The Malta Business Registry (MBR) has announced that the Companies Act (Register of Beneficial Owners) (Amendment) Regulations, 2026, came into force on 10th July through Legal Notice 184 of 2026. The amendments form part of Malta’s implementation of the Sixth Anti-Money Laundering Directive, specifically concerning measures to be implemented by Member States to prevent the use of the financial system for money laundering or terrorist financing purposes.
One of the most fundamental amendments is the introduction of a three-tier access system to the Register of Beneficial Owners. A new “legitimate interest” category allows individuals and entities who show a legitimate interest in the fight against money laundering, terrorist financing, or predicate offences to request access to beneficial ownership information, subject to an application process and the submission of the necessary documentation. In case of refusal of the request, the Registrar shall communicate such decision in writing to the respective applicant. These decisions may be appealed before the Administrative Review Tribunal and subsequently the Court of Appeal (Inferior Jurisdiction). Requests for access to the Register of Beneficial Owners shall be submitted to accesstobo@mbr.mt.
The amendments also place emphasis on another obligation requiring companies and commercial partnerships to take reasonable and proactive measures to establish whether any individual, other than individuals already identified as beneficial owners, has control over a particular entity via other means. To support this requirement, a new Form BO4 (Declaration on Beneficial Owners) has been introduced for certain companies whose registered shareholders are natural persons and who do not satisfy the criteria mentioned in the first proviso to regulation 5(3)(b) to (d). A six-month transitional period has been granted for affected entities to evaluate their ownership structures and submit the new form where applicable.
For companies with straightforward ownership structures, the first proviso to regulation 5(3) establishes cumulative criteria to enable a more streamlined compliance process, hence where:
- All registered shareholders are natural persons
- None of these natural persons act as trustees or as fiduciary
- No other natural person ultimately owns or controls more than 25% of the ownership interests or voting rights, or otherwise exercises control over the company via other means
- No natural person is appointed as SMO
the company’s register of members will serve as its beneficial owners register, hence separate beneficial ownership declarations are not applicable.
In addition, the statutory beneficial ownership forms have been updated to require the place of birth and residential address of beneficial owners. The revised forms must be used with immediate effect, as previous versions are no longer valid. The MBR has also published updated user guidelines to assist companies in complying with the new legislative requirements, which guidelines can be accessed via the following link:
