Malta: Corporate/Commercial Law

Malta's Sanctions Monitoring Board has issued new guidance on Article 32 of the National Interest (Enabling Powers) Act, fundamentally transforming how organisations must approach sanctions compliance. The framework shifts expectations from basic screening exercises to comprehensive, risk-based compliance programmes encompassing governance, due diligence, and ongoing monitoring across a wide range of sectors including financial services, gaming, real estate, and professional services.

The Malta Business Wallet allows business owners to securely store, manage and share verified corporate and personal information with regulators and service providers. By introducing a “once only” approach to due diligence, the platform aims to reduce duplicate documentation, improve compliance and make doing business in Malta faster and more efficient.

When the sole director and shareholder of a Maltese company dies, a unique governance vacuum emerges that existing legislation fails to adequately address. The Commercial Court's recent decision in Budget Services Limited v X demonstrates how judicial pragmatism can provide temporary relief, but raises critical questions about the need for comprehensive legislative reform to protect orphaned companies from operational paralysis.