Withholding Tax on Assignments of Rights acquired under a Promise of Sale Agreement

The Commissioner for Revenue has published guidance relation to the 2020 budget measures introduced regarding the withholding tax due on the assignment of rights acquired under a promise of sale agreement (ċessjoni ta’ konvenju). This measure is retroactively applicable in relation to any assignments made from 1 January 2020 and the relative legislation will be…

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MFSA publishes its Risk Culture and Risk Appetite Statements

The Malta Financial Services Authority today released its Risk Culture and Risk Appetite Statements as part of its drive to place risk management at the centre of its strategy. These Statements seek to ensure the better identification, evaluation, management, and communication of the Authority’s approach to risk. The MFSA’s Risk Culture Statement provides guidance in…

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SAFEGUARDING AND PROTECTING THE RIGHT TO ADEQUATE ACCOMMODATION

The New Private Residential Leases Act of 2019 Scope Act number XXVIII of 2019, the Private Residential Leases Act of 2019 (“the Act”), has been enacted primarily to ensure fairness, clarity and predictability in contractual relations between lessors and lessees and to safeguard and protect the right to adequate accommodation. Applicability This Act applies to…

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The Shipping Industry is increasingly embracing environmental sustainability

The plastic continent — and how to tackle it — may be hogging the headlines, but the shipping industry – frowned upon as a notorious polluter on a massive scale – is also being effectively reined in and compelled by law to go green. EU legislation and the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) are wielding their…

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Does a condition in a contract have a binding effect on subsequent owners?

Mercury p.l.c. (C 27497) vs Persona Limited (C 48811) (Rik. Gur. Nru 103/14GM) dated 10 October 2019 The Facts Tesborg Limited was the developer and owner of a block of forty nine apartments and eighteen basement garages. Mercury p.l.c. acquired the rights of Tesborg Limited through the merger of a number of business organisations, including…

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Better Legal Insights Through Technology

The legal profession has evolved at an unprecedented speed. Technology and new emerging tools harnessing artificial intelligence and data visualization all help legal professionals now uncover valuable insights. It is almost impossible to attend a conference today and not encounter multiple discussions about artificial intelligence (AI). Many in the legal profession have begun to assume—that…

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Malta re-elected to Council of the International Maritime Organization

International Maritime Organization (IMO) Council elections were held during the 31st Session of the IMO Assembly in London on 29 November 2019. Malta was re-elected in Category C of the Council of IMO for the 12th consecutive time. The states elected are to be Members of IMO’s Council for the period 2020-2021. The IMO regulates…

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When does the principle of priority take off?

Baldo Limited v Kontrollur tal-Proprjetà Industrijali (39/2016) 4 Oct 2019 The facts On the 25th of April 2016 Baldo Limited applied for three trademark registrations; all three relating to the word “Gringos”. Those applications were refused by the Comptroller of Industrial Property (Kontrollur tal-Proprjetà Industrijali) on the basis of their similarity to the trademarks “Gringosmarrakech”…

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Redemption of land belonging to the Government or to the Lands Authority under a title of revisable Perpetual emphyteusis Regulations, 2019 (the “Regulations”)

By virtue of Legal Notice 216 of 2019 the legislation provides for the redemption of land belonging to the Government/Lands Authority which is held under a revisable perpetual empytheusis.  Any person who holds such property may request the Lands Authority to redeem that property any time.  Yet, the said redemption should not terminate the conditions…

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Court awards over €6,000 in damages for an accident at work

Josette Camilleri vs The Malta Union Club et[1] The Facts In a recently decided case ‘Josette Camilleri vs The Malta Union Club et’, the First Hall of the Civil Court (the “Court”) heard the pleadings regarding a workplace accident which left Josette Camilleri suffering from a permanent disability comprising various physical functional limitations.  At the…

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