The Malta Financial Services Authority’s recently issued 2013 Annual Report highlights the jurisdiction’s continued growth as a fund domicile, reporting that 135 new funds were licensed in Malta in 2013. Investment Services are the fastest growing financial activity in the country, Professional Investor Funds remaining the main growth sector, with 115 new PIF licenses being issued. Growth was also reported in the UCITS and private collective investment scheme sectors. Additionally, 188 non-Maltese domiciled funds were administered by Maltese-based fund administration companies at the end of 2013. The number of companies licensed to provide investment services increased to 125, with twenty-one new companies being licensed in 2013, eighteen of which were licensed as Category 2 investment services providers.
The Report indicates that Malta remains an attractive jurisdiction for operators wanting to set up captive and other insurance and reinsurance business, with the jurisdiction being the only EU Member State having legislated for Protected Cell Companies and Incorporated Cell Companies. Significant growth was also recorded in the number of retirement schemes registered in 2013, which doubled in number from 2012 to 2013. During 2013, the MFSA moreover concluded its proposed amendments to the Trust and Trustees Act.
The report notes that the jurisdiction, like other financial services centres, faces a number of challenges due to rapid regulatory change. However, Malta has proven to respond well to such regulatory challenges and the Report highlights that it was the first EU jurisdiction to complete the transposition of AIFMD. The Report also described the Maltese banking sector as having retained ‘adequate liquidity, capitalisation and profitability levels’.
