Starting a Business
Find information about starting and running a business in Malta
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An offshore company can be described as an entity registered outside the country where it’s mainly operating in. The term offshore refers to the company not being resident where it is formally incorporated.
The Malta Companies Act sets out the framework for incorporating in Malta. It is modelled on it's UK counterpart and features straight forward company registration in Malta. The Island is known for it pro-business environment and this reflects in the frameworks both from a requirements perspective and time needed to form the company. It can take as little as one day, given that all the required documents, such as the Memorandum and Articles of Association, are in place. Furthermore, there are numerous operational and financial benefits associated with incorporating in Malta.
Quality of products/services, resources, operations, marketing tactics, and customer service are some of the critical determiners of business success. But, in the real sense, the number one factor that dictates whether your business will succeed or fail is the business location.
The definition of a Maltese company has no difference between a holding company and a trading company as such. This is also the case from a tax perspective. However, the main reasons for establishing a holding company in Malta is for operations and tax planning reasons.
When incorporating a company in Malta, a memorandum of association is required. This is important corporate document which regulates its external affairs. Together with the articles of association, which covers the company’s internal constitution, dictates and states fundamental conditions under how the company operates.
The Continuation of Companies Regulation 2002 is a sub article (425) to the Companies Act (CAP386). This law came into force to allow corporate entities re-domiciliation to other jurisdictions. This migration is restricted to companies registered or incorporated in an approved jurisdiction and only if the re-domiciliation is permissible by law in the home country together with the constitutive documents of the company.
The Co-operatives Societies Act regulates the existence of societies. A Co-operative Society is a body corporate which has the power to enter into agreements, hold movable and immovable property and can sue and be sued like a normal company. However, the main differences between a co-operative and a company, is that a co-operative is set up to achieve a common goal among its members. A company on the other hand is set up to purely generate profits by trading.
