Pension Legislation Changes - Malta

Malta remains as one of the world´s leading jurisdiction for pension business and the jurisdiction, its
policy makers and industry, are determined to maintain that position by offering well regulated,
compliant and prudent pension products.

There have, however, been a number of legislative changes to Maltese pensions since the start of
2019, ranging from tighter investment due diligence to full disclosure of commission. For advisers
and clients, one of the most important measures introduced is the requirement for advisers to have
greater regulation than ever before.

Investment advisers, in addition to having to be licensed/authorised to provide investment advice in
the country where the adviser firm is established, must also be duly authorised and regulated to
provide the investment advice being given to the member, in the member´s respective jurisdiction.
For European based investment advisers and members, the rules require that the adviser will need
to be duly regulated to give investment advice in their European country of establishment, and
where the advice is provided to a member. If the member is based in another European jurisdiction,
the adviser firm must have pass ported their services under the Markets in Financial Instruments
Directive (MIFID II) and the Insurance Distribution Directive (IDD) in the case of insurance based
investment products, to this EU jurisdiction.

To put it simply, advisers now need to have access to both the IDD and MIFID II licences, which will
essentially allow them to advise on both direct and indirect investments. Indirect investments are
those via a life assurance bond or wrapper.

I am pleased to say that whilst many other advisory firms are now rushing around to make sure they
have licences in place ahead of the six-month transition period, Logic Financial Consultants already
have both the IDD and MIFID II licences, so it is pretty much business as usual for us.
The new rules also state that every member of a Maltese pension must have an appointed
investment adviser, unless they can categorically class themselves as a “professional member”.
At Logic, we see the introduction of these new regulations as a positive move made by the financial
and pension industries. Increasing the protection for clients both from a regulation and due diligence
stance can only be considered a good thing in our opinion.

If you have a Maltese pension or have ever thought about transferring a pension overseas, we would
welcome the change to discuss your options with you.