According to the Maltese Companies Law, enterprises are required to have at least one shareholder in case of private limited liability companies and at least two in case of public companies. Shareholders in Maltese companies can be individuals or foreign companies and the law also allows for the shares in the company to be held by a nominee shareholder, this way the identity of the beneficial owner being protected.
When registering a company in Malta, shareholders must provide certain details such as: name, address and nationality in case of individuals, or company name, registered office, share capital and company registration number and the name of the representative in case the shareholder is a corporate entity.
By appointing a nominee shareholder, the company or individual providing the nominee shareholder service will be registered with the Maltese Trade Register.
Nominee shareholder services in Malta
Our Maltese agents in company formation offer nominee shareholder services, also known as mandatory services or bare trusts. Companies providing nominee services are licensed by the Malta Financial Services Authority. The nominee shareholder will hold an asset on behalf of another individual or company in Malta.
The Maltese nominee shareholder will only act as instructed by the beneficial owner, as for the services provided by the companies are used whenever it is too expensive to register an asset in the name of the beneficial owner. Nominee shareholding services are also employed for privacy reasons in Malta.
What are the main advantages when appointing a Maltese nominee shareholder?
From an administrative point of view, the beneficial owner has many advantages when appointing a nominee shareholder in Malta. Among these are:
- – the registration of a Maltese company on behalf of the owner,
- – attending the annual general meeting,
- – making changes in the company’s structure as instructed by the beneficial owner.
Maltese companies providing nominee shareholding services are subject to the Professional Secrecy Act facing prosecution, according to Section 27 in the Criminal Code, if any confidential information is disclosed.
You can contact our company incorporation agents in Malta for complete information about the nominee services available.