Trusts and Trustees Act (Register of Beneficial Owners)

Suppliment tal-Gazzetta tal-Gvern ta’ Malta Nru. 21,467, 11 ta’ Lulju, 2025

L.N. 133 of 2025

TRUSTS AND TRUSTEES ACT

(CAP. 331)

Trusts and Trustees Act (Register of Beneficial Owners)

(Amendment) Regulations, 2025

IN EXERCISE of the powers conferred by article 57(1) of the

Trusts and Trustees Act, the Minister responsible for the regulation of

financial services, acting on the advice of the Malta Financial Services

Authority, has made the following regulations

(1) The title of these regulations is the Trusts and Citation and

Trustees Act (Register of Beneficial Owners) (Amendment) scope.

Regulations, 2025 and these regulations shall be read and construed as

one with the Trusts and Trustees Act (Register of Beneficial Owners) S.L. 331.10.

Regulations, hereinafter referred to as the "principal regulations".

(2) The scope of these regulations is to transpose, in part,

Article 74 of Directive (EU) 2024/1640 of the European Parliament

and of the Council of 31 May 2024 on the mechanisms to be put in

place by Member States for the prevention of the use of the financial

system for the purposes of money laundering or terrorist financing,

amending Directive (EU) 2019/1937, and amending and repealing

Directive (EU) 2015/849, in so far as it relates to trusts and trustees,

and these regulations shall be interpreted and applied accordingly.

In sub-regulation (2) of regulation 1 of the principal Amends

regulations the words "as amended by Directive (EU) 2018/843 of the regulation

the principal

European Parliament and of the Council of 30 May 2018," shall be regulations.

deleted.

In sub-regulation (1) of regulation 2 of the principal Amends

regulations in the definition "officers" the words "administration regulation

the principal

thereof." shall be substituted by the words "administration thereof;" regulations.

and immediately thereafter there shall be added the following new

definitions

" "private trustee" shall be interpreted and applied in

accordance with article 43A of the Act;

"trustee" shall have the same meaning as assigned to it in

the Act and, unless the context otherwise requires, shall include

"private trustee"."

Regulation 3 of the principal regulations shall be amended

as follows

(a) sub-regulation (1) thereof shall be substituted by the

following new sub-regulation

"(1) A trustee who is authorised or registered in

terms of article 43 or article 43B of the Act, and a private

trustee in terms of article 43A of the Act shall, within

fourteen (14) days of being appointed as a trustee of an

express trust, submit to the Authority a declaration of

beneficial ownership, in the form established by the

Authority, in respect of every such trust. The declaration of

beneficial ownership shall include the name of the trust

and the information referred to in sub-regulation (2) on

all the beneficial owners of the trust and such information

shall be adequate, accurate and up to date, and shall be

signed by the trustee. Where the trustee is a company, such

declaration shall be signed by at least two (2) directors, and

where the trustee is another body corporate it shall be

signed by at least two (2) persons entrusted with the

management and administration thereof.";

(b)

sub-regulation (2) thereof shall be amended as

follows

(i) paragraph (a) thereof shall be substituted by the

following new paragraph

"(a) the full name and surname;";

(ii) paragraph (b) thereof shall be substituted by the

following new paragraph

"(b) the day, month and year of birth;";

(iii) paragraph (c) thereof shall be substituted by the

following new paragraph

"(c) the nationality or where a beneficial

owner has more than one (1) nationality, the

nationalities;".

In sub-regulation (2) of regulation 5 of the principal

regulations, the words "in terms of regulation 3 or regulation 8" shall

be substituted by the words "in terms of regulation 3, 3A, 8 or 8A".

Regulation 6 of the principal regulations shall be amended Amends

regulation 6 of

as follows

the principal

regulations.

(a)

in paragraph (a) of sub-regulation (1) thereof

(i) in sub-paragraph (iii) thereof, the word "and"

shall be deleted;

(ii) immediately after sub-paragraph (v) thereof,

there shall be added the following new sub-paragraph

"(vi) any other national competent authority

within the meaning assigned to it in the Prevention of

Money Laundering and Funding of Terrorism

Regulations;";

(b)

paragraph (d) of sub-regulation 1 thereof shall be

deleted;

(c) in sub-regulation (2) thereof the words "under sub-

regulation (1)(b), (c) and (d)" shall be substituted by the words

"under sub-regulation (1)(b) and (c)";

(d) sub-regulation (5) thereof shall be substituted by the

following new sub-regulation

"(5) The access granted by the Authority to the

information on the beneficial owners of a trust to natural or

legal persons who have satisfactorily demonstrated a

legitimate interest in terms of sub-regulation (1)(c) shall, in

respect of each beneficial owner, consist of

(i)

the name and surname;

(ii)

the month and year of birth;

(iii) the nationality;

(iv) the country of residence; and

(v) the nature and extent of the beneficial

interest held.".

Immediately after regulation 8 of the principal regulations Adds a new

regulation to the

principal

regulations.

there shall be added the following new regulation

" Applicability

Every individual acting as a private trustee in

terms of the Act shall, with regard to every trust in respect

of which the private trustee was so acting before 11th July

2025, submit to the Authority a declaration of beneficial

ownership within six (6) months of the said date.".

8. Regulation 9 of the principal regulations shall be

substituted by the following new regulation

Where a trustee, in terms of regulation 3 or

regulation 3A, contravenes or fails to comply with any of

the provisions of these regulations, the Authority may

impose an administrative penalty which may not exceed

one hundred and fifty thousand euro (€150,000)

Provided that a trustee referred to in these

regulations shall not be held liable if it is shown that the

trustee had exercised all due diligence to comply with the

provisions of these regulations and the default was not due

to negligence or fault on the part of the trustee or any of its

officers as may be applicable.".

€0.18