can be used as fund platforms. You can find the publication on our website. This should be useful reading both for operators interested in setting up Malta RICCs as well as fund managers looking to understand better any structure in which they may have a plug-in arrangement.

Charles Cassar, Funds Lawyer
Chetcuti Cauchi Advocates, Malta