Having a will in place is an extremely important step of your financial planning process. It provides certainty over your assets and is an essential part of your estate planning. Owning assets in the UAE further extenuates the importance of having a will in place, especially for expats...

The European Union (the “EU”), among other purposes, aims to create a common market for intellectual property (“IP”). However, when problems arise, the European Court of Justice (the “ECJ”) is the court entitled to clarify the conformity of national law to EU laws and principles. Its rulings are binding on all the Member States of the EU...

OVERVIEW The turnover of structured products issued or distributed by major financial institutions negotiated on the national and international markets amounts to 82 billion Swiss francs, and there are currently around 12,000 structured products in Switzerland tradable at SIX Swiss Exchange...

Collective Investment Funds ("CIF") are groups of pooled accounts held by a bank and Collective Investment Trusts (another way of calling CIFs) are groups of pooled accounts held by a trust. Asset managers or other forms of financial institutions pool together and group a variety of assets from individuals and companies to create a unified portfolio. Unlike mutual funds or exchange-traded funds, CIFs are unregulated, unregistered investment vehicles and closer in kind to hedge funds.

A Special Purpose Vehicle (“SPV”) is a separate legal entity or a subsidiary created by a company for strategic reasons which include joint ventures, asset securitization, tax optimisation or to isolate financial and operational risks – wherein the case the parent company goes bust, the SPV can keep operating. We will compare five jurisdictions based in the Middle East for setting up SPVs.

FinTech is moving rapidly and is attracting growing regulatory responses. The list of regulatory responses to FinTech-related risks continues to lengthen. This will ratchet up over the coming years as the FinTech sector and the adoption of FinTech solutions continue to develop and grow, and as the associated risks evolve...

In June 2019, the Federal Council opened a consultation on the amendment of the Collective Investment Schemes Act of 23 June 2006 (“CISA”) to introduce a new fund category...

The Court of Justice of the European Union (the ‘CJEU’) has recently delivered an important judgement on the storage of cookies and the requirement of active consent from internet users. It sets an important legal precedent in the ePrivacy area...

Technology is evolving at an incredible pace. An ordinary smartphone has thousands of time the power of calculation of the computer that allowed the Apollo 11 to land on the moon. We are living the edge of a new era and, among other things, like quantum computer and gene editing...

Malta’s economic sector has been booming with the government exploring innovative ideas to promote the country as a hub for digital innovation. A major sector in Malta is the gaming sector, with numerous companies choosing Malta to operate from due to favourable tax incentives...

The markets in financial instruments directive (“MiFID”) increases the transparency across the European Union’s financial markets and standardises the regulatory disclosures required for particular markets. MiFID has been applicable within the European Union since November 2007...

Online sales have expanded drastically over the last decade. In Switzerland, it is estimated that 90% of regular internet users have shopped online at least once. In light of this societal evolution, governments and legislators have needed to adapt and legislate. The European Union has adopted specific legislation, whereas the Swiss legal framework...

The Investment Services Act , Chapter 370 of the laws of Malta (the “Act”) provides for a legal framework which regulates investment funds and services in Malta. Through the introduction of the Act, fund managers in Malta have been given the opportunity to choose from various corporate structures to cater for their different investment strategies...

On 28 September 2012, the Swiss Parliament adopted the Federal Lump Sum Taxation Act (“Lump Sum Act”), which modifies some provisions of (i) the Federal Income Tax Act (“LIFD”) and (ii) the Federal Act on the Harmonisation of Direct Cantonal and Municipal Taxes (“LHID”)...

An Electronic Money Institution (“EMI”) ‘is a financial institution that has been licensed in accordance with the Financial Institutions Act, Chapter 376 of the Laws of Malta (the “FIA”) and authorised to issue electronic money or that holds an equivalent authorisation in another country in terms of Directive 2009/110/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 September 2009 on the taking up...

On 23 June 2016, after 43 years of being in the European Union (the “EU”), the United Kingdom (the “UK”) decided to officially withdraw its membership from the EU. A referendum was held within the UK whereby a vote was taken by every person or nearly every person of a voting age. 51.9% voted in favour of leaving the EU whereas 48.1% voted against leaving the EU...

The concept of a mandatory public takeover for a Swiss listed company is necessary in order to ensure that minority shareholders’ interests are duly and adequately protected. In this respect, a balance of interests must be established between the interests of the minority shareholders and the company itself...

Regulation (EU) No. 650/2012 of 4 July 2012 on jurisdiction, applicable law, recognition and enforcement of decisions and acceptance and enforcement of authentic instruments in matters of succession and on the creation of a European Certificate of Succession (the “Regulation”) makes cross-border inheritance simpler by clarifying which EU country’s courts will have jurisdiction to deal with the inheritance...

On the 1 November 2018, Malta has enacted the three laws establishing the regulatory framework governing Distributed Ledger Technology (the “DLT”), Blockchain Technology (the “Blockchain”) and Cryptocurrencies, making Malta the first country in the world to regulate this sector and providing legal certainty of operations within the Blockchain space...

From 1 January 2019, companies are able to apply to FINMA (the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority) to obtain a new type of license, known as the “FinTech license” or the “light banking license”. Companies that accept public deposits of up to CHF 100 million in relation to their activities...

Download the PDF to inform you how to Set up A Holding Company And A Special Purpose Vehicle

The Special Purpose Vehicles in the Abu Dhabi Global Market ("ADGM") are regulated by the ADGM Registration Authority (the “RA”), the ADGM Companies Regulations 2015 and The ADGM Commercial Licensing Regulations 2015. They are structured as Private Company Limited by Shares.

In November 2013, the Government of Malta introduced the IIP which allows a foreign individual to obtain Maltese citizenship through a certificate of naturalisation following a contribution to the economic development of Malta. Through this programme affluent persons of impeccable standing and repute can obtain Maltese citizenship and receive a Maltese passport...

Switzerland is a federal state: state powers (i.e. executive, legislative and judiciary) are shared between the federal government, the cantons and the communes. Federalism makes it possible for Switzerland to exist as one entity – in spite of four linguistic cultures and varying regional characteristics...

“Malta has come a long way since the launch of its citizenship and residency programmes…we did not go chasing after numbers. We give priority to quality. So we have put in place all the necessary safeguards in order to make sure that we only attract the best talent to our shores”, explained the Maltese Parliamentary Secretary for Reforms...

With the growing popularity of decentralised ledger technology (“DLT”) and cryptocurrencies, concerns have been raised over the regulation of the industry due to possible nefarious activities stemming from cryptocurrencies, such as money-laundering, terrorism financing and tax evasion.

The Legal Entity Identifier (“LEI”) emerged in the wake of the financial crisis of 2008. Regulators cited the failure of risk management and controls as having played a leading role in the disaster. Of particular concern was the inability of virtually every institution to identify exposure to Lehman Brothers, Bear Stearns and AIG. In response, governments have focused attention...

The Malta Global Residence Programme (the “MGRP”) is a programme regulated by subsidiary legislation 123.148 (the “Subsidiary Legislation”) designed to attract individuals who are not nationals of the EU, EEA or Switzerland and who are not long-term residents...

After the Financial Market Supervision Act (“FINMASA”) was enacted in 2009 and the Financial Market Infrastructure Act (“FMIA”) in 2016, Switzerland, with the goal of putting in place the Financial Services Act (“FinSA”) and the Financial Institutions Act (“FinIA”), will have, in 2020, a set of financial services laws which are up-to-date and consistent with standard practice in the sector...

The General Data Protection Regulation (the “GDPR”) has been approved by the European Parliament on 14 April 2016 and entered into force on 25 May 2018. The GDPR replaced Directive 95/46 EC on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data.

With the development of technological aspects not covered by the original Payment Services Directive (“PSD I”), the Second Payment Services Directive – Directive (EU) 2015/2366 (“PSD II”) was introduced in order to enforce greater consumer protection. Technological changes that prompted the enactment of PSD II include changes in e-commerce, increase in use of internet and mobile payments and the growth in the use of multiple payment service providers...

The General Data Protection Regulation (the “GDPR”), after years of preparation, has been approved by the European Parliament on 14 April 2016 and entered into force on 25 May 2018. The GDPR replaced Directive 95/46 EC on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data.

Explore the intricacies of Swiss insider trading laws and the stringent penalties imposed by FINMA. Learn about the definition of Insider Information, prohibited activities, and recent enforcement actions in Switzerland's evolving financial market regulations.

Coming into force from May 2018, the EU General Data Protection Regulation (the “GDPR”) will profoundly alter the way businesses and consumers look at the data they hold. Being informed about why it’s coming into play and what the regulation is solving will help both organisations and individual citizens understand how they should approach data protection...

Les premières recommandations en matière d’outsourcing en Suisse ont été mises en place en 1999 par la circulaire de la Commission fédérale des Banques : Externalisation d’activités (outsourcing). Cette circulaire a été révisée une première fois en 2008 par la circulaire FINMA 2008/7 « Outsourcing – banques » afin de s’adapter à l’évolution technologique et informatique des années qui ont suivi l’entrée en vigueur de la législation de 1999 et à une augmentation de la demande en matière d’outsourcing. La nouvelle circulaire FINMA 2018/3...

On 21 June 2017, the European Commission proposed a Council Directive amending Directive 2011/16/EU regarding mandatory automatic exchange of information in the field of taxation in relation to reportable cross-border arrangement (the “Proposal”). The Proposal provides new transparency rules for intermediaries that design or sell potentially harmful tax schemes...