S.L. 331.10 Art. 5Noticeofchangein beneficial owners and annual declaration. 

(1) Where there is a change in the beneficial ownership of an express trust, the trustee shall, within fourteen days after the date on which the change is recorded by the trustee, notify the Authority of the change, providing the information required under regulation 3 on any new beneficial owner, and the effective date of changes made. The said changes shall be entered in the register of beneficial owners:

Provided that if the change in the beneficial ownership information relates to a change in trustee, it shall be the duty of the new trustee to notify the Authority of such change.

(2) A trustee who has submitted a declaration of beneficial ownership for any trust in terms of regulation 3, 3A, 8 or 8A shall, for st every such trust, submit annually thereafter, and by not later than 31 January of each year, a declaration confirming that there have been no changes to the beneficial ownership of the trust in the previous calendar year, other than any changes notified in terms of sub-regulation (1).

(3) The notice referred to in sub-regulation (1) and the declaration referred to in sub-regulation (2) shall be signed by the trustee. Where the trustee is a company, such notice or declaration shall be signed by at least two directors, and where the trustee is another body corporate they shall be signed by at least two persons entrusted with the management and administration thereof.

6.* (1) Persons referred to in sub-regulation (1a) shall have access to information on the beneficial owners of express trusts held by the Authority in the register of beneficial owners in an immediate, unfiltered and direct manner, free of charge, and without alerting the trust concerned, its trustee or trustees, or any of its other beneficial owners.

(1a) Access to information as referred to in sub-regulation (1)

*Came into force on 1st April, 2018. (REGISTER OF BENEFICIAL OWNERS)

shall be granted to the following:

(a) competent authorities;

(b) self-regulatory bodies established in Malta, as well as authorities established in other Member States of the European Union, in the performance of supervisory functions in accordance with Article 37 of Directive (EU) 2024/1640;

(c) tax authorities established in Malta, as well as authorities established in other Member States of the European Union;

(d) authorities established in Malta, as well as authorities established in other Member States of the European Union, with designated responsibilities for the implementation of European Union restrictive measures identified under the relevant Council Regulations adopted on the basis of Article 215 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union;

(e) AMLA, for the purposes of joint analyses in accordance with Article 32 of Directive (EU) 2024/ 1640 and Article 40 of Regulation (EU) 2024/1620 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 31 May 2024 establishing the Authority for Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism and amending Regulations (EU) No 1093/2010, (EU) No 1094/2010 and (EU) No 1095/ 2010;

(f) European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO);

(g) European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF);

(h) European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation (Europol) and the European Union Agency for Criminal Justice Cooperation (Eurojust) when providing operational support to the competent authorities.

(1b) Obliged entities shall be granted timely access to the information on the beneficial owners of an express trust held by the Authority in the register of beneficial owners when such obliged entities are taking customer due diligence measures in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2024/1624.

(1c) Natural or legal persons that can demonstrate a legitimate interest in the prevention and combating of money laundering, its predicate offences and terrorist financing shall be granted access to the information on the beneficial owners of an express trust held by the Authority in the register of beneficial owners in accordance with sub-regulation (5), without alerting the trust concerned, its trustee or trustees, or any of its other beneficial owners:

Provided that for the purpose of this sub-regulation, the following natural or legal persons shall be deemed to have a legitimate interest:

(a) persons acting for the purpose of journalism, reporting or any other form of expression in the media, that are connected with the prevention or combating of money laundering, its predicate offences or terrorist financing;

(b) civil society organisations, including non-governmental organisations and academia, that are connected with the prevention or combating of money laundering, its predicate offences or terrorist financing;

(c) persons likely to enter into a transaction with a trust, or the trustee or trustees of the trust concerned, and who intend to prevent any link between such a transaction and money laundering, its predicate offences or terrorist financing;

(d) any entity subject to anti-money laundering and counter-funding of terrorism requirements in third countries, insofar as it can demonstrate that the access to beneficial ownership information referred to in this sub-regulation and sub-regulation (5), is required for the performance of customer due diligence in respect of a customer or prospective customer in accordance with anti-money laundering and counter-funding of terrorism requirements in those third countries;

(e) third-country counterparts of European Union anti-money laundering and counter-funding of terrorism competent authorities, insofar as they can demonstrate that the access to beneficial ownership information referred to in this sub-regulation and sub-regulation (5) is required for the performance of their obligations under the anti-money laundering and counter-funding of terrorism frameworks of those third countries in the context of a specific case; (REGISTER OF BENEFICIAL OWNERS)

(f) European Union Member State authorities responsible for the implementation of Title I, Chapters II and III of Directive (EU) 2017/1132 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 June 2017 relating to certain aspects of company law, in particular, those authorities responsible for the registration of commercial partnerships in accordance with Article 16 of the said Directive, as well as European Union Member State authorities responsible for scrutinising the legality of conversions, mergers and divisions of limited liability companies, in accordance with Title II of the said Directive;

(g) programme authorities identified by European Union Member States in accordance with Article 71 of Regulation EU 2021/1060 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 June 2021 laying down common provisions on the European Regional Development Fund, the European Social Fund Plus, the Cohesion Fund, the Just Transition Fund and the European Maritime, Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund and financial rules for those and for the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund, the Internal Security Fund and the Instrument for Financial Support for Border Management and Visa Policy, in respect of beneficiaries of European Union funds;

(h) public authorities implementing the Recovery and Resilience Facility as established in Regulation EU 2021/241 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 February 2021 establishing the Recovery and Resilience Facility, in respect of beneficiaries under such Facility;

(i) European Union Member States’ public authorities in the context of public procurement procedures, in respect of the tenderers and operators being awarded the contract under the public procurement procedure;

(j) providers of anti-money laundering and counter-funding of terrorism products, to the strict extent that products developed on the basis of the information referred to in this sub-regulation and sub-regulation (5) or containing such information, are provided only to customers that are obliged entities or competent authorities where, and insofar as those providers can demonstrate that they require the information referred to in this sub-regulation and sub-regulation (5) in relation to a contract with an obliged entity or competent authority:

Provided that for the purposes of sub-paragraph (e), requests shall be made through the relevant counterparts in Malta, as applicable:

Provided further that on a case-by-case basis, any other person who can demonstrate a legitimate interest with respect to the purpose of preventing and combating money laundering, its predicate offences and terrorist financing shall be granted access to beneficial ownership information.

(b) subject persons in terms of the Prevention of Money Laundering and Funding of Terrorism Regulations, for the purpose of carrying out customer due diligence in accordance with the said regulations, in a timely manner:

Provided that the subject persons mentioned in sub-regulation (1)(b) shall be required to submit to the Authority:

(i) an executed engagement letter engaging the subject person; or

(ii) a power of attorney, licence, warrant or other evidence of the function of the subject person; or

(iii) a declaration that the purpose of the enquiry relates to the duties of the subject person or alternatively the basis of such request; or

(iv) any other document which the Authority may deem necessary.

(c) any natural or legal person that, upon a written request made under regulation 6A, can demonstrate a legitimate interest. For the purposes of these regulations:

(i) a legitimate interest to be granted access to information on the beneficial ownership of a trust shall be conclusively determined, on a case by case basis, by the Authority and shall be satisfactorily demonstrated if the person requesting such access can prove that the interest specifically and solely relates to and will contribute to the prevention, detection and combating of money laundering or the (REGISTER OF BENEFICIAL OWNERS)

associated predicate offences or the financing of terrorism and shall be justified on the basis of previous activities and a proven track record of actions in that field, by means of relevant documentary evidence;

(ii) Unless prohibited by these regulations or applicable law, in the event that the Authority considers that there exists a legitimate interest to be granted access to beneficial ownership information, it shall notify the trustee of its conclusions and the reasons for its decision and shall grant 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 notify the applicant and the trustee of its final decision.

(d) Deleted by Legal Notice 133 of 2025.

(2) Access to information on a beneficial owner of an express trust as provided for in sub-regulations (1b) and (1c) may be exempted by the Authority, in full or in part, where in exceptional circumstances to be determined on a case by case basis following a detailed evaluation of the exceptional nature of the circumstances as justified by means of documentary evidence, the Authority considers that access to such beneficial ownership information would expose the beneficial owner to disproportionate risk of fraud, kidnapping, blackmail, extortion, harassment, violence or intimidation, or where the beneficial owner is a minor or otherwise legally incapable:

Provided that such exemptions shall not apply to obliged entities identified in Article 3(3)(b) of Regulation (EU) 2024/1624, insofar as they are public officials:

Provided further that the Authority shall publish annual statistical data on the number of exemptions granted and the reasons given, and report the data to the Commission, if applicable.

Provided that sub-regulation (2), shall not apply to:

(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;

(b) notaries and other independent legal professionals, carrying out a ‘relevant activity’ as defined in regulation 2(1) of the Prevention of

Money Laundering and Funding of Terrorism Regulations, in their capacity as public officials; and

(c) authorities referred to in regulation 6(1)(a).

(3) Obliged entities shall not rely exclusively on the register of beneficial owners to fulfil their customer due diligence obligations in terms of the Prevention of Money Laundering and Funding of

Terrorism Regulations.

(4) The fact that trustees comply with these regulations with regard to provision of information to the Authority shall not imply that such trustees do not remain equally obliged to provide any information requested of them by obliged entities taking customer due diligence measures in accordance with the Prevention of Money

Laundering Act and applicable regulations, as well as others entitled to such information under any other relevant legislation, about such trust and beneficial owners.

(5) The access granted by the Authority to the information on the beneficial owners of an express trust, to natural or legal persons who have satisfactorily demonstrated a legitimate interest in accordance with sub-regulation (1c) and regulation 6A shall, in respect of each beneficial owner, consist of:

(a) the name and surname;

(b) the month and year of birth;

(c) the nationality or nationalities;

(d) the country of residence; and

(e) the nature of the beneficial interest:

Provided that the persons referred to in sub-regulation (1c)(a), (b) and (e) shall also be granted access to historical information on the beneficial ownership of the express trust, including trusts that have ceased to exist in the preceding five (5) years, as well as a description of the control or ownership structure.

(5a) The information referred to in sub-regulation (5) shall be made available through electronic means:

Provided that natural or legal persons who have satisfactorily demonstrated a legitimate interest in accordance with sub-regulation (1c) and are unable to use electronic means, shall be (REGISTER OF BENEFICIAL OWNERS)

granted access to such information by the Authority in other formats.

(6) The Authority may, on a case-by-case basis, and to the extent that it deems necessary, share information in relation to registered beneficial ownership information relating to express trusts, or requests for access in accordance with regulation 6A, with entities in charge of the register of beneficial owners in other Member States of the European Union and third countries with whom the Authority has an arrangement, upon their request, for the purposes of the prevention and combating of money laundering, its predicate offences, or the financing of terrorism.

(7) Access to information on the beneficial owners of an express trust held by the Authority in the register of beneficial owners by persons indicated in sub-regulations (1a), (1b) and (1c) shall be subject to online registration, unless otherwise provided, and in the case of requests for access by persons indicated in sub-regulations

(1b) and (1c), it may be subject to the payment of a fee, as may be prescribed by the Authority, for every access request in respect of the information on the beneficial owners of each trust:

Provided that such fee shall be limited to what is strictly necessary to cover the costs of ensuring the quality of the information held in the register of beneficial owners and of making the information available.

(8) In accordance with articles 52 and 57(4) of the Act, the Authority may publish rules which specify the requirements and format of submission of requests for access to information held in the register of beneficial owners and any other matters as the Authority may consider appropriate.