The Malta Business Registry Annual Report and Financial Statements 2023
Introduction
On the 25th of July 2024, the Malta Business Registry published its Annual Report and Financial Statements for 2023. The Malta Business Registry (MBR) has once again committed to maintain Malta’s global reputation as a jurisdiction of choice by ensuring that legislative frameworks remain innovative and efficient. The MBR’s Annual Report also reveals its ambition to be recognised as a top-tier business registry, both locally and internationally.
Hon. Silvio Schembri, Malta’s Minister for Economy, Enterprise and Strategic Projects, confirmed the Registry’s mission to maintain Malta’s global reputation, holding that “it is essential for an entity to continuously look within itself and understand how it can improve to better serve its clients, and this is what the MBR does continuously.”
Dr Geraldine Spiteri Lucas, CEO and Registrar of the Malta Business Registry, commented on the Registry’s success over 2023, accrediting success to the Registry’s stance and vision on digitalisation, spearheaded by the launch of the Business Automation Registry Online System (BAROS).
Annalise Zammit, COO and Deputy Registrar, summarised the success of the Malta Business Registry in 2023 in three key words, being “Reputation, Simplification and Digitalisation”.
Statistics
The Annual Report indicates that a total of 3283 registrations have taken place in 2023. These registrations consist of:
- 3150 Limited Liability Companies;
- 42 Overseas Companies;
- 74 Partnerships en Nom Collectif;
- 14 Partnership en Commandite;
- 2 European Companies; and
- 1 European Economic Interest Grouping.
The MBR’s Registry and Compliance also rejected a combined total of 901 proposed new companies.
1521 companies were placed into voluntary liquidation, 1230 companies were dissolved, and 4,726 companies were struck off the Registry.
Furthermore, 46 companies were re-domiciled to Malta whilst 45 Maltese companies were re-domiciled out of Malta.
A total of 215,916 documents were registered with the MBR. The Registry issued 14,100 certificates and processed 8698 name reservations.
The Compliance Unit reviewed 21,928 notifications and conducted 1661 onsite inspections. It also screened 36,754 beneficial owners of existing companies, 14,349 beneficial owners of proposed new companies, 32,737 directors of existing companies and 12,860 directors of proposed new companies. The Legal and Enforcement Unit was involved in a number of legislative projects, including a Bill to amend the Companies Act. Furthermore, Subsidiary Legislation was introduced, amending provisions relating to the Regulations implementing the Mobility Directive. The Unit also issued 1186 Final Warnings and served 500 Judicial Letters relating to penalties.