Malta is sharpening its position as a destination for global family offices, following a series of targeted regulatory refinements unveiled during a recent Malta Business Network (MBN) event. Industry leaders said the updated framework gives Single Family Offices (SFOs) a clearer, faster, and better-defined path to set up in the jurisdiction.
According to speakers from Malta’s regulatory, legal and banking sectors, the Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA) has reworked elements of its private wealth rules after recommendations from the Malta Financial Services Advisory Council (MFSAC). The result is a purpose-built, “light-touch” regime designed specifically for SFOs, arriving at a moment when unprecedented sums are expected to shift between generations over the next two decades.
Elena Grima Tortell, Senior Associate at Deloitte Legal and moderator of the discussion, noted that family offices are becoming a central tool for managing, growing, and passing on wealth. Malta’s refreshed regime, she said, is intended to match that shift through a structure that balances flexibility with safeguards.
Panel participants included Gerd Sapiano of the MFSA’s Strategy, Policy and Innovation team, Kirsten Debono Huskinson of Camilleri Preziosi, and Karl Micallef of Sparkasse Bank Malta. They emphasised that, although family offices are not new to Malta, the latest updates create a far more cohesive model by integrating rules around private trust companies and Notified Professional Investor Funds.
According to the MFSA, the framework introduces clear thresholds — including a minimum €5 million investment and at least €50 million in family wealth — while also allowing, in specific cases, key employees to be recognised as trust beneficiaries. This feature, already common in the US, is now available in Malta to help families retain talent without losing access to the lighter regulatory approach.
Sapiano added that the regime is “strong where it needs to be and agile where it makes sense”, offering families speedy establishment timelines, greater legal certainty, and a single jurisdiction in which to centralise governance, investment management, and long-term succession planning.
Micallef highlighted that Malta’s hybrid legal foundation — a civil law base with significant common law influence — continues to be a major draw for international private clients. The improved clarity and time-to-market, he said, give Malta a competitive edge at a moment when global families are looking for stable, well-structured jurisdictions.
The intergenerational wealth transfer also featured prominently in the discussion. Dr Debono Huskinson stressed that Maltese family businesses in particular face significant succession risks, with three-quarters failing to transition successfully not because the businesses underperform but because governance and succession structures are inadequate.
Finally, from a policy standpoint, Joseph Zammit Tabona of the MFSAC pointed out that family offices were identified early in Malta’s reform agenda as a high-growth opportunity. The updated proposition is part of a wider strategy to build high-value, high-integrity niches and reinforce Malta’s role as a European hub for wealth management.
