Cap. 647 Art. 2Interpretation.       Cap. 370.  Cap. 204.   Cap. 330.       Cap. 376.    Cap. 373.      Cap. 370.      Cap. 370.  Cap. 370.      Cap. 370.

(1) In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires:

"AIFs" shall have the same meaning as that assigned to it in paragraph (a) of Article 4(1) of Directive 2011/61/EU;

"alternative investment fund manager" shall have the same meaning as that assigned to it in point (48) of Article

3(1) of the MiCA Regulation and shall include investment services licence holders licensed in accordance with the

Investment Services Act to carry out the investment service referred to in item 4 of the First Schedule of the said Act in relation to AIFs;

"asset-referenced token" shall have the same meaning as that assigned to it in point (6) of Article 3(1) of the MiCA Regulation;

"binding legal instruments" means any directly applicable measures, including but not limited to, any implementing technical standards, regulatory technical standards or similar measures, issued in accordance with European Union legislation;

"Central Bank" means the Central Bank of Malta as defined in the Central Bank of Malta Act;

"central securities depository" shall have the same meaning as that assigned to it in point (1) of Article 2(1) of Regulation (EU) No. 909/2014;

"competent authority" means the Malta Financial

Services Authority established by the Malta Financial Services

Authority Act;

"credit institution" shall have the same meaning as that assigned to it in point (28) of Article 3(1) of the MiCA Regulation;

"crypto-asset" shall have the same meaning as that assigned to it in point (5) of Article 3(1) of the MiCA Regulation;

"crypto-asset service" shall have the same meaning as that assigned to it in point (16) of Article 3(1) of the MiCA Regulation;

"crypto-asset service provider" shall have the same meaning as that assigned to it in point (15) of Article 3(1) of the MiCA Regulation;

"Directive 2009/65/EC" means Directive 2009/65/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 July 2009 on the coordination of laws, regulations and administrative provisions relating to undertakings for collective investment in transferable securities (UCITS), as may be amended from time to time, and includes any binding legal instruments, guidelines and other measures that have been or may be issued thereunder;

"Directive 2011/61/EU" means Directive 2011/61/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 8 June 2011 on Alternative Investment Fund Managers and amending Directives 2003/41/EC and 2009/65/EC and Regulations

(EC) No. 1060/2009 and (EU) No. 1095/2010, as may be amended from time to time, and includes any binding legal instruments, guidelines and other measures that have been or may be issued thereunder;

"Directive 2013/34/EU" means Directive 2013/34/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 June 2013 on the annual financial statements, consolidated financial statements and related reports of certain types of undertakings, amending Directive 2006/43/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council and repealing Council Directives 78/660/ EEC and 83/349/EEC, as may be amended from time to time, and includes any binding legal instruments, guidelines and other measures that have been or may be issued thereunder;

"Directive 2014/65/EU" means Directive 2014/65/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 May 2014 on markets in financial instruments and amending Directive 2002/92/EC and Directive 2011/61/EU, as may be amended from time to time, and includes any binding legal instruments, guidelines and other measures that have been or may be issued thereunder;

"Directive (EU) 2015/849" means Directive (EU) 2015/ 849 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 May 2015 on the prevention of the use of the financial system for the purposes of money laundering or terrorist financing, amending Regulation (EU) No. 648/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council, and repealing Directive 2005/ 60/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council and Commission Directive 2006/70/EC, as may be amended from time to time, and includes any implementing measures, implementing technical standards, regulatory technical standards, guidelines and similar measures that have been or may be issued thereunder;

"Directive (EU) 2015/2366" means Directive (EU) 2015/2366 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 November 2015 on payment services in the internal market, amending Directives 2002/65/EC, 2009/110/EC and 2013/36/ EU and Regulation (EU) No. 1093/2010, and repealing Directive 2007/64/EC, as may be amended from time to time, and includes any binding legal instruments, guidelines and other measures that have been or may be issued thereunder;

"EBA" means the European Banking Authority established by Regulation (EU) No. 1093/2010;

"European Central Bank" or "ECB" means the European Central Bank established by the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union;

"electronic money institution" shall have the same meaning as that assigned to it in point (43) of Article 3(1) of the

MiCA Regulation and shall include financial institutions authorised to issue electronic money in accordance with the

Financial Institutions Act;

"electronic money token" or "e-money token" shall have the same meaning as that assigned to it in point (7) of Article 3(1) of the MiCA Regulation;

"ESMA" means the European Securities and Markets Authority established by Regulation (EU) No. 1095/2010;

"European regulatory authority" means a body or bodies designated by a Member State other than Malta in accordance with Article 93(1) of the MiCA Regulation for the purpose of carrying out the functions and duties provided for under the said Regulation;

"Financial Intelligence Analysis Unit" means the

Financial Intelligence Analysis Unit as established by article

15 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act;

"GDPR" means Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 2016 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data, and repealing Directive 95/46/EC (General Data Protection Regulation), as may be amended from time to time, and includes any binding legal instruments, guidelines and other measures that have been, or may be issued thereunder;

"home Member State" shall have the same meaning as that assigned to it in point (33) of Article 3(1) of the MiCA Regulation;

"host Member State" shall have the same meaning as that assigned to it in point (34) of Article 3(1) of the MiCA Regulation; "investment firm" shall have the same meaning as that assigned to it in point (29) of Article 3(1) of the MiCA

Regulation and shall include investment services licence holders licensed in accordance with the Investment Services Act to carry out any of the investment services referred to in items 1 to 4, 6 to 9 and 11 of the First Schedule of the said Act in relation to an instrument as defined in the Investment Services Act;

"issuer" shall have the same meaning as that assigned to it in point (10) of Article 3(1) of the MiCA Regulation;

"market operator" shall have the same meaning as that assigned to it in point (18) of Article 4(1) of Directive 2014/

65/EU and shall include investment services licence holders licensed in accordance with the Investment Services Act to carry out the investment services referred to in item 9 of the First Schedule of the said Act in relation to an instrument as defined in the Investment Services Act;

"MiCA Regulation" means Regulation (EU) 2023/1114 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 31 May 2023 on markets in crypto-assets, and amending Regulations (EU) No. 1093/2010 and (EU) No. 1095/2010 and Directives 2013/ 36/EU and (EU) 2019/1937, as may be amended from time to time, and includes any binding legal instruments, guidelines and other measures that have been or may be issued thereunder;

"Minister" means the Minister responsible for the regulation of financial services;

"offeror" shall have the same meaning as that assigned to it in point (13) of Article 3(1) of the MiCA Regulation;

"qualified investor" shall have the same meaning as that assigned to it in point (30) of Article 3(1) of the MiCA Regulation;

"Regulation (EU) No. 1093/2010" means Regulation

(EU) No. 1093/2010 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 November 2010 establishing a European Supervisory Authority (European Banking Authority), amending Decision No. 716/2009/EC and repealing Commission Decision 2009/78/EC, as may be amended from time to time, and includes any binding legal instruments, guidelines and other measures that have been or may be issued thereunder;

"Regulation (EU) No. 1095/2010" means Regulation

(EU) No. 1095/2010 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 November 2010 establishing a European Supervisory Authority (European Securities and Markets Authority), amending Decision No. 716/2009/EC and repealing Commission Decision 2009/77/EC, as may be amended from time to time, and includes any binding legal instruments, guidelines and other measures that have been or may be issued thereunder;

"Regulation (EU) No. 909/2014" means Regulation

(EU) No. 909/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 July 2014 on improving securities settlement in the European Union and on central securities depositories and amending Directives 98/26/EC and 2014/65/EU and Regulation

(EU) No. 236/2012, as may be amended from time to time, and includes any binding legal instruments, guidelines and other measures that have been or may be issued thereunder;

"Rules" refers to Rules which may be issued by the competent authority in accordance with this Act;

"UCITS" shall have the same meaning as that assigned to it in article 2(1) of the Investment Services Act;

"UCITS management company" shall have the same meaning as that assigned to it in point (47) of Article 3(1) of the

MiCA Regulation and shall include investment services licence holders licensed in accordance with the Investment Services

Act to carry out the investment service referred to in item 4 of the First Schedule of the said Act in relation to UCITS in the form of common funds or of investment companies.

(2) Unless the context otherwise requires, the words used in this Act which are not defined herein shall have the same meaning as assigned to them in the MiCA Regulation.

(3) In this Act, and in any regulations made thereunder, where there are any conflicts between the English and the Maltese texts, the English text shall prevail.

(4) In the event that there is any conflict between this Act and the provisions of the MiCA Regulation, the provisions of the MiCA Regulation shall prevail.