Blood donation plays a critical role in healthcare, and with the continuous increase of the Maltese population, staff blood donation is becoming all the more important. Malta relies heavily on blood donations to meet the needs of its healthcare system. While voluntary blood donation is always encouraged, staff blood donation can help spur those who would otherwise be hesitant about donating blood or who might even have never donated blood before ...
The initial proponents of Decentralised Finance (“DeFi”) opined that DeFi, as opposed to Centralised Finance (“CeFi”), could innovate the financial system by providing easier methods of payments and other financial services. The reasoning was based on the notion that transactions without a centralised intermediary in the financial system entail a simpler economy with less regulatory burdens ...
Mamo TCV Advocates contributed to the World Services Group Employment and Labour Group European Whistleblower Report. More than 20 European countries have contributed to this Report which provides a country-by-country update on how European Member States have transposed Directive (EU) 2019/1937 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2019 on the protection of persons who report breaches of Union law (the “Directive”) ...
Mamo TCV Advocates contributed to the July 2023 1st Edition of The Legal 500: Capital Markets Comparative Guide. The Legal 500 is an online repository through which law firms across the world contribute to the updating of the legal market and through which law firms and legal practitioners are ranked according to practice areas ...
We are pleased to issue our fifth edition of the Regulatory Compliance Quarterly Updates. These updates are intended to keep Maltese regulated entities informed of regulatory changes and developments taking place in the local financial services space. In this issue, we focus on the sector specific and cross-sectoral regulatory updates relating to investment services and asset management, company service providers, insurance undertakings, and insurance intermediaries ...
On the 12th of June 2023, an Act to amend the Gaming Act (Chapter 583 of the Laws of Malta) was passed by the House of Representatives, which introduced article 56A to the Gaming Act in order to encourage the establishment of gaming operators in Malta who offer local and cross-border supply of services. On the 16th of June 2023, the MFSA published a Feedback Statement on the new Publication Policy, together with the Policy ...
On 10 July 2023, the Maltese Parliament resolved in favour of several amendments to the Consumer Affairs Act. These amendments serve two purposes. Firstly, the Consumer Claims Tribunal can now hear consumer claims of up to €10,000. This amendment represents a significant increase in the value of the claims that can be heard by the arbiter given the previous threshold of €5,000 ...
On the 1st of December 2022, the MFSA published a Consultation Document on the New Publication Policy regarding Administrative Measures and Penalties thereby commencing a consultation period which closed on the 15th of January 2023. A subsequent Feedback Document containing the new Publication Policy was issued on the 16th of June 2023 (hereinafter referred to as the ‘Publication Policy’), following feedback received from the market ...
The European Commission has adopted revised Horizontal Block Exemption Regulations on research and development agreements and specialisation agreements, as well as revised Horizontal Guidelines. This follows a thorough review of the existent rules ...
In the case 3389/MF, the applicant argued that his redundancy from Airmalta plc was not genuine and consequently, that he should be compensated for unfair dismissal. On the other hand, Airmalta claimed that the marketing business had changed throughout the years and through a restructuring process, it had been decided that the role of marketing manager was no longer needed ...
In Industrial Tribunal case number 3642/CCG, the applicant claimed that he had been subjected to discrimination, lack of equal pay, a breach of the grievance procedure under the collective agreement, lack of payment of a performance bonus and constructive dismissal. Firstly considering discrimination, the applicant argued that he was not allowed to avail himself of a career break to work with a company operating in the financial services industry ...
Who qualifies as a Politically Exposed Person? Politically exposed persons (or “PEPs”) are individuals who have been entrusted with a prominent public function ...
On the 21st of April, Bill number 53 entitled the Arbiter for Financial Services (Amendment) Act (Chapter 555 of the Laws of Malta) was published among the Government Notices in the Supplement to the Government Gazette ...
The purpose of disclosing conflicts of interest in the investment services industry is to ensure maximum transparency for the investor. A common conflict of interest is the situation when the fund’s investment manager owns voting shares in the fund and appoints a director who is already heavily involved in the investment manager’s structure. Consequently, the appointed director might be conflicted if one is required to take a decision against the investment manager ...
The Crowdfunding Service Providers Bill reached First Reading stage in Parliament on the 17th of May, 2023. This proposed Act aims to implement provisions of Regulation (EU) 2020/1503 on European crowdfunding service providers for business and it provides for the establishment of a regulatory framework for crowdfunding service providers (hereinafter referred to as “CSPs”) for business, including the organisation, authorisation and supervision of CSPs ...
Open Finance is becoming a pivotal element in the evolution of the European Union’s regulatory framework for payment services, most notably embodied in the anticipated Third Payment Services Directive (“PSD3”) ...
In the Industrial Tribunal case with number 3945/CC, the applicant, a Chief Operating Officer and Director, engaged with Amicorp Fund Services Malta Ltd, was dismissed by means of a letter of termination due to the fact that, according to the defendant company, he was not properly performing his functions. The Tribunal commented that the case was a particular one since it dealt with senior management, in which cases usually an amicable termination is arrived at ...
In the Industrial Tribunal case of David Magro v HSBC Bank Malta plc, the applicant alleged that he had been unfairly dismissed when the defendant bank had not accepted to renew his career break, resulting in his employment being terminated. The applicant had been granted such a renewal for several years but had agreed with the Bank that the last renewal would be final, and that by a specific date, he had to either resign or return to perform his duties with the Bank ...
Electronic Money Institutions (EMIs) are financial institutions that offer electronic money services to customers. Legislation on EMIs is partially harmonised in the EU as there is only an Electronic Money Directive (Directive 2009/110/EC) (“EMD”) rather than a regulation. In Malta, the EMD is transposed in the Financial Institutions Act, Chapter 376 of the Laws of Malta ...
The progression of online financial ecosystems supporting any modern economy hinges on the citizens’ use of new financial technologies. In Malta, the word ‘fintech’ is neither defined by law nor found in the jurisdiction’s primary legislation. Yet, local stakeholders on the island commonly limit the meaning of the word to blockchain-based finance ...
The European Commission has confirmed that it has started dawn raids at the premises of companies operating in the fashion industry in several Member States. Officers from national competition authorities accompanied Commission officials at these inspections. The Commission has also sent out formal requests for information to such companies ...
On the 30th of March 2023, as part of its efforts to address the gender pay gap phenomenon and promote the equal pay principle, the European Parliament widely approved the EU Pay Transparency Directive. In 2021, the gender pay gap stood at 12.7% in the EU, with no minimal changes in the last ten years ...
The European Parliament gave its final approval to the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (‘MiCA’) on 20 April 2023. The regulation forms part of the EU’s broader digital financial package whose aim is to encourage the use of fintech while ensuring consumer protection and financial stability across the EU. MiCA is the first harmonised EU framework for regulating crypto-assets and is applicable across Member States without national transposition ...
The month of March 2023 has brought with it a new legislative Act to amend the Financial Markets Act (Chapter 345 of the Laws of Malta) and to provide for other matters ancillary or consequential thereto in the form of Act No. IX of 2023. This Act was passed by the House of Representatives on the 8th of March and assented to by the President on the 14th of March ...
We are pleased to issue our fourth edition of the Regulatory Compliance Quarterly Updates. These updates are intended to keep Maltese regulated entities informed of regulatory changes and developments taking place in the local financial services space. In this issue, we focus on the sector specific and cross-sectoral regulatory updates relating to Investment Services and Asset Management, Company Service Providers, Insurance Undertakings, and Insurance Intermediaries ...
