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Suppliment tal-Gazzetta tal-Gvern ta’ Malta Nru. 20,350, 20 ta’ Frar , 2020
Taqsima  B
____________________________________________________________________B 357
L.N. 27 of 2020
TRUSTS AND TRUSTEES ACT
(CAP. 331)
Trusts and Trustees Act (Register of Beneficial Owners) 
(Amendment) Regulations, 2020
IN EXERCISE of the powers confer red by article 57(1)(t) of the
Trusts and Trustees Act, the Minister responsible for the regulation of
financial services acting on the advice of the Malta Financial ServicesAuthority, has made the following regulations:
Citation, scope 
and 
commencement.
S.L. 331.10.1. (1) The title of these regulations is the Trusts and
Trustees Act (Register of Beneficial Owners) (Amendment)
Regulations, 2020, and these regulations shall be read and construed as
one with the Trusts and Trustees Act (Register of Beneficial Owners)Regulations, hereinafter referred to as "the principal regulati ons".
(2) The purpose of these regulations is to transpose the relevant
provisions on beneficial ownership information, and therefore A rticle
31, of Directive (EU) 2015/849 of the European Parliament and o f the
Council of 20 May 2015 on the prevention of the use of the financialsystem for the purposes of money laundering or terrorist financing, in so
far as applicable to trusts and trustees under the Act, as amended by
Directive (EU) 2018/843  of the European Par liament and of the C ouncil
of 30 May 2018, and as may be further amended from time to time. 
(3) These regulations shall be deemed to have come into force
on 1st January, 2020.
Amends 
regulation 1 of 
the principal 
regulations.2. In sub-regulation (2) of regulation 1 of the principal
regulations, for the words "as applicable to trusts and trustees under
the Act, and they shall be interpreted and applied accordingly. ",
there shall be substituted the words "as applicable to trusts and
trustees under the Act, as amended by Directive (EU) 2018/843 o f
the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 May 2018, and as
may be further amended from time to time.".
Amends 
regulation 2 of 
the principal regulations.3. Regulation 2 of the principal regulations, shall be amended
as follows:
(a) in sub-regulation (1) thereof:
(i) in paragraph (e) of the definition "beneficial
owner", for the words "in terms of the terms of the trust
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instrument", there shall be substituted the words "in terms
of the trust instrument"; and
(ii) immediately after the definition "material
actions", there shall be added the following new definition: 
" "Minister" shall have  the meaning assigned to
it under the Act;"; 
(b) sub-regulation (2) thereof,  shall be substituted by the
following:
"(2) These regulations shall only apply to express
trusts:
Provided that, these regu lations may also apply
to other types of legal arrangements, other than trusts,having a structure or functions  similar to trusts, as may be
prescribed by the Minister.".
Amends 
regulation 3 of the principal 
regulations.4. Regulation 3 of the principal r egulations, shall be amended
as follows:
(a) sub-regulation (1) thereof, shall be substituted by the
following:
"(1) A trustee who is aut horised or registered in
terms of article 43 or article  43B of the Act shall, within
fourteen days of being appointed  as a trustee of an express
trust, submit to the Authority a declaration of beneficial
ownership, in the form set out  by the Authority, in respect
of every such trust. The declaration of beneficial ownership
shall include 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 acompany, such declaration shall be signed by at least two
directors, and where the tru stee is another body corporate it
shall be signed by at least tw o persons entrusted with the
management and admini stration thereof."; 
(b) in sub-paragraph (iii) of sub-regulation (3)
thereof, for the words "within three months of the birth or
marriage;", there shall be s ubstituted the words "within
three months of the not ification to the tru stee of the birth or
marriage;"; and
(c) sub-regulation (5) thereof, shall be substituted
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by the following:
"(5) Where an individual beneficiary has not
yet received any financial payment or been provided
with a non-financial benefit,  or the beneficiary may not
be aware of his entitlement under the trust, andverification of identity ma y therefore not have been
carried out on the said beneficiary, it shall be sufficient
to provide the identificati on details whic h are available
on the trust instrument or on any other writtendocument by the settlor wherein such beneficiary is
named.".
Adds new 
regulation to the principal 
regulations.5. Immediately after regulation 3 of the principal regulations,
there shall be added the following:
Amends 
regulation 4 of the principal 
regulations.6. Regulation 4 of the principal regulations, shall be amended
as follows:
(a) in sub-regulation (1) ther eof, for the words "every
express trust provided to the  Authority in accordance with
regulation 3", there shall be substituted the words "every expr ess
trust provided to the Authority in accordance with regulation 3  or
regulation 3A".;
(b) sub-regulation (2) thereo f, shall be renumbered as
sub-regulation (4) and immediately after sub-regulation (1) the re
shall be added the following new sub-regulations:
"(2) Where there are co-trustees of a trust who are
established or reside in dif ferent Member States of theS.L. 373.01."3A. (1) The provisions of regulation 3 shall also
apply to any trustee of a trust whose place of
establishment or residence is  outside the European Union,
where such trustee enters into a business relationship, as
defined under article 2 o f the Prevention of Money
Laundering and Funding of T errorism Regulations, or
acquires real estate in Malta, in its capacity as trustee of atrust.
(2) The trustee of a trust whose place of
establishment or residence is outside the European Union
shall comply with the provisions of regulation 3 withinfourteen days from the date when the business relationship
has been established or the r eal estate acquired, as the case
may be.".
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European Union, the Authority may consider a certificate
of registration or an excerpt of the beneficial ownership
information held in a register by one Member State assufficient proof of having fulf illed the obligat ions in terms
of regulation 3.
(3) Where a trustee whose place of establishment
or residence is outside the European Union, enters into
multiple business relationships  in such trustee’s capacity as
trustee of a trust or person hol ding an equivalent position in
different Member States of the European Union, the
Authority may consider a certi ficate of registration or an
excerpt of the beneficial ownership information held in a
register by one Member State as sufficient proof of having
fulfilled the obligations in terms of regulation 3A."; and
(c) in sub-regulation (4), as renumbered, for the words
"The information provided by a trustee as required in terms of
regulation 3", there shall be substituted the words "Theinformation provided by a trustee as required in terms of
regulation 3 and regulation 3A.".
Amends 
regulation 5 of 
the principal 
regulations.7. Regulation 5 of the principal r egulations, shall be amended
as follows:
(a) in sub-regulation (1) thereof, for the words "Where
there is a change in the beneficial ownership of an express tru st
which generates tax consequences , the trustee", there shall be
substituted the words "Where there is a change in the beneficia l
ownership of an express trust, the trustee"; and 
(b) in sub-regulation (2) thereof, for the words "A trustee
who has submitted a declaration of beneficial ownership for any
trust in terms of regulation 3 or regulation 7", there shall be
substituted the words "A trustee who has submitted a
declaration of beneficial owners hip for any trust in terms of
regulation 3 or regulation 8".
Amends 
regulation 6 of 
the principal regulations.8. Regulation 6 of the principal r egulations, shall be amended
as follows:
(a) in paragraph (a) of sub- regulation (1) thereof:
(i) for the words "associat ed criminal offences", in
sub-paragraph (ii) thereof, there shall be substituted the
words, "associated predicate offences";
(ii) immediately after the words "the Financial
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Intelligence Analysis Unit;" in sub-paragraph (iii) thereof,
there shall be added the word "and";
(iii) for the words "national tax authorities; and", in
sub-paragraph (iv) thereof, there shall be substituted the
words "national ta x authorities."; and 
(iv) sub-paragraph (v) thereof, shall be deleted; 
(b) in paragraph (b) of sub-regulation (1) thereof:
(i) in the proviso thereof, for the words "may be
required", there shall be substituted the words "shall berequired";
(ii) in sub-paragraph (i) thereof, for the words "an
engagement letter", there shall be substituted the words "anexecuted engagement letter";
(iii) immediately after sub- paragraph (iv) thereof,
there shall be added the following new paragraphs:
"(c) any natural or legal person that, upon a
written request made und er regulation 6A, can
demonstrate a legitimate int erest. For the purposes of
these regulations:
(i) a legitimate interest to be granted
access to information on the beneficialownership of a trust shall be conclusively
determined, on a case by case basis, by theAuthority and shall be satisfactorily
demonstrated if the person requesting such
access can prove that th e interest specifically
and solely relates to a nd will contribute to the
prevention, detection and combating of moneylaundering or the associated predicate offencesor the financing of terrorism and shall be
justified on the basis of previous activities and a
proven track record of actions in that field, bymeans of relevant doc umentary evidence;
(ii)  Unless prohibited by these
regulations or applicable law, in the event thatthe Authority considers that there exists a
legitimate interest to be granted access to
beneficial ownership information, it shall notify
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the trustee of its conclusions and the reasons for
its decision and shall gr ant the trustee at least
ten (10) working days to present any
submissions to it in writing which the trustee
may wish to make.
(iii) After consideration of such
submissions, if any, the Authority shall notifythe applicant and the trustee of its final
decision.
 (d) any natural or legal person that submits a
written request to the Authority in relation to a trust
which holds or owns a controlling interest in any
corporate or other legal entity through direct or
indirect ownership, including through bearershareholdings, or through control by other means,
other than:
S.L. 386.19.
S.L. 16.16.
S.L. 16.15. (i) in any corporate or other legal
entities referred to in the Companies Act
(Register of Beneficial Owners) Regulations,
the Civil Code (Second Schedule) (Register of
Beneficial Owners-Associations) Regulations,
or the Civil Code (Second Schedule) (Register
of Beneficial Owners-Foundations)Regulations; or
(ii) in any corporate or other legal entity
incorporated within any other Member State ofthe European Union."; 
(c) sub-regulation (2) thereof, shall be substituted by the
following:
"(2) Access to information on a beneficial owner of
a trust under sub-regulation (1)(b), (c) and (d) may berefused by the Authority, in full or in part, where in
exceptional circumstances to be justified by means of
documentary evidence, and to be determined on a case bycase basis following a detailed evaluation of the
exceptional nature of the circumstances, the Authority
considers that access to such beneficial ownershipinformation would expose the beneficial owner to the risk
of fraud, kidnapping, blackmail, extortion, harassment,
violence or intimidation, or where the beneficial owner is aminor or otherwise legally incapable:
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Provided that sub-regulati on (2), shall not apply
to:
S.L. 373.01.(a) any legal or natural person carrying out
‘relevant financial business’  as defined in regulation
2(1)(a) to (f) and (h) of the Prevention of Money
Laundering and Funding of Terrorism Regulations; 
S.L. 373.01.(b) notaries and other independent legal
professionals, carrying out a ‘relevant activity’ asdefined in regulation 2(1) of the Prevention of Money
Laundering and Funding of Terrorism Regulations, in
their capacity as public officials; and 
(c) authorities referr ed to in regulation
6(1)(a)."; 
(d) sub-regulation (5) thereof, shall be re-numbered as
sub-regulation (6) and immediat ely after sub-regulation (4)
thereof, there shall be added the following new sub-regulation(5):
"(5) The access granted by the Authority to the
information on the benefici al owners of a trust to:
(a) natural or legal persons who have
satisfactorily demonstrated a legitimate interest interms of sub-regulation (1)(c); and
(b) natural or legal persons who have filed a
written request in relation to a trust in terms of sub-regulation (1)(d), 
shall, in respect of each bene ficial owner, consist of:
(i) the name and surname, 
(ii) date of birth, 
(iii) the nationality, 
(iv) the country of residence, and
(v) in the case of a beneficiary, the
nature and extent of the beneficial interest
held."; and 
(e) immediately after sub-regulation (6) thereof, as
renumbered, there shall be a dded the following new sub-
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regulation (7):
"(7) Access to the information on the beneficial
owners of the trust held by the Authority in the register of
beneficial owners shall be subject to on-line registration
and to the payment of a fee, to be prescribed in a legal
notice issued by the Minister, for every access request inrespect of the information on the beneficial owners of each
trust:
Provided that access to the provision of
information on beneficial owners of trusts by national
competent authorities and the Financial IntelligenceAnalysis Unit as identified in regulation 6(1)(a) shall not be
subject to the payment of a fee.".
Adds new 
regulations to 
the principal 
regulations.9. Immediately after regulation 6 of the principal regulations,
there shall be added the following:
"Requests for 
access to the 
beneficial 
ownership information based on a 
legitimate 
interest and the decision taken 
by the 
Authority.6A. (1) The Authority shall receive requests for
access to the beneficial ownership information based on a
legitimate interest in terms o f regulation 6(1)(c) in writing
and shall, in a timely manner from the date of receivingsuch request, notify the applicant of the Authority’sdecision, following an evaluat ion to determine whether the
applicant requesting access to the register of beneficialownership information satisfactorily demonstrates andjustifies to the Authority a legitimate interest in terms of
regulation 6(1)(c).
(2) In determining and arriving at a decision
whether the applicant has a legitimate interest, the
Authority may request any i nformation or any relevant
documentary evidence it deems necessary, and may seek
guidance from or consult with any person, authority or
other body as may be deemed necessary. 
(3) The Authority may, but shall not be obliged to,
notify the trustee of the request made for access to the
beneficial ownership informa tion of a particular trust
administered by that particula r trustee. The Authority may
request from the trustee any pertinent information requiredby the Authority in order to a ssess and process the request.
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Appeal from a 
decision of the 
Authority 
denying access to the register 
of beneficial 
owners.6B. (1) (a) An applicant who feels aggrieved by
a decision of the Authority denying access, in full or in part,
to the beneficial ownership information requested on the
basis of legitimate interest, in terms of regulation 6A, may
appeal to the Court of Appe al (Inferior Jurisdiction)
(hereinafter referred to as "the Court") by means of anapplication filed in the registr y of that court within twenty
days from the date on which the Authority’s decision has
been notified to such person. 
(b) the appeal application shall be made
in writing clearly explaini ng the grounds for such appeal
and filed against the Authority, which shall have twentydays from the date of service wi thin which to file a reply:
Provided that, if the appellant fails to
notify the appeal applicati on to the Authority within
twenty days of the filing of the appeal, the Court, afterhearing during the first sitting of the appeal the reasonswhy service was not affected, may declare by means of a
decree delivered in Court that  the appeal is deserted with
expenses to be borne by the appellant.
(c) the Court shall set down the cause for
hearing to a date no later than two months from when the
date on which the appeal is brought before it and shall cause
notice of such date to be given to the parties to the suit.
(d) after appointing the application for
hearing, and after listening to oral or written submissions,
as the case may be, made by the parties and any evidencethat they may be authorised to submit, the Court shall
decide the applicati on on its merits, within the shortest time
possible but not later than four months from the day when
the application has bee n appointed for hearing. 
(e) if the Court decides in favour of the
appellant, the Court shall, in its decision, indicate the time
frame within which the appellant is to be granted access to
the beneficial ownership information requested in terms ofregulation 6(1)(c).
(f) if, during the hearing of the appeal,
the Court finds that the a pplication is frivolous and
vexatious, the Court may decide to impose on the applicant,
a penalty, to be paid to the Authority, of between onethousand euro (€ 1,000) and five thousand euro (€5,000), as
the Court shall determine. 
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S.L. 12.09.(g) the Court vacations provided for in
the Court Practice and Procedure and Good Order Rules
shall not suspend the hearing of the appeals filed in terms of
these regulations:
Provided that for the purposes of this
regulation, the Court may, fo r reasons deemed serious and
necessary by the Court, by means of a decree, extend for a
reasonable period, the judicial  time limits that are imposed
on it according to these regulations.
(2) The persons referred to under regulation 6(1)
(b), (c) and (d) who are a ggrieved by a decision of the
Authority denying access to the beneficial ownership
information, in full or in part, on the basis that access to
such beneficial ownership information would expose thebeneficial owner to the risk  of fraud, kidnapping, blackmail,
extortion, harassment, violence or intimidation, or wherethe beneficial owner is a minor or otherwise legallyincapable, in terms of regula tion 6(2), may appeal against
such decision to the Court of A ppeal (Inferior Jurisdiction),
under the same terms and conditions indicated in sub-regulation (1) and, accordi ngly, the provisions of sub-
regulation (1) shall apply mutatis mutandis.
(3) (a) Proceedings in relation to the
determination of a legitimate interest under this regulationshall be held in camera  and only the appellant and other
parties who can prove they have an interest in the
proceedings to the satisfacti on of the Court, and their
respective advocates and legal procurators shall be allowed
in Court during the hearings;
(b) Any decree or decision of the Court shall
preserve the confidentiality o f the proceedings and shall
only reveal such facts as may be necessary to make the
same intelligible and e nforceable by the parties;
(c) All applications, responses, affidavits,
statements and other documents or evidence shall be keptby the Registrar of the Court in a confidential manner and
no access shall be given there to except with the written
consent of the Court.
Inaccuracies or 
discrepancies 
in the 
information available in the 
register.6C. (1) Where the Authority has reasonable cause
to believe that the beneficial ownership information
submitted in respect of a trust may not be accurate and
updated, the Authority may make  enquiries with the trustee
or carry out any other action in  terms of its powers granted
to it under the Act, in order to establish the current
beneficial ownership.
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Amends 
regulation 7 of 
the principal regulations.10. In regulation 7 of the princip al regulations, for the word
"under", there shall be subs tituted the word "to".
Amends 
regulation 8 of 
the principal regulations.11. Regulation 8 of the principal regulations, shall be
substituted by the following:
 Adds new 
regulation to the 
principal regulations.12. Immediately after regulation 10 of the principal
regulations, there shall  be added the following:(2) Where a national competent authority and, or
the Financial Intelligence Analysis Unit referred to in
regulation 6(1)(a), if appropriate , and to the extent that this
requirement does not interfere unnecessarily with itsfunctions, as well as any person referred to in regulation6(1)(b), becomes aware of a ny discrepancies between the
beneficial ownership informati on available in the register
referred to in regulation 4 and the beneficial ownershipinformation available to them, they shall report such
discrepancies to the Authority.
(3) Where discrepancies are reported and
communicated to the Authority in terms of sub-regulation
(2), the Authority shall take a ny appropriate actions in order
to resolve such discrepancies in a timely manner. Until suchtime as the discrepancies are re ctified, any reference to such
discrepancies may be included in the register referred to in
regulation 4.".
"
Applicability 
to trusts prior 
to the coming 
into force of L.N. 27 of 
2020.8. Every trustee authorised or registered in terms
of the Act shall, with regard to every express trust in respect
of which the trustee was so acting prior to the coming intoforce of the Trusts and Truste es Act (Register of Beneficial
Owners) (Amendment) Regulations 2020, submit to theAuthority a declaration of ben eficial ownership within six
months of the coming into for ce of the said regulations:
Provided that the above six month transitory
period shall not apply to any trustee of a trust who was
already required to submit a  declaration of beneficial
ownership in terms of the requirements set out in these
regulations prior to 1 January 2020.".
"
Duration for 
which 
information on register shall 
be available.10A. The information held in the Authority’s register
of beneficial owners of a tr ust under regulation 4 shall be
available through such register for at least ten years after
the grounds for registering the beneficial ownership
information have ceased to exist.".
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