Cap. 386 Art. 142Disqualification for appointment as director or company secretary.

(1) A person shall not be qualified for appointment or to hold office as director of a company or company secretary if:

(a) he is interdicted or incapacitated or is an undischarged bankrupt;

(b) he has been convicted of an offence of money laundering within the meaning of the Prevention of Money

Laundering Act, associate predicate offences to money laundering and terrorist financing, or of any of the crimes affecting public trust or of theft or of fraud or of knowingly receiving property obtained by theft or fraud;;

(c) he is a minor who has not been emancipated for trade; or

(d) he is subject to a disqualification order under article 320: Provided that a disqualification in terms of paragraph

(b) shall remain valid:

(i) in perpetuity, if the punishment for the crime he has been convicted of is of imprisonment for life;

(ii) for a period of fifteen (15) years if the punishment for the crime he has been convicted of is of imprisonment between twenty-five (25) and thirty (30) years;

(iii) for a period of ten (10) years if the punishment for the crime he has been convicted of is of imprisonment between ten (10) and twenty-five

(25) years;

(iv) for a period of eight (8) years if the punishment for the crime he has been convicted of is of imprisonment between five (5) and ten (10) years;

(v) for a period of five (5) years if the punishment for the crime he has been convicted of is of imprisonment between four (4) and ten (10) years; and

(vi) for a period of three (3) years if the punishment for the crime he has been convicted of is of imprisonment for less than four (4) years: Provided further that in any case the disqualification period in terms of this proviso shall not be less than the term of imprisonment that the person would have been awarded;

(e) such person is holding such office as a company service provider in terms of the Company Service Providers Act without having obtained the necessary authorisation by the Malta Financial Services Authority to provide such service.

(2) Notwithstanding the provisions of this Act or of the memorandum and articles of a company relating to the formalities of the appointment of a director or other officer and to his qualification, any irregularity concerning the appointment of a director or other officer of a company raised after the completion of the publication of his appointment shall not be relied upon by the company as against third parties unless the company proves that such parties were aware of the irregularity at the relevant time.

(3) Third parties who were not aware of the irregularities referred to in sub-article (2) at the relevant time may rely on that irregularity as against the company.

(4) The Registrar may restrict a person from being appointed as director or company secretary of a proposed commercial partnership or an existing company if he is or has been a director or secretary of an existing Maltese company in relation to which he has breached the provisions of this Act for three (3) times within a period of two (2) years, that shall be reckoned from the first breach, and he is still in default as to one or more of such breaches.

(5) Any person who feels aggrieved by a restriction from being appointed as director or company secretary in terms of sub-article

(4) may bring an application before the court against the Registrar for the removal of such restriction.

(6) Apart from the disqualifications for appointment or to hold office of a director of a company under the provisions of this Act, any disqualification that is in force or information relevant for disqualification in another Member State shall be taken into account and the Registrar may refuse the appointment of a person as a director of a company where, at the time, such person would be disqualified from acting as a director in another Member State.