Act XXXI of 2019, enacted on the 6th of December 2019, effected several amendments to the procedure of execution of the ‘Warrant of Arrest of Sea Vessels’. Accordingly, article 856 of the Code of Organisation and Civil Procedure (the “COCP”) was amended to include the appointment of a person, who is tasked with the responsibility of effecting service of a copy of the warrant of arrest on the vessel or master thereof (or any other person in charge of the vessel) (the “Nominated Person”).
On 5 February 2020, the Malta Financial Services Authority (the “MFSA”) published an update, following the United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the European Union, to clarify issues relating to governance and reporting obligations for UK entities from 1 February 2020.
The Advocate General of the Court of Justice of the European Union issued a non-binding written opinion (the “Opinion”) in relation to case C-311/18 Data Protection Commissioner v Facebook Ireland Limited, Maximillian Schrems, which is currently being deliberated upon by the judges within the Court of Justice of the European Union.
On 4 December 2019, the Malta Financial Services Authority (the “Authority”) published its Supervisory Priorities for 2020.
On 28 November 2019, the Malta Financial Services Authority (the “Authority”) issued a circular on the go live of the test environment for the settlement internalisers platform in the framework of improving securities settlement in the EU.
On 21 November 2019, the Malta Financial Services Authority (the “MFSA”) issued a circular to clarify the classification of collective investment schemes as financial counterparties under EMIR rules.