On 19 April 2018, the European Parliament adopted the 5th Anti-Money Laundering Directive (5MLD). The 5MLD will: enhance the powers of EU Financial Intelligence Units and their access to information; grant citizens the right to access information on the beneficial owners of legal entities which operate in the EU and open up data on beneficial […]
Following the introduction of ESMA’s new product intervention power under Art. 40 of MiFIR, on the 27th of March 2018, the ESMA has agreed on temporary product intervention measures (the “Measures”) on the provision of contracts for differences (“CFDs”) and binary options to retail investors in the European Union (“EU”). Scope For the purposes of […]
The Malta Financial Services Authority (“MFSA”) has issued a consultation paper (the “Paper”) on the financial instrument test (the “Test”) for virtual financial assets (“Assets”). The Test was first introduced in the MFSA’s discussion paper on initial coin offerings (“ICOs”), virtual currencies and related service providers released on 30 November 2017. According to the Paper, […]
Last month, the European Court of Justice (“ECJ”) ruled that Austria’s direct award of service contracts for the printing of chip passports, emergency passports, residence permits, identity cards, credit card-sized driving licences and credit card-sized vehicle registration certificates without an EU-wide call for tenders constituted a breach of its obligations under EU public procurement law. […]
On 20th March 2018, Legal Notice 82 of 2018 was published by the Minister responsible for Finance, whereby the applicability of the reduced rate of 1.5% on duty incurred in respect of intra-family donations of company shares and immovable property used within a family business, as contemplated by the Duty on Donations of Marketable Securities […]
The freedom to provide services in the EU/EEA is enshrined in the Treaty of the Functioning of the European Union. Licensed European investment firms may exercise their rights under the freedom to provide services or the freedom of establishment regimes in order to provide their investment services in another EU/EEA Member State without having to […]
Earlier this week, a motion was presented in Parliament for the first reading of a bill to repeal all existing gaming legislation, replacing same with a new gaming framework consolidated in a singular primary Act (“Bill”). The aim of the Bill is to future-proof Malta as a jurisdiction of excellence for gaming and betting services. […]
Camilleri Preziosi, as Academic Partner of the European Law Students Association (ELSA Malta), will again be participating in the student organisation’s annual half-day conference on Corporate and Finance Law. This year’s event will be held on the 23 March 2018 at the Victoria Hotel, Sliema between 14:00 and 18:00. The overall theme of the conference will […]
Malcolm Falzon and Diane Bugeja have contributed to the Chambers 2018 Law and Practice Guide on Insurance. Malcolm is one of the partners at Camilleri Preziosi heading the firm’s Corporate & Finance team and he also leads the firm’s insurance service offering. Diane is a Senior Associate in the same practice group, practicing primarily in […]
The European Commission recently revealed its Fintech Action Plan (“Action Plan”) which outlines the ways in which it intends to go about regulating these technologies. The Action Plan attempts to tackle the regulation of various nascent technologies, including blockchain, cloud computing and the internet of things. The financial industry is one of the largest users […]