On 5 February 2020, the Malta Financial Services Authority (the “MFSA”) published an update, following the United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the European Union, to clarify issues relating to governance and reporting obligations for UK entities from 1 February 2020. The United Kingdom has officially withdrawn its European Union membership on the 31 of January 2020. […]
The Advocate General of the Court of Justice of the European Union issued a non-binding written opinion (the “Opinion”) in relation to case C-311/18 Data Protection Commissioner v Facebook Ireland Limited, Maximillian Schrems, which is currently being deliberated upon by the judges within the Court of Justice of the European Union. In his Opinion, the […]
On 4 December 2019, the Malta Financial Services Authority (the “Authority”) published its Supervisory Priorities for 2020. The document outlines the cross-sectoral themes and the sector-specific priorities that the Authority will be focusing on in 2020. The key areas of the Authority’s activity will range from governance and culture, financial crime and retail investor protection […]
On 28 November 2019, the Malta Financial Services Authority (the “Authority”) issued a circular on the go live of the test environment for the settlement internalisers platform in the framework of improving securities settlement in the EU. Article 9 of CSDR introduces a requirement whereby settlement internalisers are requested to report to the Authority on […]
The Malta Financial Services Authority (“MFSA”) has released two circulars on Regulation (EU) No. 2017/2402 (the “Securitisation Regulation”) following the publication by the European Commission of regulatory technical standards (RTS) in relation to transparency requirements under the Securitisation Regulation and the publication by the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) of an updated set of […]
On 21 November 2019, the Malta Financial Services Authority (the “MFSA”) issued a circular to clarify the classification of collective investment schemes as financial counterparties under EMIR rules. EMIR Refit came into force on 17 June 2019 and introduced a number of changes, including, inter alia, a widened definition of financial counterparty and an exemption […]
Steve Decesare, Sharon Xuereb and Maria Grima have contributed the Maltese chapter for Trademarks 2020, published by Lexology. To read the article click on this link.
Members of our pharmaceutical and healthcare team recently attended the Medical Cannabiz World Summit held on the 4 and 5 November 2019 in Malta. This event brought together various industry stakeholders, ranging from general practitioners and researchers to investors and innovators, all having the shared desire to deepen their understanding of cannabis’ medicinal properties and […]
On 2 October 2019, the European Securities and Markets Authority (“ESMA”) issued an update of its Q&A on practical questions regarding data reporting issues, stemming from the European Markets Infrastructure Regulation (“EMIR”). EMIR was amended recently, with the changes (known as “EMIR Refit”) entering into force on 17 June 2019. EMIR Refit imposes a number […]
On 4 October 2019, the European Securities and Markets Authority (“ESMA”) launched a consultation paper on possible amendments to the trading obligation under the Markets in Financial Instruments Regulation (“MiFIR”), following the introduction of the EMIR Refit Regulation (“EMIR Refit”). The recent changes introduced by EMIR Refit modify the scope of counterparties subject to the […]