The Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA) regulates collective investment schemes in Malta. The Maltese Investment Services Act (the Act) provides the statutory basis for regulating investment funds constituted in or from Malta. Malta’s legislation is in line with EU law and built on best practices from other finance centres. MFSA regulates all financial services.
Key Features
The Professional Investor Fund (PIF) is a Maltese regulated branded investment fund for professional and sophisticated investors.
Some key characteristics of the PIF regime:
- A regulated EU structure
- Suitable for all investment strategies — including traditional and alternative — and all asset classes
- Three different classifications — experienced, qualifying and extraordinary — depending on the
- proposed target investors
- Flexible regulatory regime since PIFs are not intended for the general public but for professional or high net worth investors, they are not burdened with the restrictions usually imposed on retail funds
- Light diversification and leverage rules depending on target investor
- Single fund or multi-fund structure, combining different investment strategies or asset classes in different sub-funds
- Fast-track licensing process
- Possibility of internally managed (self-managed) PIFs
Legal Requirements
|
Requirements |
Description |
|
General |
|
|
Investment companies, Limited partnerships, Unit trust, Contractual fund |
|
No |
|
Share capital or equivalent |
|
|
· Minimum subscription |
€10,000 (experienced investors) €75,000 (qualifying investors) €750,000 (extraordinary investors) |
|
· Minimum investors |
None |
|
· Minimum capital requirement |
€125,000 |
|
Directors |
|
|
2 |
|
Yes |
|
No |
|
Service Providers Required |
|
|
Yes |
|
Yes |
|
Yes |
|
Yes |
Tax Treatment
Income from collective investment schemes in Malta is tax exempt. However, if the value for the assets in Malta allocated to the fund is 85% of the value of the total assets, the fund is liable to a withholding tax on income from Malta sources of 10% to 15%.
Duration to Set Up
About 2 months
Distinctive Benefits of Licence
- Attractive fiscal environment
- Generally fast regulatory approval environment
The Valsen Advantage
- End to end comprehensive service
- Speedy and efficient service
- Expert advice on structuring options
- Dedicated ongoing compliance support
- Extensive network pool of service providers