Trustees and Fiduciaries

The Authority is responsible for the supervision of trustees and other fiduciaries.

The overall aim of the Authority is to monitor the supervision of authorised trustees and other fiduciaries, including administrators of private foundations and their level of compliance with the applicable legislative framework so as to ensure an appropriate degree of protection for the clients of persons carrying on such regulated activity. Trustees and other fiduciaries are deemed to be gatekeepers to the financial system in view of the fact that the structures which they set up may have wide-ranging effects and uses within the financial sector as a whole. In this respect the MFSA’s scrutiny of the trustee and fiduciary service providers is taken very seriously in view of the heightened risks which these sectors may pose.

The Authority adopts a risk based approach with respect to the supervision of trustees and other fiduciaries. A risk monitoring system is utilised whereby the data collated through the offsite supervision and any other intelligence available is inputted and a risk score is allocated to each authorised trustee or fiduciary. This risk score will determine the type and frequency of supervision conducted by the Authority.

The Authority adopts a mixture of tools with respect to supervision, with onsite inspections being the most frequently utilised method. This may take the form of either a comprehensive top down review of all the systems and procedures of the authorised person, or a focused inspection on a specific area.

Trustees and Other Fiduciaries

TUBOR

Trustees and Other Fiduciaries

In this section you will find the Rules applicable to trustees and other fiduciaries issued by the MFSA, as well as additional guidance notes, Frequently Asked Questions, and other relevant documentation and forms. These Rules and related documents supplement the requirements contained in the Main Legislation and in the Subsidiary Legislation which applies to trustees and other fiduciaries. They address in more detail certain requirements including the application process including the fitness and properness criteria, conduct of business, general organization requirements and internal management controls, compliance issues, reporting obligations and disclosure requirements. Trustees and other fiduciaries are legally bound to comply with these Rules.

 

  Rules for Trustees of Family Trusts

  Trustee Code of Conduct

  Trusts Beneficial Ownership Register FAQs

Company Service Providers – Notification Form

Company Service Providers – Termination of provision of CSP Services – Notification Form

This Annual Compliance Return is to be completed by persons registered as Trustees of Family Trusts in terms of Article 43B of the Trusts and Trustees Act.

Annual Compliance Return: Trustees of Family Trusts – Updated on 22/03/2024

This Annual Compliance Return is to be completed by persons authorised under the Trusts and Trustees Act to solely act as administrators of private foundations in terms of Article 43(12)(b) of the Trusts and Trustees Act.

Annual Compliance Return: Administrators of Private Foundations (Only) – Updated on 07/03/2023

This Annual Compliance Return is to be completed by persons authorised to act as trustees and/or to provide other fiduciary services (including providing mandate services and act as administrator of private foundations) in terms of Article 43 of the Trusts and Trustees Act.

Annual Compliance Return: Trustees and Other Fiduciaries – Updated on 07/03/2023

 Trust and Fiduciaries Circulars

 

 Dear CEO Letters

 

 Nature and Art of Financial Supervision

 

In this section you will find the Consultation Documents issued by the MFSA and which are of interest to trustees and other fiduciaries. These documents are issued to explain to the industry any new regulatory requirements which the Authority may be proposing to implement and the manner in which these will be implemented. During the consultation period, trustees and other fiduciaries will have the opportunity to provide their feedback which the Authority review. Following the consultation period, the Authority may issue the Feedback statement with a summary of the comments received in the course of the consultation period on that particular topic and the final position of the Authority with respect to the matters forming the subject of the consultation.

Trust and Fiduciaries Consultation Documents and Feedback Statements

TUBOR

The Trusts and Trustees Act (Register of Beneficial Owners) Regulations (“the Regulations”), published on the 20th December 2017 by virtue of Legal Notice 373 of 2017, transposed into Maltese law the provisions of Article 31 of Directive (EU) 2015/849 of the European Parliament and of the Council of the 20th May 2015 on the prevention of the use of the financial system for the purposes of money laundering or terrorist financing, more commonly known as the 4th AMLD. These provisions relate to beneficial ownership information, including inter alia, the register of beneficial owners, in so far as these provisions are applicable to trusts and trustees. As a result of the coming into force of these Regulations on the 1st January 2018, any licensed trustee who was appointed as trustee for a trust which generates tax consequences in Malta, was required to submit a declaration of beneficial ownership for every such trust to the MFSA. The declaration includes the details indicated in the Regulations, including those related to the trustee, settlor, protector, beneficiaries or class of beneficiaries as well as any other person exercising control over the said trust. The MFSA also published Frequently Asked Questions on the 21st June 2018, and which are updated from time to time, in order to assist trustees in submitting the required declarations of beneficial ownership.  The Regulations also set out the parties entitled to access the beneficial ownership information in the register, and the extent of such access.

In 2020 the Regulations were amended by Legal Notice 27 of 2020 to comply with changes introduced by the 5th AML Directive (“5th AMLD”).  The amended legislation brought into the scope of the reporting requirements all trusts administered by trustees licensed in Malta, irrespective of whether such trusts generate tax consequences or otherwise.  Moreover, where a trustee whose place of establishment  or residence is outside of the EU enters into a business relationship, or acquires real estate in Malta, this shall also trigger the reporting requirements of beneficial ownership of such trust in the central register in Malta. Also as a result of these amendments, in addition to the existing unfettered access to competent authorities, and to subject persons for the purposes of carrying out due diligence on a particular trust, access has also been extended to any natural or legal person who can demonstrate a legitimate interest as defined by law, and to any person who makes a written request to view the beneficial ownership information of a trust which owns a company that is not incorporated in the EU.

The MFSA has developed an online platform for the Trusts Ultimate Beneficial Ownership Register (“TUBOR”) , in order to facilitate the electronic submission of beneficial ownership information of trusts as well as to provide online access to the said beneficial ownership information to the entitled parties in terms of law, at differing levels as outlined above.

To access TUBOR please click here.

With the incident rate of cybersecurity threats and breaches always increasing, the MFSA has sought to implement an additional security feature for its TUBOR (Trusts Ultimate Beneficial Ownership Register) System. The deployment of the multi-factor authentication application will further enhance the TUBOR platform’s security credentials providing a robust system for its users. The new authentication scheme is based on Microsoft’s flagship cloud identity service.

A user guide manual and a step-by-step video can be found on this page for reference on how to install the Azure B2C Multi-Factor Authentication mechanism.