On 10 December 2015, the European Commission launched a three-month consultation on financial services as seen from the perspective of the European consumers. The consultation was originally announced in the Capital Markets Union Action Plan.

The focus of the consultation is the retail market across Europe for products such as insurance, mortgages, loans, payments and bank accounts. Its aim is to identify and remove the unjustified barriers that consumers face when they want to use such financial services across borders, and, consequently, to boost competition, transparency and choice of the services. The effects of the consultation are expected to contribute to the creation of a system that works for all consumers across the EU, giving them access to the best financial service deals, with more suitable products, a wider choice and more competitive prices.

The difficulties the EU consumers encounter at present include unavailability of bank accounts or savings products abroad to residents of their Member State, no possibility of keeping their existing current account or debit card when moving abroad, high fees or poor exchange rates for transferring money into another currency, or using a credit card while on holiday, etc. As a result, many Europeans do not enjoy the widest range of products or they pay for them over the odds. On the other hand, the complexity and high cost of operating internationally discourages financial services providers to expand outside borders.

For these reasons, only 3% of consumers have purchased a banking product such as a credit card, current account or a mortgage from other EU member state. What is more, within the euro area, cross-border loans amount for less than 1% of the total.

Launching the consultation, the Commission aims at making it easier for companies to offer financial products at the retail level in other EU Member States, and providing the consumers with wider range of financial products. 

Citizens, stakeholders such as consumer groups and businesses and other interested parties are invited to take part in the consultation until 18 March 2016. When it is closed, the consultation’s results will be discussed and examined in a conference in early 2016. Next, an Action Plan on Retail Financial Services will be developed. 

The Commonwealth Business Forum (CBF), which brings together senior government and business leaders, is opening its curtains tomorrow.

GM is proud to be one of the event’s sponsors and Mr John A. Gauci-Maistre K.M., Chairman of GM, will deliver a speech during the Forum. CBF participants will also be able to apply to the GM’s stand, where they will be provided with detailed information on its spectrum of services. 

CBF serves as a platform for countries to showcase their investment opportunities. It also constitutes an opportunity to influence the global debate on trade, making it possible for the Commonwealth businesses to meet both private sector peers as well as senior Government representatives from around the world.

The primary objective of CBF is to develop stronger partnerships between governments and businesses. As underscored by Joseph Muscat, the Prime Minister of Malta, the cooperation among Commonwealth nations is indispensable for the favourable global environment in which business can thrive and flourish. Hence, the Forum participants will debate on issues concerning international peace and security, financial stability, free and fair trade, protection of oceans and natural environment. The CBF agenda will be contemplated with issues of mutual Commonwealth relevance such as financial services, technology infrastructure, tourism, healthcare and sustainability.

Mr John A. Gauci-Maistre, GM’s Chairman and founder of the Economicard Group, will be a speaker during the CBF session on the Maritime Commonwealth. Mr Gauci-Maistre will discuss the role of oceans as primary highways linking the Commonwealth, the way in which countries can cooperate for the development of the shipping industry as well as the importance of maritime heritage shared by the Commonwealth nations. 

Between 21 and 25 November 2015, the young generation of the Commonwealth of Nations gather in St. Paul’s Bay, Malta, to discuss, during Commonwealth Youth Forum (CYF), key issues faced by people under the age of 30.

Dr Jean-Pie Gauci-Maistre, Director of GM Corporate and Fiduciary Services Limited and Managing Partner of Gauci-Maistre Xynou (‘GMX’) was one of the Forum’s speakers.

The aim of the Forum is to achieve cross-cultural connection and learning, and to develop common ground to address both challenges and opportunities faced by the youth.

The Forum has gathered around 400 delegates from all over the Commonwealth and beyond. The CYF participants have been discussing how young people can contribute to upholding and enhancing the Commonwealth Charter as well as achieving the goals of the United Nations High Level Panel post-2015 development agenda - which aims at the eradication of poverty and promotion of sustainable development. The Commonwealth Youth have also been debating the role they are called to play in the implementation of the Commonwealth's Strategic Plan 2013-14/2016-17.

Dr Jean-Pie Gauci-Maistre partook in the panel discussion on ‘Quality and Inclusive Education’ as a speaker on the first day of the Forum. He addressed the challenges and the associated opportunities of the contemporary educational system as well as the unambiguous link between qualitative education and professional success. 

People under the age of 30 represent 60 per cent of the overall Commonwealth population, which makes the Commonwealth Youth Forum a voice to be reckoned with in the international business arena.

An international summit on migration will be held in Valletta on the 11th and 12th November 2015, at the Mediterranean Conference Centre.

During the Summit, heads of states or governments from Europe and Africa will be addressing challenges and opportunities of migration, aiming at developing stronger cooperation in the area of migration.

63 leaders from Africa and EU member states are expected to attend. Also, numerous international and regional organisations have been invited to participate in the meeting: the African Union Commission, the ECOWAS Commission, the UN, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the International Organization for Migration (IOM), and the International Federation of Red Cross (IFRC).

The objective of the summit is to highlight that migration is a shared responsibility of countries of origin, transit and destination. The participants will be discussing the root causes of migration, promotion and setting up of the legal migration channels, protection of migrants and asylum seekers, tackling the exploitation and trafficking of migrants, as well as improving cooperation on return and readmission of migrants.

Hosted by the Maltese Prime Minister, Joseph Muscat, the Valletta Migration Summit will be chaired by the President of the European Council, Donald Tusk. President Tusk will represent the EU along with the President of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, the EU High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Federica Mogherini, Minister of Immigration and Asylum of Luxembourg and President of the Council, Jean Asselborn, and Commissioner for International Cooperation and Development, Neven Mimica.

A month ago, after five years of negotiations, the landmark Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement was concluded. Today, for the first time, its full text has been made public.

The text of TPP is approximately 6,000 pages long and was first released by New Zealand's government. The agreement still has to be ratified by lawmakers in each member country. Also, in some of the countries involved the TPP needs to undergo a legal review.

The TPP is said to be one of the world's most extensive trade agreements, as it brings together 12 Pacific Rim countries, including the United States and Japan. The other parties to the TPP are Malaysia, Vietnam, Singapore, Brunei, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Mexico, Chile and Peru. The vast character of the agreement is undisputed: the twelve countries have a collective population of about 800 million, which is almost double that of the European Union's single market, and they are already responsible for 40% of world trade.

The aim of TPP is to deepen economic ties between the twelve nations, slash tariffs and foster trade to boost growth. Establishing of closer relationships on economic policies and regulation is also expected. The Trans-Pacific Partnership is believed to have the potential to unleash new economic growth and lead to the creation of a new single market like the one in Europe.

The EU and Liechtenstein signed a new tax transparency agreement, under which Liechtenstein and EU Member States will automatically exchange information on the financial accounts of each other's residents. EU Member States will receive data concerning their residents, who have accounts in Liechtenstein, including: names, addresses, tax identification numbers, dates of birth, and other financial and account balance information.

The agreement is said to constitute another step forward in the fight against tax evasion, as it will help tax authorities track down tax evaders. It will also act as a deterrent for those who move income and assets abroad to avoid taxes. Similar negotiations are being finalised by the EU with Andorra, San Marino and Monaco.

The EU-Liechtenstein agreement will take effect in 2017.

On 27 October 2015, the European Parliament adopted its stance on a deal with Switzerland, according to which the EU and Switzerland will automatically exchange information on the bank accounts of each other's residents, starting in 2018.

The agreement aims at restricting tax fraud and tax evasion. As explained by Jeppe Kofod (Group of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats), the deal will preclude persons and companies from hiding assets for the purpose of avoiding paying taxes. ‘Whenever people commit tax fraud, they take away money that could be spent on schools and healthcare. Ending bank secrecy is a very important step in this fight against tax fraud and for tax justice’, underscored the MEP. The data to be exchanged concern income (interest and dividends), account balances, and proceeds from the sale of financial assets. Thanks to the deal, tax authorities in the member states and Switzerland will be able to identify correctly and unequivocally the taxpayers concerned, administer and enforce their tax laws in cross-border situations, assess the likelihood of tax evasion being perpetrated, and avoid unnecessary further investigations. The agreement complies with the 2014 global standard on the automatic exchange of financial account information promoted by the OECD.

The resolution was passed by 593 votes to 37, with 58 abstentions. Now, the EU and Switzerland must conclude the agreement in time for it to enter into force on 1 January 2017. Parliament has to be consulted in this process, and the agreement also has to be ratified by the Swiss Parliament. 

Click here for the article.

Lakshmi Puri, Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations and Deputy Executive Director of UN Women, the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women, has been announced as a speaker of the next Commonwealth Women’s Forum.

The Forum will be held 22-24 November 2015 in St. Julians, Malta. Ms Puri will be delivering the main speech on the first day of the Commonwealth Women’s Forum.

Lakshmi Puri has been involved in women’s and gender issues for years. Following a 28-year career within the Indian Foreign Service, she joined the United Nations in 2002 as Director of the largest division at the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). Ms. Puri joined UN Women in March 2011, shortly after its creation. As a member of the senior leadership team, she contributed to the institutional development of the entity, shaping its first Strategic Plan and positioning it as the leading organization for the promotion of gender equality and women’s empowerment globally. As an Assistant Secretary-General, Ms Puri has been responsible for the leadership and management of the Bureau supporting intergovernmental bodies, United Nations coordination and external relations.

The goal of the Commonwealth Women’s Forum is to raise awareness of women’s issues in Commonwealth countries and show how women’s contributions can have a positive impact politically, economically and socially, hence the forum’s motto ‘Women ahead. Be all that you can be.’

The European Commission has decided that Starbucks (coffee roasting company) and Fiat Financing and Trade have been granted illegal selective tax advantages.

The national tax authorities of the Netherlands (with respect to Starbucks) and Luxembourg (Fiat Financing and Trade) have issued tax rulings granting the two companies advantageous tax treatment. By means of tax rulings, tax authorities give an assurance to taxpayers on how certain aspects of taxation will be dealt with in specific cases, and in this sense they are completely legal and even desirable. However, a tax ruling cannot provide for unequal treatment between the tax payers.

Due to the rulings issued with regards to Starbucks and Fiat, the tax burden of the companies concerned has been lowered both substantially and artificially, allowing Starbucks to shift most of its profits abroad and enabling Fiat to pay taxes on underestimated profits. As a result, since 2012 (issuance of the tax ruling) Fiat Finance and Trade saved €20-€30 million paying its unfairly reduced corporate tax. When it comes to Starbucks, its corporate tax burden has been unduly reduced by the same €20-€30 million since the tax ruling in 2008. The ruling has allowed the company to take advantage from transfer pricing between Starbucks Manufacturing (based in the Netherlands) and its associated enterprises: Alki, a UK-based company to which Starbucks paid unjustified royalty for know-how, and Starbucks Coffee Trading SARL, based in Switzerland, collecting inflated prices for green coffee beans from Starbucks Manufacturing.

In the investigations concerning Starbucks and Fiat Finance and Trade, the Commission for the first time had recourse to information request tool under a Council decision by Member States of July 2013 (Regulation 734/2013), giving it the power to request any EU Member State or a company any information needed to complete its state aid assessment.

Following the completion of the two investigations, the Netherlands and Luxembourg have been ordered by the Commission to recover the unpaid tax, thus removing the unfair competitive advantaged of the two companies and restoring equal treatment among the tax payers. The Commission will continue to investigate tax rulings in other EU Member States.

The 2016 Budget was recently presented in the new House of Representatives by Malta’s Finance Minister, Professor Edward Scicluna. Its theme is “Malta – a strong economy”.  For a breakdown of the main points please read our article in the Resources section on the following link:

http://www.gmcorporateservices.com/en/resources/resources/128/malta-budget-2016.htm

The 8th edition of the Valletta Boat Show opened its curtains today at 18:00 p.m.

The Valletta Boat Show 2015 will be hosted between 8^th and 11^th October 2015 at Dock 1, Cospicua. This location has been chosen for safety and shelter reasons, so that problems due to weather conditions can be avoided.Additionally, its historic past and its setting make it an ideal location for such an event.

This locally established boat show will feature over 70 international exhibitors, including some of the most prestigious names in the boating and yachting industry. Among the attractions for the 2015 Valletta Boat Show edition are a boat exhibition and a number of exclusive product launches.

On 6 October 2015, the ECOFIN Council reached a political agreement on a proposed directive which requires the EU member states to automatically exchange information on advance cross-border tax rulings and advance pricing agreements.

The scope of the directive is to improve tax transparency and prevent corporate tax avoidance. It will also provide the companies with greater understanding as to the manner in which their taxes are calculated.

By means of rulings tax authorities give an assurance to taxpayers on how certain aspects of taxation will be dealt with in specific cases. Issuing an advance pricing agreement (a type of a tax ruling), in turn, tax authorities determine the relevant details of prices to be applied to transfer of good or services between companies.

The directive will be adopted at a forthcoming Council meeting. First, however, the Parliament will provide its opinion and the directive will be finalised in all the official EU languages.

The rules stipulated in the directive will have to be applied from 1 January 2017, and by then all Member States will have to transpose the new rules into their national law.  

The fourth edition of the Basel Anti-Money Laundering (AML) Index report developed by the Basel Institute on Governance has been released. The Basel Institute published the Basel AML Index in 2012 for the first time and has since then been the only non-profit organisation to rank countries according to their risk of money laundering and terrorist financing.

The Basel AML Index measures the risk of money laundering and terrorist financing of countries based on publicly available sources. As there are no quantitative data available, the Basel AML Index does not measure the actual existence of money laundering activity or amount of illicit financial money within a country but is designed to indicate the risk level, i.e. the vulnerabilities of money laundering and terrorist financing within a country.

The Basel AML Index is a composite index, which means that the overall score is a weighted average of 14 indicators. The Basel Institute does not generate its own data but relies on data from various publicly available sources such as the FATF, Transparency International, the World Bank and the World Economic Forum. The indicators are grouped into five categories (i.e. public transparency and accountability, corruption risk, political and legal risk, financial transparency and standards and money laundering/ terrorist financing). Each indicator receives a weight to aggregate all scores into one overall score. Consequently, certain indicators are more important than others in assessing money laundering and terrorism financing risk.

According to the 2015 Basel Index, the greatest improvements have been made by Azerbaijan, Cambodia, Spain, Tunisia, Turkey and United Arab Emirates. Countries that have seen their aggregate risk increase the greatest include Guinea, Guatemala, Jamaica and Montenegro.

To access the full Report, please visit the below link:

https://index2015.baselgovernance.org/sites/default/files/aml-index/Basel_AML_Index_Report_2015.pdf

Malta has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Intellectual Property with China’s State Intellectual Property Office which aims for the two countries to exchange information and good practices on Intellectual Property.

More specifically, the MoU consists of a work plan, including sharing of information on IP laws, policies and working experiences,  exchange and training of personnel, organisation of joint seminars, introduction of IP holding companies and IP intermediary service organs in Malta.

During his speech before the signing, Investment Minister Chris Cardona said intellectual property and knowledge industries were becoming the movers of the European and global economy.

“Studies suggest that nearly 40 per cent of total EU economic activity is generated by IP rights-intensive industries.” However, a “great number” of businesses were still missing out on raising income from new technology or ideas because they were not sure about their IP rights.

Mr Cardona said the government had launched awareness- raising campaigns about the importance and value of IP. Additionally, the government’s collaboration with the private sector aims to pave the way for reform of the legislation so as to help raise Malta's attractiveness in the IP industry and make the island an IP hub.

The State Intellectual Property Office delegation was led by Deputy Commissioner He Zhimin, while the Maltese Delegation was led by Godwin Warr, Director General Commerce Department.

After the invitation of the Chinese government, opposition leader Simon Busuttil will be leading a Nationalist Party delegation in China the following week.

The delegation will have strategic meetings with representatives of the Chinese government in Beijing and Shanghai. It would also be meeting a number of enterprises and representatives of industry with commercial interests in Malta.

In the last five years of Nationalist administration, 13 cooperation agreements were signed between Malta and China in several sectors.

Dr Busuttil said the PN still believed that relations with China should continue to be strengthened and insisted that relations between the two countries should be built on honesty, transparency and reciprocal respect.

Dr Busuttil will be accompanied by deputy leader Beppe Fenech Adami, Foreign Affairs spokesman Tonio Fenech, international secretary Trevor Degiorgio and Dr Busuttil’s head of office Matthew Gatt.

Guo Jinlong, one of China's most senior politicians will visit the island of Malta tomorrow and on Wednesday.

Mr Guo, a member of the political bureau of the China Communist Party central committee, will have talks tomorrow with the Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, while on Wednesday he will meet Opposition leader Simon Busuttil and will also make a courtesy call on President Marie Louise Coleiro Preca.

Mr Guo is the Communist Party Secretary of Beijing. Between 2008 and 2012 he served as the Mayor of Beijing and during the 2008 Olympics served as the executive chairman of the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games (BOCOG).

Before his career in Beijing, Guo served as the Party Secretary of the Tibet Autonomous Region between 2000 and 2004, and Party Secretary of Anhui Province from 2004 to 2007.

The Malta Business Bureau’s EU Life + Investing in Water Project was one of 17 Life environment projects awarded ‘Life best projects for 2014’. The award, given by the European Commission’s DG ENV, considered all Life projects in Europe which concluded in 2014 and recognised the most outstanding. The objective of the award was to improve the dissemination of Life project results by clearly identifying those projects whose results, if widely applied, could have the most positive impact on the environment. This is the third award won by the MBB’s EU Life + Investing in Water Project, in addition to a runner up position for a further two awards. It is the first time a Maltese Life project has received this award.

The EU Life + Investing in Water Project, led by the Malta Business Bureau in partnership with the Malta Chamber and the MHRA, aimed to help businesses and hotels save water by disseminating solutions that were available in Malta and based on existing best practice. By the project’s close in 2014, 136 enterprises had participated, saving more than 141 million litres of water each year – enough to meet the needs of two medium sized four- star hotels and three large water consuming factories.

Malta Enterprise, in collaboration with KOTRA Milano, the Korea Trade Investment Promotion Agency together with the mutual support of the Korean Embassy to Italy and the Malta Embassy to Korea is hosting a Korea-Malta Business Forum on Monday 6th July 2015 between 09.30 and 13:00hrs at the Malta Enterprise Conference Hall in Gwardamangia.

A number of Korean Companies shall be present for this forum thus providing a unique opportunity for local companies to network and engage with their Korean counterparts. The Minister for Economy and Investment Dr Christian Cardona as well as officials from Malta Enterprise and KOTRA Milano will be present for the event. 

The Trophée Bailli du Suffren is the longest race for classic yachts and one of the most beautiful. First, there is the route which takes the competing boats from Saint-Tropez to Porto Rotondo and onwards to Castellammare del Golfo and finally, the Grand Harbour. Then there are the boats: beautiful classic yachts set against the backdrop of a deep blue sea.

The race is also historical and takes its name from the 18th century French admiral Pierre Andre de Suffren de Saint-Tropez. The Trophée Bailli du Suffren was the brainchild of three friends. It was conceived over a few glasses of champagne at a book signing for a novel published by Henri-Christian Schroeder. As Schroeder was celebrating with some friends, they realised that they were right next to the statue of Pierre Andre de Suffren, the Bailli. The novel, the champagne and the Bailli’s historic connection with Malta inspired a plan to sail there from Saint-Tropez and follow in his footsteps.

The first race took place in 2001, aiming to be the longest race for classic yachts visiting four of the most beautiful ports in the Mediterranean, and it soon gathered generous support considered a special race nowadays.

The race starts in Saint-Tropez and the first leg of 193nm is to Porto Rotondo, Sardinia. The second leg is to Castellammare del Golfo, Sicily, and covers 240nm while the third and final leg is 197nm to Grand Harbour Marina, Malta.

As per the MFSA notice addressed to the Licence Holders dated 6^th June 2015, the following have been published in the Official Journal of the European Union:

1.       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.

This Directive shall be transposed by the Member States by not later than 26 June 2017; and

2.        Regulation (EU) 2015/847 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 May 2015 on information accompanying transfers of funds and repealing Regulation (EC) No 1781/2006.

This Regulation is directly applicable in Malta and shall effectively apply from 26 June 2017.

The government authorized an €88 million bank guarantee to cover a massive bank loan for the private consortium selected to build the new gas power station. On the basis of this bank guarantee, BOV’s branch in Republic Street approved a loan to the private consortium of over €101 million. This amounts to almost a third of the €370 million needed to finance the project. Negotiations on the financing of the project between Electrogas Malta Ltd and Bank of Valletta could only be concluded on the basis that the government guarantees the private loan. The new LNG power plant is expected to be in place by June 2016.

 Tourism Minister Edward Zammit Lewis said that The Aircraft Registration Act is to be revised to give the industry a more solid legal framework, aiming for the country to be more attractive to organisations offering varied aircraft services. Speaking during the Pilot Wings presentation at the Island Microlight Club, the minister said the law would be amended to reflect the rapid changes and growth that the industry experienced over the past few years. “My aim is for these amendments to come into force by the end of this year,” he said.

Dr Zammit Lewis said the government was adopting a proactive and dynamic approach towards aviation in Malta. It identified aviation clusters such as aircraft leasing and aircraft finance, being example of services that could offer a healthy competitive advantage, and from which the economy should benefit through increased revenue and high quality employment opportunities. The minister also said that in the next few months, the government would be laying down a legal framework for the regulation of remote pilot aircraft. Their regulation would also be aimed at exploiting economic opportunities which could arise.

 As shown in the European Commission figures in April, Malta had the second lowest unemployment rate in the eurozone, along with Austria and Luxembourg.

It observed that on average, between March 2008 and March 2013, Malta’s unemployment rate was 6.5%, compared to 4.8% in Austria and 4.9% in Luxembourg.

In April it was 5.7%, the lowest since Malta was included in the Eurostat statistics.

The biggest improvement was in youth unemployment, which declined to 11% from 14% in the last quarter of last year. The figures meant that in the past year, more than 1000 young people found a job, thanks, among other things, to the Youth Guarantee Scheme, the government said.

 The owners of an innovative Maltese-flagged superyacht have just taken possession of their new vessel in Malta, unveiling plans to travel to the farthest corners of the world while providing cutting edge facilities for scientists and researchers.

The 76.6 metre Yersin is the brainchild of French philanthropist Francois Fiat, and is the first privately owned vessel to be designed for navigation in any and all conditions, including ice and river exploration.

Mr Fiat said his intention was for the Yersin to contribute to advancement in scientific and ecological research and education, with the ultimate aim of assisting with the preservation of the environment.

He said he would be establishing partnerships with educational and research institutions to allow scientists, as well as cadets and students of maritime schools, to study the environment in remote and ecologically sensitive areas of the world.

Able to travel autonomously for a period of 50 days, the yacht is outfitted with all the trappings of a luxury pleasure craft, including a spa, gym, cinema, two dining rooms and six en-suite guest cabins.

The Yersin is equipped to operate in environments between -20 and 50 degrees Celsius, a first for a private yacht, and comes with two laboratories, a media room, an infirmary, a landing craft and four military-grade tenders.

Speaking of his decision to register the vessel in Malta, Mr Fiat said the Malta flag was well recognised and had a very strong reputation worldwide.

“As I grew up on Mediterranean shores, I have found in Malta a second home, with a shared culture and history, and I hope to have a long relationship with the country,” he concluded.

On the 26 March 2015, a circular was issued to the investment services industry on the educational clinic organised by the MFSA in collaboration with Finance Malta relating to the CRD IV Package.

In this circular, one of the supervisory matters that were brought to the attention of investment services licence holders was the verification of interim or year-end profits for the purposes of their inclusion in the own funds computation. This matter has also been brought to the attention of Fund Managers by way of a circular letter dated 13 May 2015.

In order for MFSA to consider the verification requirement under Article 26(2)(a) of the Capital Requirements Regulation as having been met, investment firms and fund managers are required to provide MFSA, upon request, with a document signed by its external auditor (the “external auditor’s document”) that complies with the following requirements:

a) For year-end profits, the verification shall consist either of an audit report or of a comfort letter stating that the audit has not been completed and nothing has come to the attention of the auditors that causes them to believe that the final report will include a qualified opinion;

b) For interim profits, the verification shall consist either of an audit report or of a review report or, provided that the verification carried out by the investment firm or fund manager consists of an audit report, a comfort letter along the lines set out in paragraph (a).

 The Corinthia Group confirmed its plans to develop a six-star hotel on the site currently occupied by the San Gorg Corinthia, the Corinthia Marina and Radisson Blu hotels in St. Julian's. Group chairman Alfred Pisani argued that this will be a €400 million investment that will create an opening for 600 jobs. The three hotels will be demolished and replaced by two brand new hotels which will feature more guest facilities.

“We want all types of hotel to benefit from tourists who spend more, but we are also venturing, a first for Malta, into the six-star sector.” Mr Pisani said Malta should not back away from this challenge.

Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said this was one of the biggest ever tourism sector projects in Malta, being undertaken by a Maltese company with a European and an international vision. He mentioned that “in terms of quality this will be a totally new ballgame for Malta.”

“This is an international investment that is laying the foundations for our vision for tourism. The tourism sector is growing but this is not just a numbers game – it is also about quality” Dr Muscat added.

Tourism Minister Edward Zammit Lewis said the project was in line with government policy to improve the quality of Malta’s tourism product; attract higher quality tourists and help beat seasonality.

The construction of a new marina at Sa Maison is being eagerly an anticipated by stakeholders in the yachting sector, who believe that it will stimulate demand for boats as well as for all the services and products they require.

There were five bidders for the 25-year concession at Sa Maison: Marina di Valletta Consortium, Harbour Management Ltd, two bidders called Valletta Marina Consortium and CGS - owned by the General Workers’ Union through one of its commercial companies in partnership with Creek Developments Ltd, which already operates the Ta’ Xbiex and Msida Marina, and another company controlled by the owner of the Paparazzi restaurant in Gzira.

Apart from the increased number of berths, yacht owners are facing another improvement. Creek Developments has carried outs complete infrastructural overhaul of its marinas since it took over in 2011, introducing comprehensive safety systems as well as maintenance schedules.

Another re-organisation is planned for winter 2015-2016 to optimise the available space even further, while the company will soon move to offices closer to the pontoons, offering greater convenience and a five-star service to residents and visitors alike, with offices, club house, business centre, laundry and sanitary facilities under one roof.

In the marina itself, Creeks focus is on preventive long-term maintenance and improving the environment by prevention of pollution and the active encouragement of good practices. CEF Trading, which imports Nubian antifouling to Malta, believes that there is considerably more awareness about the environment. Creek also invested in the power supply at the marina, which was being put under pressure as boats added more and more equipment, especially power hungry air conditioning.

With reference to insurance policies, as with cars, boat owners can choose either third party only or comprehensive insurance – and also as with cars, the policy has to cover them both while in use or stored, in Malta or overseas, and whether being used recreationally or for racing or chatter. Because of seasonal weather patterns, boats also have a period during which the owners have unrestricted use of the boat — as long as the boat afloat is on an agreed mooring.

Today a Circular to the Financial Services industry was published by MFSA. It follows the Consultation Exercise on the regulatory approach applicable to licenced PIFs and AIFs which took place from 10^th March 2015 to 30^th March 2015.

The stakeholders of the industry were presented with two envisaged scenarios for AIFMs. Pursuant to the feedback received, with effect from 1^st June 2015, the regulatory status quo shall be formed as follows:

[i] An EU AIFM can establish an AIF;

[ii] A de minimis EU AIFM can only establish a PIF; however if the fund manager transitions to an EU AIFM, the fund will have to be converted to an AIF.

[iii] A third country fund manager can establish a PIF or an AIF, subject to compliance with special provisions applicable to non-EU AIFMs managing EU AIFs;

[iv] A self-managed de minimis fund can only be established as a PIF;

[v] A self-managed fund which is above threshold can only be established as an AIF.

Existent PIFs which have been established by AIFMs have a one-year transitional period within which to comply with the above regime.

The Malta Financial Intelligence Analysis Unit (FIAU) has published its annual report which includes the operations and developments occurring throughout 2014. The full text of the report may be accessed here. The report is published in terms of Article 42(1) of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, Cap 373 of the Laws of Malta; it provides detailed information about the FIAU activities throughout the year and marks the most significant developments both on a domestic and international level in matters relating to Anti Money Laundering (AML) and Combating Financing of Terrorism (CFT). The report also contains a number of statistical reports, insight on typologies and trends as well as particulars of money-laundering cases. 

Prime Minister Joseph Muscat has recently announced the government’s plans for setting up an educational facility and a natural park, both located in the south of Malta. He said the south could not continue being left out of the country’s economic growth and it was not right that the only development in the south was that of polluting industries.

The former will be a non-polluting educational facility which will generate economic activity whereas the latter will provide open spaces safe environment to enjoy nature.The area will undoubtedly be benefiting from both projects, creating jobs as well as economic growth.

Dr. Joseph Muscat stated that Mepa in the normal course of its processes would consider alternative sites for the new American university, as long as it was in the south of Malta.He said the government would like the educational facility to be set up in the south because the income of families in the south was the lowest among Malta’s regions, by some €2,500 below the average.

The new university - earmarked for a site between Marsascala and Xaghjra - would be the biggest investment in the south, at €115 million, creating 400 jobs and attracting 4,000 students to Malta. It would boost Malta’s GDP by 1%, or €20m to €25m per year. He said the government wanted to take the least arable land possible. Public consultations would be made, and Mepa would, in its normal process, consider alternative sites, as long as they were located in the south.

The European Banking Authority (EBA) launched yesterday a consultation on Regulatory Technical Standards (RTS) on specialised lending exposures. The proposed RTS aim to specify how institutions should take into account several factors when assigning risk weights to specialised lending exposures and how they should treat these factors. The consultation runs until 11 August 2015.

Specialised lending is a type of exposure towards an entity specifically created to finance or operate physical assets, where the primary source of income and repayment of the obligation lies directly with the assets being financed.

The proposed RTS define four classes of specialised lending: project finance, real estate, object finance, and commodities finance. For each of these four classes, the draft RTS  specify a list of factors that institutions shall take into account and propose two options on how these factors should be combined in order to determine the risk weight assigned to the specialised lending exposure.

The approach followed in these RTS is in line with the Basel framework, which uses the so-called ‘supervisory slotting criteria' approach under which specialised lending exposures are classified into categories depending on the underlying credit risk.

BMIT announced an investment of €3 million in a new data centre at SmartCity. Such investment will increase Malta’s data centre.

Christian Sammut, the CEO of BMIT, explained that the new data centre would a capacity of 146 racks, all installed and immediately available, enabling a quick turnaround to customers across a wide range of industries, including online gaming, financial institutions, IT companies and SMEs.

Investment Minister Chris Cardona said the investment was important not just for the company but also for the business sector.

"The services provided by BMIT are crucial for any business operating within our islands. Such services allow the government to further entice other companies to invest in Malta, while providing existing companies with state of the art services," he said. The data centre will be built by a team of Maltese and international companies, led by a leading providers of critical infrastructure for data centres, communication networks and many other sectors worldwide.

The Ministry of Tourism commissioned a study called “The contribution of the Tourism Industry to the Maltese Economy'’. According to this study, Malta’s tourism is expected to increase by 4.1% this year and another 7.5% in 2016. Last year, 1.7 million tourists visited Malta, pumping some €1.5 billion into the economy. The introduction of low cost airlines contributed to this factor since thousands of people use them to come to Malta.

Economist Dr Gordon Cordina, who penned this study,  said the increase in spending contributed to the creation of about 500 new jobs in the industry last year alone. An estimated 20,500 jobs were sustained directly by tourism in 2014 and a further 7,300 jobs through supporting activities. “One in every seven jobs in Malta is a result of tourism expenditure and this implies that for every €10 million spent by tourists, some 137 new jobs are created”.

While tourism is a main pillar of the Maltese economy, the effect on Gozo can be seen as well. The study estimates that one in every five jobs on the sister island is related directly to the industry.

The future is looking bright for the Maltese island. Tourism Minister Edward Zammit Lewis said that the government was confident that this year would be another record breaking year, as arrivals over the first few months already show a substantial increase on last year. 

Software company RS2 has reported a profit before tax of €4.2 million, although income tax of €1.4 million reduced the figure to €2.8 million. The group explained that the €1.4 million was made up of €1.3m in current tax charge and €0.1m in deferred tax charge, the latter being a non-cash item. 2014 is the first year in which the group will be paying income tax in cash since it has made full use of the investment tax credits brought forward from prior years.

“New investment tax credit on investment carried out during the year was accumulated, however, this was also fully used up by the income tax payable, leaving a tax balance of €1.4 million payable in cash,” the company said in its reports. The amount of income tax that would have been payable in the absence of such investment tax credit would have been €1.9 million.

“Nevertheless, we highlight that there is still a significant balance of profits that have been relieved from tax by way of investment tax credit in the past and which remain tax free in the hands of the shareholders when distributed as dividends.”

RS2 saw revenue grow to €15.2 million, an increase of just under 8.0 per cent over 2013. Consistent with prior years the revenue is composed of licence fees for the use of its Bankworks software solution, maintenance fees, service fees and processing fees.

In comparison with 2013, licence fees decreased by 46 per cent, even though it secured its largest contract to date, with a total value of €16.5 million, as part of the licence fee will be recognised over the coming years.

The decrease in licence fees was more than made up for by an increase of 84 per cent in service fees across the group.

The group said that there were other contracts in the pipeline with subsidiary RS2 Smart Processing confirming two new clients during the year, with their revenue to be earned over 2015.

Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) of the group for 2014 amounts to €6.1 million, which represents an increase of 7.0 per cent over 2013.

The total equity attributable to shareholders was €23 million, an increase of €1.4 million over 2013.

Malta has joined Germany, France, Italy, the United Kingdom, Luxembourg, Switzerland and 30 other countries as a prospective founding member of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB).

Malta's application was accepted by China's Ministry of Finance.
The multilateral development bank, of which China will be the principal shareholder, is expected to be set up by the end of this year with an initial capital of $50 billion. Its membership, which allows for a maximum 25 per cent non-Asian shareholding, will be finalised on April 15.

AIIB founding members will have the right to set out the rules for the bank, which will provide access to finance for infrastructural projects in Asian developing countries in areas such as transportation, energy, agriculture, telecommunications, and urban development. This will be done through a variety of support measures such as loans, equity investments, and guarantees. This assistance can complement the support already given in the region by existing multilateral development banks, such as the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank.

In the coming weeks, Malta will join the other prospective founding members to discuss and approve the AIIB's articles of agreement, which will lay down the governance and accountability rules on which the bank's operations will be based. Finance Minister Edward Scicluna said: "This partnership is a reflection of the Maltese government's endeavours to forge closer ties with the Asian market as part of its economic growth roadmap.

"Malta's AIIB membership will further cement Malta's friendship and cooperation with Asian countries, and particularly with China, which is spearheading this global initiative. By getting actively involved, Malta expects to maximise its role as a financial services centre, and as a catalyst of investment initiatives that bring Asia and Europe closer together. We consider this as yet another opportunity to serve as bridge-builders between the two continents.

"As International Monetary Fund research has shown, boosting efficient infrastructure investment can be a powerful impetus to economic growth, both in the short and in the long run," the minister said.

The annual rate of inflation as measured by the Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices last month stood at 0.5 per cent, down from 1.4 per cent last year, according to the National Statistics Office.The government noted yesterday thatit was the lowest since the Harmonized Index of Consumer Prices started being compiled by the National Statistics Office.

The largest upward impacts on annual inflation were brought about by the food and non-alcoholic beverages Index (0.4 percentage points), the restaurants and hotels index (0.3 percentage points) and the clothing and footwear index (0.2 percentage points). This was mainly due to higher prices of vegetables, restaurant services and garments.

The main downward impacts were recorded in the housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels index (0.7 percentage points) and the transport index (0.2 percentage points). This was mainly due to lower electricity rates and cheaper fuels respectively.

Whilst in EU the average price of petrol had risen by 15c and diesel by 10c since mid-January, in Malta the prices went down by 7c and 9c respectively. Malta is the only country to have recorded a reduction in fuel prices during that period. According to the EU data, 12 EU countries had petrol prices which were higher than Malta's. The highest petrol price was €1.60 in The Netherlands (25c more than in Malta) and the highest price for diesel was in the UK at €1.65 (41 dearer than in Malta).

The Parliamentary Secretary for Competitiveness and Economic Growth, the Hon. Dr Josè Herrera and the Malta Gaming Authority’s (MGA) Executive Chairman, Joseph Cuschieri officially launched the GamingMalta, a new Foundation tasked with promoting Malta as a gaming jurisdiction of excellence. The GamingMalta foundation is a non-profit organisation with the aim of showcasing Malta as the leading jurisdiction and a centre of excellence in the gaming industry, both locally and internationally. Dr. Herrera said that the government was committed to the Gaming industry and the purpose of GamingMalta is to raise Malta’s profile as a leading international gaming jurisdiction in terms of licensing and regulation of gaming companies as well as a centre of excellence in the ongoing evolution of the gaming industry.

Mr. Joseph Cuschieri, MGA’s executive chairman explained that GamingMalta will serve to bring all different stakeholders, including operators, intermediaries and service providers together with the aim of promoting the gaming industry and therefore ensure that the services provided in Malta meet the industry’s growing needs. “GamingMalta is an important strategic step to take Malta’s gaming sector to the next level so that it continues to stand out, through innovation, quality and diligence,” concluded the MGA’s Executive Chairman.

The first non-executive Chairman of GamingMalta will be Christian Sammut, who is currently the CEO of BMIT.  

The National Commission for the Promotion of Equality has launched a mentoring programme which is being funded by the European Social Fund.  “This programme aims to address the gender distortion in the labour market, but more specifically in the decision making positions. It seeks to provide women aspiring to hold leadership positions with the opportunity to be mentored by professionals who occupy high-level jobs to further empower mentees to participate in decision-making positions” the NCPE said.

Renee Laiviera, the Commissioner of this mentor programme highlighted the positive response received and said that it “demonstrates women’s commitment to occupy decision-making positions in the areas of politics, management, NGOs/civil society, business, health and education amongst others”. The first part of the briefing session dealt with introducing the mentors and mentees to each other and provided information on how the mentor-mentee relationship worked. The second part of the briefing focused on the theme of women in decision-making roles and the environment.

The Minister for Social Dialoguem consumer affairs and civil liberties, Helena Dalli, reiterated women’s meaningful participation in all spheres of society. “The representation of women and men in decision-making positions contributes to enhance diversity in leadership and to further safeguard gender equality.” The Minister further stressed the importance of using the untapped potential of women whilst combating discrimination and sustaining diversity in economic, political and democratic growth. 

The Malta Chamber of Commerce, Enterprise and Industry has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with The Middle East Association of London. The aim of the agreement is to facilitate the collaboration between Maltese and British companies to partner in doing business in the Middle East and North African region. By means of the MoU, the Malta Chamber and the Middle East Association of London agree to explore economic opportunities for their members and encourage the development of new economic activities and the setting up of joint ventures between private business entities in Malta and the UK.  Both parties have also agreed to endeavour to develop business opportunities in third countries. The Malta Chamber and the Middle East Association of London shall assist each other in the organisation of promotional events includes the exchange of trade delegations and missions of either individual business representatives or groups.

This MOU is envisaged to enhance further bi-lateral trade between Malta and the UK.

Buckingham Palace and the Maltese government announced yesterday evening that Queen Elizabeth will visit Malta in November for the opening of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM).

Her husband, Prince Philip the Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Charles, the Prince of Wales and his wife Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, will accompany her.

CHOGM is to be held between November 27 - 29.

The visit will be the monarch’s return to CHOGM after she missed the last meeting in Colombo, Sri Lanka in 2013 – the first meeting she was unable to attend in 40 years.

There had been fears that the Queen, who will be 89 years old by November and Prince Philip, 93, would miss the Malta meeting because their age would be restrictive factor for overseas obligations.

Malta, however, is a special place for both of them. They lived here in their early married life between 1949 and 1951, when Elizabeth was  princess and Prince Philip was an officer in the Mediterranean Fleet.

As Queen, Elizabeth visited Malta  in May 1954, November 1967, May 1992,  November 2005, when Malta hosted CHOGM for the first time, and in November 2007 for her ‘second honeymoon’.

Prince Philip accompanied her, and was also here for Malta’s Independence in 1964.

It is a rare occasion for the Queen to travel overseas accompanied by her heir - Prince Charles, who lived in Malta with his mother as a boy.

President Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca is scheduled to call on the Queen at Buckingham Palace today.

The EU Commission approved the Malta Operational Programme financed by the European Social Fund (ESC) for the period 2014-2020. The programme aims to invest of €132 million in order to promote employment and social inclusion, improve the education system and enhance the efficiency of public administration.

Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs, Skills and Labour Mobility, Marianne Thyssen, stated “I welcome the adoption of this programme, which will help bring more people into the labour market, in particular young people, offer a fair chance for vulnerable groups and get a better trained population. Our funds will directly contribute to the EU’s strategy for smart, sustainable and innovative growth”

€26 million will be invested in the employment sector to support measures which aim at improving employment and increasing the prospects of job seekers. €40 million will be invested in to finance actions seeking to create more opportunities for groups such as women and the inactive, and to address health needs and inequalities. The Education sector will get €47.4 in order to help reduce early school leaving, get more people in tertiary education and to increase the participation in lifelong learning. €11 million will be invested in Public Administration in order to improve the administrative capacity and efficiency and to better deliver services for citizens.

The government has welcomed the International Monetary Fund (IMF) assessment of Malta’s economy. The IMF has revised its growth expectations for Malta. From 2.2% this year to 3.1%.

The organisation also  says that the growth of the Maltese economy is supported by strong local demand. The strong growth projection factors in the government’s investment in the energy sector, the government said. This demand is driven by strong household income from rising wages and employment.

IMF experts praised the free child care service as well as the tapering of social benefits. It also noted that the inflation went down due to the reduction of prices in energy and water supplies, as well as fuel the government said.

Malta has made impressive improvements in improving its external balances. The IMF also pointed out that that it expects the government deficit to go down to 1.7% next year and debt to 70%, falling 60% by 2020.

The Foreign Ministry said that Malta and the United Arab Emirates have agreed on a Memorandum of Understanding through which driving licences held by citizens of the two countries will be recognised by the respective competent authorities.

The agreement relates to holders who are in possession of a Category B driving licence, equivalent to motor vehicles with a maximum authorised mass not exceeding 3500 kg and designed and constructed for the carriage of no more than eight passengers in addition to the driver. Furthermore, motor vehicles in this category may be combined with a trailer having a maximum authorised mass which does not exceed 750 kg.

The ministry also said it welcomes this important development that will strengthen bilateral relations, as well as commercial ties between the two countries.

Malta was successful in containing and reducing its national deficit and debt. This accomplishment  has been acknowledged by Commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs, Taxation and Customs Pierre Moscovici who noted that Malta’s economic performance has exceeded the EU average. He remarked that European Commission was satisfied with Malta’s efforts in this regard.

He encouraged the Maltese Government to maintain its current debt reduction efforts so as to ensure that these results will sustain over the coming years.

Finance Minister Edward Scicluna and Commissioner Moscovici also discussed Malta’s economic growth, which has exceeded the EU average and also placed Malta among the top-performing EU countries.

Commissioner Moscovici and Prof. Scicluna also discussed the government’s plans for reform in various sectors, including energy, judicial, employment, education and pensions. They also discussed the need to strengthen and preserve competitiveness and attract foreign investment.

Malta International Airport has been ranked as the 4^th best airport in Europe according to the 2014 Airport Service Quality (ASQ) Awards. The airport obtained its best score ever, with an overall passenger satisfaction score of 4.22on a scale from one (poor) to five (excellent). Despite a large increase in participating airports, Malta has ranked in the top five for five years running and this year’s overall performance exceeds results in previous years, even when placing first in 2010 and 2011. Malta International Airport has remained in top five for five years, despite 81 per cent increase of European airports participating between 2010 and last year.

The annual Airport Service Quality (ASQ) Awards recognize and reward the best airports in the world according to ACI's ASQ passenger satisfaction survey.Since its creation in 2006, the ASQ Survey has become the world’s leading airport passenger satisfaction benchmark with over 250 airports participating.To be eligible for the annual ASQ awards, an airport must have participated in the ASQ Survey every month of the year. The survey must be carried out in strict accordance with the airport’s sample plan, developed by ACI, which guarantees a representative sample of the flights, destinations and passenger groups served by the airport.

Malta International Airport was placed fourth after Keflavík (Iceland), Moscow Sheremetyevo (Russia) and Porto (Portugal) and is followed by Zurich (Switzerland).

The Malta Tourism Authority announced that Valletta has achieved a great result by finishing in fourth place of 20 European destinations. Valletta has been nominated as an entry in the three week long competition “European Best Destinations”. This competition determines the best European destinations for 2015 amongst travellers from all over the world.

Malta received over 21,500 votes as well as a number of positive comments from overseas voters. This year’s ranking of 4^th place is definitely a remarkable improvement from last year. In 2013 Valletta ranked 7^th place while in 2014 Valletta was not even nominated to be in the top 20 European Best Destinations. Valletta achieved this prestigious standing ahead of big cities such as London, Rome and Paris which ranked between 11^th and 20^th position.

This clearly shows the marketing efforts to position Valletta as an ideal short break cultural destination is bearing fruit. More so, this competition can be of use to boost tourism in Malta.

Venture Capital Malta(VC-MT), a joint initiative between the government as well as private financial service providers which aims to create a platform to help start-ups in Malta, was launched by Investment Minister Chris Cardona this morning.

The initiative is being developed by the government through Malta Investment Management Company Limited (Mimcol) and Malta Enterprise in collaboration with finance and advisory specialists from the private sector.

Speaking at the event, Chairman of Malta Enterprise Mario Vella stressed that this project will not see government funding business, but rather provide a platform for venture capitalists to match with start-ups. "We hope this scheme will devise ways to attract venture capitalists to Malta and to matchmake projects with venture capitalists", he said.

Speaking at the conference, Lord Marland, Chairman of the Commonwealth Business Council, expressed his honour at being a part of such a project. "SMEs are the beating heart of country. In the UK during the past legislature, we tried to facilitate the speed of which SMEs could launch". He stressed that government should never directly control businesses, and that this venture was a good step forward.

Economy Minister Chris Cardona said that in March the first international launch of this venture will be held in London, with high-profile venture capitalists in attendance. “The mission is to get these people to consider Malta as an ideal jurisdiction for a new venture set-up in Europe,” he said.

Hospice Malta has been awarded the European Parliament’s Citizen’s Price for 2014 in a ceremony hosted by  the European Parliament Office at Dar l-Ewropa, Valletta.

Lora Cascun, Hospice Malta Chairperson thanked the MEPs for their nomination. ‘ “The citizen” in this case is the management, our professional staff, all our volunteers, and most of all the patients themselves as well as their relatives who benefit from our services.” She said

The Maltese MEPs decided to nominate this movement “to reward their noble efforts in providing care to so many patients and their families. Hospice values each one of them as unique individuals, irrespective of their race, religion or lifestyle”

The European Parliament awards “The European Citizen’s Price” in several countries for exceptional achievements by citizens groups, associations or organisations.

Dynamic growth and low unemployment was the forecast for the Maltese economy, which maintained a healthy momentum with GDP growth estimated to have reached 3.3% in 2014 , the European Commission stated in its winter economic forecast.

According to this forecast, GDP growth should moderate somewhat by 2016 but remain strong compared to the rest of the euro area.

Furthermore, real GDP growth rose in the third quarter of 2014 to reach 3.8% in annual terms, increasing from 3.4% during the second quarter.

This reflected strong domestic demand, underpinned by dynamic investment in the energy sector and favourable labour market developments.

Real GDP growth, which was estimated to have reached 3.3% in 2014, is expected to remain stable this year and moderate somewhat by the end of the forecast horizon, reaching 2.9% in 2016.

You can follow the link below for the full text of the forecast:

http://ec.europa.eu/economy_finance/eu/forecasts/2015_winter/mt_en.pdf

On the 1st January 2015 new rules came into force regarding the place of supply of telecommunication services, broadcasting services and electronically supplied services. According to Council Directive 2006/112/EC as it was amended by Council Directive 2008/8 the place of supply of telecommunications, broadcasting and electronic services to non-taxable persons shall be the place where that person is established, has his permanent address or usually resides. The VAT Act, Item 10 of Part 2 of the Third Schedule was amended in accordance with the Directive.

Article 7 of EC Regulation 282/2011 defines “Electronically Supplied Services” as “services which are delivered over the Internet or an electronic network and the nature of which renders their supply essentially automated and involving minimal human intervention, and impossible to ensure in the absence of information technology”. Therefore the Vat Department on 4^th February 2015 issued guidelines explaining the conditions in order for a service to classify as an electronically supplied service for the purposes of Item 10 of Part 2 of the Third Schedule to the VAT Act. According to the guidelines the following conditions must be satisfied:

1. The service must be delivered over the Internet or an electronic network;

2. The nature of the service must be such that it renders its supply essentially automated and involving minimal human intervention; and

3. The nature of the service must be such that it renders its supply impossible to ensure in the absence of information technology.

The guidelines also refer to services which when supplied as standalone services, shall not be regarded as “electronically supplied services” for the purposes of Item 10 of Part 2 of the Third Schedule to the VAT Act among others: The purchase of goods over the internet or an electronic network, where the order is processed electronically, the supply of books, newspapers, newsletters or journals disseminated electronically on tangible media, such as audio books or books published on CDs, DVDs, SD-cards or USB drives, even where these are ordered over the internet, the purchase of services over the internet or an electronic network, where the order is processed electronically but the services are delivered in a traditional manner, such as accommodation, car-hire, restaurant services and passenger transport services and the online purchase of tickets to physically attend a cultural, artistic, sporting, scientific, educational, entertainment, or similar event.

For more information you can visit the official website of the VAT Department at: http://www.vat.gov.mt/en/VAT-Information/Guidelines-to-certain-VAT-procedures/Documents/Guidelines%20for%20the%20VAT%20treatment%20of
%20Electronically%20Supplied%20Services.pdf

According to a survey published by the European Commission amongst businesses and consumers, Malta was ranked as the most economically optimistic country in the Eurozone in January.

In a statement released by the government, it has been noted that this is the “eight consecutive month in which Malta has ranked first in this survey’ The government also said “In January, confidence improved amongst businesses that operate in services, industries, retail and construction. This optimism amongst businesses is being reflected through a higher level confidence amongst consumers”

“According to the European Commission, Maltese families are amongst the few around Europe who believe that their financial situations improved last year. This was confirmed by the Central Bank statistics that indicate that deposits in local banks increased by €750 million, a 75% higher increase. “

Enemalta and Enel Trade signed yesterday a 5-year framework agreement to use the Malta-Sicily interconnector for the importation of electricity from Italy.

The agreement was signed by Enemalta’s executive chairman Fredrick Azzopardi, deputy chairman Sun Ji and Enel Trade head of global front office Leonardo Zannella.

Enemalta said the development will enable it to continue testing the interconnector’s cables and related equipment at Ragusa and Magħtab before it is energised and commissioned later this year.   

Enel Trade is the electricity and gas trading arm of Enel, a multi-national power company and a leading integrated player in the world’s power and gas markets, with a particular focus on Europe and Latin America.

Enemalta launched last May a 3-stage selection process to identify an international partner for the trading of electricity from Europe, particularly the Italian energy market.

Four trading agencies submitted initial proposals.

The company said the decision to opt for a trader ensured it would retain full flexibility over the use of the interconnector by being able to purchase from any market channel that offers the most advantageous rates.

Proposals were assessed through several criteria, including service reliability, operational compliance and support. Shortlisted bidders were asked to submit a commercial offer based on Enemalta’s requirements. The best bid was submitted by Enel Trade. The two companies then entered into final negotiations to conclude the details of the agreement by the end of this month. 

Through the agreement with Enel Trade, Enemalta would also be able to participate in the various energy markets such as the same day market for emergency or immediate requirements and the day ahead market for short-term changed requirements.

The Malta-Sicily interconnector comprises a 120-kilometre high voltage alternating current (HVAC) system capable of bidirectional flow of electrical power, transferring 200MW of electricity. In Sicily, the interconnector is linked to the Italian network at 230kV in the Terna substation in Ragusa. The submarine cable lands in Malta at Qalet Marku, Baħar iċ-Ċagħaq and transmits electricity to the distribution network at 132kV through Enemalta’s new terminal station at Magħtab.

On 27^th January the Council of the European Union formally adopted the anti-abuse clause of the Parent Subsidiary Directive in view of tackling tax evasion and aggressive tax planning. “Today, we are building on the existing EU legislative framework to ensure a level-playing field for honest businesses in the EU's Single Market and we are closing down loopholes that could be exploited for aggressive tax planning” Pierre Moscovici, European Commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs, Taxation and Customs, said welcoming the amendment.

On 6 December 2012 the Commission presented an Action Plan for a more effective EU response to tax evasion and avoidance. The revision of the Parent Subsidiary Directive forms part of this action plan. The Parent-Subsidiary Directive was originally conceived to prevent same-group companies, based in different Member States, from being taxed twice on the same income (avoidance of double taxation). However, certain companies have exploited provisions in the Directive and mismatches between national tax rules to avoid being taxed at all in any Member State (double non-taxation). The Commission therefore proposed to close these loopholes. The new 'de minimis'  anti-abuse clause will allow Member States to put in place stricter or more specific domestic provisions or double tax treaty anti-abuse provisions. A common anti-abuse rule will allow Member-States to ignore artificial arrangements used for tax avoidance purposes and allow taxation takes place on the basis of real economic substance.

An earlier amendment, in July 2014 (Directive 2014/86) already addressed loopholes related to hybrid loans.

Member states will have until 31 December 2015 to adopt both amendments into their national law.

According to the latest official statistics, Malta flag has grown to become the 6th largest Ship Register worldwide while still remains the largest register in Europe. The Malta’s ship registry grew by 12.5% over the previous year and the Malta Maritime Registry now boasts of total 57.9 million gross tonnage registered under Malta’s flag while over than 2,500 merchant vessels fly the Maltese Flag. The constant growth of the Malta maritime flag speaks volumes and the latest statistics represent record figures for the Malta Flag. Moreover the age of the fleet continued to further decrease as the average age of merchant ships registered under the Merchant Shipping Act was of 7 years, thus decreasing the average age of all the registered merchant fleet to 12 years. Being on the white list of the Port State Control Organisations is an ongoing process and Malta maintained its position on the Paris MoU and Tokyo MoU White Lists. During 2014, the Malta flag also received positive results with respect to Port State Control performance which guarantees the effective enforcement of international rules in line with Transport Malta’s policy towards safe, secure and clean shipping.

Grown was also seen in the registration of commercial yachts with an increase of 13.6% over the previous year, in the registration of superyachts of over 24 metres in length. As of the end of December 2014, the superyacht fleet flying the Malta flag worldwide was 452.

Transport Malta and private sector service providers, forming the Maltese maritime cluster, work tirelessly and most importantly hand-in-hand.  It is important to note that the Maltese maritime industry continues to thrive because it is viewed and acted upon holistically and is viewed as a flag that offers stakeholders a sound legal and fiscal regime.

Minister for Transport and Infrastructure, Joe Mizzi, commented that “this status was achieved thanks to the efforts of all stakeholders including shipowners, seafarers, the efforts of the personnel of Transport Malta, particularly those at the Merchant Shipping Directorate and a joint effort by the Authority and the Maltese Shipping community to attract serious companies to the Maltese Register and he added that the year on year record growth figures further consolidate the Island’s register as the flag of choice of the major International ship-owning companies and re-affirms Malta’s reputation as a leading maritime nation”.

Maltese hotel, The Hotel Phoenicia has been listed as one of the winners of TripAdvisor’s Traveller’s Choice awards for hotels. TripAdvisor is the world’s largest travel site.

The award winners are determined on the reviews and opinions collected in a single year from TripAdvisor travellers worldwide. The hallmarks of Travellers' Choice winners are remarkable service, quality and value. 

The hotel received a five out of five TripAdvisor rating for location and guests who stayed at the hotel noted exceptional service, stunning views of the islands and good quality of food.

Malta International Airport expects to host approximately 4.4 million passengers this year, estimating a 2% growth over last year which was a record year for the airport.

The growth is the result of further capacity being deployed to Malta from operating airlines and also due to a number of new airlines and routes which have already been announced, including Aegean, Finnair, Jet2.com and Swiss.

Last year saw 4,290,304 million passengers, an increase of 6.4% from 2013. There was also an increase in aircraft movements by 4.8 per cent, resulting in an equal increase in seat capacity.

The airlines flying through the airport also succeeded in increasing the seat load factor, meaning that aircraft were on average fuller than in 2013, from 78.5 to 79.7%.

Last year, the airport saw unprecedented passenger numbers from its four major markets, with significant growth registered for the UK (6.1 per cent), Italy (12.1 per cent), Germany (3.2 per cent) and France (17 per cent).

“It has been a great year for Malta International Airport and the tourism industry. The record growth every month this year, shows that the island’s strategy to attract more traffic in the shoulder months is reaping results,” ad interim CEO Alan Borg said.

“We remain focused on increasing traffic during the winter months and attracting more visitors from new markets to our islands. We are looking forward to another positive year with a steady 2% growth for 2015.”

Mr Borg thanked the government, the Ministry for Tourism, the Malta Tourism Authority and all the other stakeholders for the collaboration, saying that he looked forward to a continued cooperation in the future.

Throughout this year, MIA has €4 million worth of investments planned. These include improvements to the runway, apron and taxiway (€950,000), expansion of the terminal building in the non-Schengen arrivals section (€2 million), a new emergency operations centre (€100,000), a re-organisation of the high voltage network (€520,000) and investment in back-up standby power generators (€450,000).

As at the end of the second quarter of 2014, the Maltese economy recorded an estimated net International Investment Position of €2.44 billion, the NSO said.

Total foreign assets as at the end of the second quarter of 2014 showed an increase of €4.50 billion when compared to the corresponding quarter in 2013, while total foreign liabilities rose by €3.80 billion. This resulted in an overall increase of €0.70 billion in the IIP.

The level of Malta’s total foreign assets abroad at the end of the second quarter of 2014 amounted to €212.90 billion. Portfolio Investment accounted for 43.6 per cent of total foreign assets while Other Investment represented 30.6 per cent. The increase in Malta’s foreign assets was characterised mainly by a €7.08 billion increase in equity and investment fund shares classified under Portfolio Investment. 

At the end of the second quarter of 2014, Malta’s foreign liabilities were estimated at €210.46 billion. Direct Investment totalled €152.49 billion from €150.12 billion recorded at the end of the corresponding quarter in 2013, accounting for 72.5 per cent of total foreign liabilities.

The Commonwealth and the Maltese government jointly announced that The Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting will be held in Malta between November 27 and 29. In this meeting, fifty-three countries will be represented and the meetings will be held in various historic venues such as Fort St Angelo.

Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said the Commonwealth was an institution whose strength was in its diversity and subscription to a common set of values which include the promotion of democracy, human rights, good governance, free trade, global development and world peace.

“It is time to review where we stand on these values as the Commonwealth and tackle the issues which directly affect our people,” he said.

Climate change will take centre stage as the Malta meeting will be held a few weeks before the Paris summit on climate change.

This will be the second CHOGM to be held in Malta. The government has allocated €4.5 million for the event and preparations are well in gear, with meetings being held for a small army of people responsible for the logistics of the event proper and four related international forums.

According to an announcement made by the CEO of Olympic Entertainment Group AS (OEG), Madis Jääger, yesterday, OEG enters the Maltese market and opens its largest casino in Malta's top tourism region.

The new casino will be established in cooperation with Maltese hotel and entertainment enterprise Eden Leisure Group and OEG will start to operate the casino under a management agreement.

Olympic Entertainment Group (OEG) is beginning the provision of casino management services in Malta. For the Malta operations subsidiaries OEGMalta Holding Limited and OEG Malta Gaming Limited have been established in Malta.

OEG owns directly or through subsidiaries 100% of the Maltese subsidiaries' shares. OEGMalta subsidiary has concluded an agreement for the provision of casino management services and related service to Maltese company Casino Malta Limited and associated companies. As part of the transaction OEG acquires through OEG Malta Holding Limited subsidiary 1 preferred share of Casino Malta Limited, which does not confer the right to vote.

OEG will invest up to €7 million in the establishment of the new casino. The group's largest casino, of approximately 2,700 sq metres, will be opened in the second half of 2015 at the Malta InterContinental Hotel and will be called ‘Casino Malta by Olympic Casino’. The country's newest gaming venue will feature more than 250 slots, close to 30 casino and poker tables as well as sports betting and bar area.

The Malta Inland Revenue Department issued guidelines in relation to the implementation of the Malta-US FATCA IGA have been published by the Commissioner for Revenue and under the provisions of Section 3.1 of these Guidelines, Malta Financial Institutions are required to register with the Commissioner for Revenue through the online registration process that may be accessed from the official website of Inland Revenue. The 30 days period is considered to commence as from 12^th December 2014 and according to the latest update of the Commissioner for revenue, registration shall be accepted up to 31^st January 2015 for financial institutions that were already in existence on the date of the publication of the guidelines.

The Foreign Account Tax Compliance provisions (commonly known as FATCA) contained in the HIRE Act 2010 are US legislation aimed at reducing tax evasion by citizens of the United States of America (US). It requires Financial Institutions outside the US to pass information about their US customers to the US tax authorities i.e. the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). A 30% withholding tax is imposed on the US source income of any Financial Institution that fails to comply with FATCA.  On 16th December, 2013 Malta and the US signed an agreement to implement FATCA in Malta to Improve International Tax Compliance and to Implement FATCA, which was incorporated into Maltese law through LN 78 of 2014

For more information regarding the guidelines in relation to the implementation of the Malta-US FATCA IGA and the registration for FATCA purposes with the Commissioner for Revenue and the applicable online registration process you can visit the official website of Inland at: https://ird.gov.mt/news.aspx?newsid=228

In a statement issued by the Government, it has been said that Malta has once again been ranked as the most optimistic country within the Eurozone.

According to a report published by the European Commission, the economic sentiment reached a level of 112.3 – an increase of 12%. In the past month, with many companies expecting to employ new people in the upcoming months.

During the month of November, retail sales have increased by 1.8%. National Statistics show during the first 11 months of 2014, an increase of €40 million sales were registered, 4.1% increase when compared to 2013. In addition, a €379 million increase were registered in importation, leading to more investment, and economic growth.

The government said it is committed at reducing uncertainties and create stability.

In a statement issued by the Government, it has been said that Malta has once again been ranked as the most optimistic country within the Eurozone.

According to a report published by the European Commission, the economic sentiment reached a level of 112.3 – an increase of 12%. In the past month, with many companies expecting to employ new people in the upcoming months.

During the month of November, retail sales have increased by 1.8%. National Statistics show during the first 11 months of 2014, an increase of €40 million sales were registered, 4.1% increase when compared to 2013. In addition, a €379 million increase were registered in importation, leading to more investment, and economic growth.

The government said it is committed at reducing uncertainties and create stability.

The producers of an Italian film shifted the location of filming from Milan to Malta. The new film is an adaptation if E l’angelo parti da lei. It is based on a novel written by bestselling Milanese author Pino Farinotti.

Although the novel originally is based in Milan, the producers decided to relocate to Malta following a meeting with the Malta Tourism Authority and the Malta Film Commission last October.

“Eventually we realised that the magnificent scenery of the island, the sun, the sea and all the rest was an added value that took nothing away from the identity of the story”

Jesmond Xuereb, the executive secretary, said the film could potentially have a strong impact on tourism, given that the locations chosen show off some of the best the island has to offer. The film will then be promoted around Italy and Europe.

“The efforts that are being made recently to attract films to Malta are an incentive to local crews and companies to produce films on a regular basis,” Mr Xuereb said.

The Danish film All Inclusive, also set in Malta, opened to very positive reviews in Denmark last month, while Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt’s By the Sea, filmed in Gozo last summer, is due for release later this year.

The employment rate in Malta increased by 2.1% in the third quarter of 2014 when compared to the same period of 2013, according to Labour Force Survey estimates published by the National Statistics Office.

According to the estimates, total employment stood at 184,355 accounting for 51.6 per cent of the population aged 15 and over.

The unemployed amounted to 11,440 (3.2%) while inactive persons to 161,663 (45.2%).

The activity rate for the quarter under review was estimated at 67.5%. Compared to 2013, the activity rate among men increased by 0.6% and among women by 2.9%.

The highest activity rate was recorded among persons aged 25-54 (80%).

The highest employment rate was recorded among those aged 25- 54 and stood at 76.4%.

The self-employed accounted for 13.9% of the total employed population.

The average annual basic salary was estimated at €16,082, excluding overtime, bonuses and allowances.

Pursuant to the survey results, the unemployment rate for the subject period stood at 5.8%.

18 Maltese challengers successfully climbed Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanazania and are on their way down. The group left Malta on December 27^th. They managed to raise €65,000 for a kindergarten to be built in Gambella, Ethiopia. This was the 8^th edition of the challenge.

“At about 8:30am (Tanzanian Time), all 18 members of KC8 made it to Uhuru Peak. All in good health, high spirits and tired legs” the team reported on Facebook.

“Another 100% success rate for a Maltese team, putting us amongst the best in the world in terms of successful summit bids on Kilimanjaro,” the team added

The kindergarten will be called the Nirvana Azzopardi Kindergarten in honour of the late TV personality who passed away last year following a two-year battle against cancer. The inaguration willtake place on February 6 and will cater from 200 children aged between 5 and 10.