STEP Journal: Jean-Philippe Chetcuti on Malta's Allure for UHNW Families & Family Offices

Jean-Philippe Chetcuti’s STEP Journal contribution, published in June 2016 under the feature Hot Tickets, highlighted Malta’s attractiveness for family businesses. Nearly a decade later, the same core features remain relevant, but the strategic audience has evolved: Malta is now increasingly considered by UHNW families seeking a European base for governance, relocation, and intergenerational planning.

Malta’s appeal rests on its combination of legal certainty, professional infrastructure, EU membership, English-speaking advisory services, and a private client framework that supports trusts, foundations, companies, and family office structures.

For families managing cross-border assets, the ability to coordinate legal, tax, residence, citizenship, philanthropy, and governance advice in one jurisdiction remains a practical advantage.

“For internationally mobile entrepreneurial families, the question is no longer simply where to hold wealth, but where a family can sustainably govern its interests, values, succession, and international footprint across generations.”
Dr. Jean-Philippe Chetcuti, Senior Partner, Chetcuti Cauchi Advocates

Malta’s family office offering has developed significantly since the original STEP Journal article. Chetcuti Cauchi’s Malta Family Office Structuring practice supports business families with multidisciplinary advisory services covering both family wealth and personal family objectives.

The firm also advises on family office advisory, including the design and management of structures intended to protect family wealth and family businesses across generations.

For UHNW families, Malta may support structures involving holding companies, trusts, foundations, private trustee arrangements, investment vehicles, governance frameworks, and philanthropic entities, depending on the family’s objectives and applicable laws.

“Sophisticated family office planning increasingly requires jurisdictions capable of combining governance flexibility, international compliance standards, legal certainty, and long-term strategic stability. Malta continues to offer an attractive framework in this regard.”

Malta’s trust and foundation framework remains central to its private client offering. The Malta Trust is used by international HNW and UHNW families for asset protection and wealth planning in a global context.

Malta family trusts may also be used in appropriate circumstances for estate planning, family governance, and continuity. The firm’s publication on the Malta Family Trust outlines the trustee roles and family trust framework under Maltese law.

Foundations may serve both private and public purposes. In the UHNW context, Maltese foundations can support philanthropy, succession, and governance objectives where the structure is properly designed and administered.

For internationally mobile UHNW families, Malta planning often includes a review of legal residence, tax residence, long-term relocation, and citizenship eligibility. These questions should be assessed separately.

Chetcuti Cauchi’s publication on categorising residence and citizenship options in Malta explains Malta’s layered framework of residence and citizenship statuses, each carrying different levels of legal attachment, durability, and intergenerational value.

Families considering relocation may also review the firm’s Malta Residence guidance and the comparison of Malta Permanent Residence and Malta Citizenship by Merit, which distinguishes residence, permanent residence, special tax status, and citizenship considerations.

“International families increasingly seek meaningful alignment between personal mobility, governance stability, family continuity, and long-term strategic positioning. Malta’s relevance lies in the ability to support these objectives within a mature European legal framework.”
Dr. Jean-Philippe Chetcuti
Senior Partner, Chetcuti Cauchi Advocates

Philanthropy is increasingly part of UHNW family governance. Malta may support philanthropic planning through foundations, voluntary organisations, and structured giving vehicles.

Chetcuti Cauchi’s Philanthropy & Impact Advisory practice advises HNW individuals, family offices, and purpose-driven organisations on structuring, governing, and measuring philanthropy and social impact initiatives.

The firm also advises on philanthropy advisory for UHNWIs and family offices, including the use of dual-purpose foundations where appropriate to combine family governance, succession, and philanthropy.

“Modern philanthropy among UHNW families is increasingly integrated into broader governance and legacy planning. Families are seeking structures that preserve not only wealth, but also purpose and long-term societal contribution.”

Dr Jean-Philippe Chetcuti is Managing Partner at Chetcuti Cauchi Advocates and leads the firm’s international private client, citizenship, residency, family office, and wealth structuring practice. For over 25 years, he has advised UHNW individuals, entrepreneurial families, family offices, and international investors on cross-border structuring, governance, succession, relocation, philanthropy, and international tax matters. He has published extensively on European citizenship, private wealth planning, and international mobility law, and regularly contributes to leading international professional journals and conferences focused on trusts, private client, and family office advisory.