Corporate Law, Financial Services, Estate Planning, and Shipping Law Firm in Swatar, Malta

CSB Advocates

The Penthouse, Tower Business Centre
Tower Street
Swatar BKR 4013
Malta

+356 25572300

+356 25572310

www.csb-advocates.com

Contact Dr Andrew J. Zammit

Published Articles

Law Firm Overview

CSB Advocates is committed to providing smart and effective legal solutions, based on detailed legal analysis and carefully-considered courses of action, delivering complete peace of mind - every time. This commitment, combined with pragmatism, efficiency and pro-active thinking, has earned the firm recognition as a leading independent provider of legal services in Malta.

The firm is regularly involved in cross-border transactions, tapping into a wide network of international consultants, all experts in their respective field, ensuring seamless, timely and quality advice.

Areas of specialization: Corporate Law; Mergers and Acquisitions; Finance; Financial Services Regulation; Hedge Fund Regulation; e-Commerce; iGaming; Shipping, Yachting, Aviation; Employment & Industrial Relations; Tax; Technology, Media & Telecommunications; Trusts & Estate Planning; Competition / Antitrust Regulation; Insolvency; Intellectual Property; Real Estate; Litigation & Arbitration.

Year this Office was Established: 2006

Languages: French; Italian; Maltese; English.

Partners

Dr. Andrew J. Zammit
Lawyer
Aerospace Law, Aviation Law, Banking and Finance, Bankruptcy, Business and Industry

Associates

	Dr. Richard Bernard Lawyer Arbitration, Business and Industry, Commercial Law, Contracts, Corporate Law		Dra. Ann M. Bugeja Lawyer Aviation Law, Contracts, Corporate Law, Employment, Intellectual Property
	Dr. Doran Magri Demajo Lawyer Admiralty and Maritime, Arbitration, Aviation Law, Banking and Finance, Bankruptcy		Dr. Kurt Hyzler Lawyer Banking and Finance, Business and Industry, Commercial Law, Contracts, Corporate Finance

Areas of Law

Additional Areas of Law: Company Law; Industrial Relations; Employment Contracts; iGaming Law; Creditors’ Rights; IP Escrow Agreements; Debt Collection; Electronic Communications; Yachting.

Areas of Law Description

CSB Advocates has a wealth of experience representing clients in a broad spectrum of legal practice areas:

- Aviation

As an EU member state and a leading financial services jurisdiction, Malta has established a clear strategic political vision supporting the aviation industry. Following its worldwide success in the maritime sector, Malta is now working towards building the same strength and growth of its aircraft register. The Malta Aircraft Registration Act, 2010 (the “Act”) came into force on 1st October 2010 and its main aim is to regulate the registration of aircraft, the registration and enforcement of aircraft mortgages and the implementation of the Cape Town Convention and the aircraft protocol and its interface with Maltese law.

- Competition / Antitrust Regulation

The regulatory implications arising out of competition / antitrust law must be taken into account in all spheres of commercial activity, and the right legal and strategic advice is essential to ensure compliance with the legal regimes existing in the European Union and worldwide. These legal concepts are also fundamental in most merger and acquisition transactions, which must abide by stringent merger control regulations.

- Company Law and Corporate Finance

The foundations of CSB Advocates lie in our corporate practice. We act for a predominantly international clientele, providing timely and down-to-earth advice on all aspects of Maltese corporate structures. Our firm has assisted with several international merger and acquisition transactions, tender offers, corporate restructurings, transfers of business, spin-offs and leveraged buy-out transactions, primarily in relation to the Maltese subsidiary companies of multi-national corporate clients, both regulated and unregulated. We are geared-up to assist buyers, sellers, investors, investment banks, commercial banks, private equity and venture capital funds, institutional lenders, and management groups.

* Mergers & Acquisitions

CSB Advocates has been involved in several international merger and acquisition transactions, tender offers, corporate restructurings, transfers of business, spin-offs and leveraged buy-out transactions, primarily getting involved in relation to the Maltese subsidiary companies of multi-national business groups, both regulated and unregulated. The firm is geared-up to assist sellers, buyers, investors, investment banks, commercial banks, private equity and venture capital funds, institutional lenders, and management groups.

- Data Protection

The Information Age is characterized by ease of transfer of information and the possibility of instant access to knowledge, brought about by continuing advances in technology. The benefits of this phenomenon are innumerable; however it is also evident that the other side of the coin, amongst other issues, is an increased threat to personal privacy. CSB Advocates offers the following Data Protection services:

• Unsolicited Marketing and Spam
• Abuse of Personal Data
• Defamation on the Web
• Data Processing Notification
• Binding Corporate Rules for International Data Transfer
• Database transfer Agreements’

- Employment Law and Industrial Relations

CSB Advocates provides an array of employment-related solutions including contracts of service, dismissals, redundancies, transfers of employees between undertakings, equal treatment on the workplace and the implementation of appropriate systems and procedures for clients’ human resources. Our services in respect of employment and industrial relations matters include the following:

* Employment Contract

Maltese Labor Law is essentially based on the contractual agreement entered into between employer and employee, provided that the statutory conditions of employment are respected. Thus, whereas certain conditions of employment are strictly regulated as a matter of law, other conditions are left entirely up to the parties to agree upon, as long as these are also considered to be objectively reasonable. Where the minimum conditions of employment are established by law or regulation, only those provisions that are more favorable to the employee are considered as being legally valid and enforceable.

* Residence and Work Permits in Malta

CSB Advocates provides full support to its clients in obtaining residence and work permits for their staff and in administering client payrolls, co-ordinating all relevant paperwork with the relevant authorities and guiding clients through the procedures and pitfalls in the course of administering these formalities. EU nationals can work in Malta without an employment licence. Third-country nationals require work permits to work in Malta, and the granting of the permit is subject to a labour market test.

- Finance

Our firm is well-established in the field of finance, dealing with asset, corporate and project finance transactions and providing practical legal advice and solutions in relation to the formality, validity and enforcement of in rem and in personam security rights in terms of Maltese law. Our finance practice is geared to offering the following services in relation to finance transactions:

• Preparation and review of loan agreements and security agreements
• Advice on security rights in rem and in personam
• Registration of security rights
• Structuring of syndicates and security trust arrangements
• Providing legal opinions on the validity and enforceability of financial security and any amendments or variations thereto
• Conducting searches in public records in Malta
• Assignment or novation of security
• Debt restructuring
• Preservation and enforcement of security rights
• Tax structuring

- Financial Services

The firm’s financial services department provides bespoke advice in the area of financial services, assisting clients with all regulatory formalities and clearances. The firm’s services include the following: Advice and assistance in relation to the structuring, licensing and establishment of Collective Investment Schemes and Professional Investor Funds; Advice and assistance in relation to the licensing and establishment of Affiliated Insurance Companies (otherwise known as “AIC” or “captive insurance companies”); Advice and Assistance relating to regulated activities in the areas of banking, electronic money institutions and other financial activities.

- iGaming Law

iGaming has become a major contributor to Malta’s GDP and government revenue from the iGaming industry is expected to reach €19 million in 2009. Over the past years, Malta has successfully established itself as a leading, serious and well-regulated European remote gaming jurisdiction and is estimated to host around 10% of the world’s online gaming companies. The Government of Malta had carried out a complete revision and consolidation of the gaming legislation, and a new all-encompassing gaming law was enacted by the Maltese Parliament in virtue of which the Malta Lotteries and Gaming Authority (LGA) has been set up.

- Insolvency & Bankruptcy

Corporate Insolvency and Personal Bankruptcy invariably bring a number of legal issues to the fore affecting the rights of all stakeholders, the ranking of creditors, and the compliance with various legal procedures intended to safeguard the various interests involved. The firm provides comprehensive guidance and advice to its clients in respect of any liquidation or bankruptcy proceedings that may affect them, and also provides legal assistance to liquidators, especially in handling contentious matters that may arise in the course of the winding-up of the company’s affairs.

- Intellectual Property

The firm’s intellectual property interests lie primarily in technology- and software- related issues. With Malta’s steady development as a center for ICT excellence, internet-based industries including remote gaming and financial services have seen a dramatic growth over the past five years. The firm’s IP practice is most active in the context of software licensing contracts, assignment of rights and interests in software and internet domain-names, IP escrow agreements and the handling, processing and assignment of customer databases.

- Litigation & Arbitration

We have a solid litigation and arbitration practice dealing primarily with material commercial issues having an international dimension. Our litigation practice has been entrusted with some high-profile litigation matters before the Maltese Courts, the Malta Arbitration Centre and also in reaching amicable out-of-court settlements. Our litigation practice provides the following services: Assertion of non-monetary claims; Admiralty law issues and arrest of vessels; Arrest of aircraft; Corporate deadlock and unfair prejudice; Court winding-up of companies; Enforcement of foreign judgments and arbitration awards; Division of estates; Debt collection.

- Real Estate

The Maltese real estate sector has provided a steady record of healthy financial return for property owners. The island has also experienced a considerable influx of foreigners who are acquiring properties on the island for their business requirements or as a home. Our experience in the real estate sector spans across the spectrum, from the negotiation of long-term leases to the structuring of significant real estate deals. Our firm can assist with:

• Purchase and sale transactions
• Lease agreements
• Turnkey and fit-out agreements
• Implementation of condominium rules
• Real estate finance
• Registration or cancellation of privileges and hypothecs over immovable property
• Divisions of co-owned property
• Obtaining of necessary acquisition permits
• Creation of property-owning trusts
• Property searches with the Public Registry and Land Registry
• Co-ordination of planning permits with qualified architectural engineers
• Co-ordination of notarial services
• Tax structuring

- Shipping

Malta’s strategic position in the heart of the Mediterranean has played an instrumental role in shaping its history throughout the centuries. Today, as the eighth largest maritime flag in the world and the second largest in Europe, the Maltese flag has clearly earned the confidence of ship owners, financiers and management companies the world over. Our maritime practice enjoys wide professional recognition, placing us amongst the leaders in ship registration and finance transactions in Malta.

- Malta Tax

Malta’s tax system has been and remains an important factor in securing the country’s steady and significant growth as a reputable financial services centre. The tax system was vetted thoroughly by the European Commission upon Malta’s accession to the European Union and has since been approved as fully compliant with all requirements of EU law. Our firm provides a range of local and international clients with consultancy and advisory services addressing any aspects of domestic taxation and the Malta tax treatment of proposed structures or transactions of varying size and complexity. Our tax practice is regularly called upon to assist in high-level tax and estate planning and also to advise on the Malta tax implications of non-tax driven exercises involving corporate, trusts and other arrangements.

- Technology, Media & Telecommunications

In view of the indispensability of computers as an everyday business tool, the evident reliance of modern-day business on electronic communications, the ever-increasing volumes of online consumption, the associated need for reliable back-end payment gateways for online merchants, and the associated legal issues relating to security, privacy, execution of digital contracts and cross-border application of licensing and legal requirements, the firm has been retained on a number of ICT-related consultancy and research jobs, making it one of Malta’s leading legal consultants in the field.

* E-Commerce

Establishing an online presence has today become a mandatory part of doing business, with most companies across the world owning and operating, wholly or partially, through a website. Such companies are not always aware of all the laws which they must comply with, when operating their website.

* Electronic Communications

The electronic communications sector is a vast and dynamic sector spanning infrastructure based issues related to fixed, mobile, television, internet services and other related matters. As technology continues to advance and the digital divide continues to expand, legal frameworks must cope with issues from injecting competition into a monopolized market, to issues such as convergence, next generation access and high speed data transfers, making regulation of the sector a truly challenging endeavor. Our Electronic Communications Law practice has been involved in providing regulatory advice to clients both locally and to regulators in developing countries.

- Trusts & Estate Planning

The integration into Maltese law of a comprehensive legal framework for trusts in 2004 served to complement Malta’s financial services legislative framework. The new Trusts Act has served to enable Malta to honor its international commitments towards the OECD and the FATF, galvanizing Malta’s position as a reputable international financial centre whilst simultaneously providing new opportunities for wealth management and estate planning practitioners. We offer a complete range of trust-related advice and support including the following: Creation of bespoke trust structures; Escrow agreements; Protection of assets; Fiduciary arrangements; Security trusts; Advice to Trustees; Charitable trusts and foundations.

- Yachting

Our maritime practice also provides the following services: Registration and deletion of yachts under the Malta flag; Structuring and implementation of tax-efficient yacht-owning structures; Co-ordination of commercial yacht certification; Co-ordination of temporary importation procedures; Searches of the Malta yacht register; Searches of Maltese yacht-owning entities; Co-ordination of yacht financing transactions, preparation and review of loan agreements, security agreements, statutory mortgages, collateral deeds of covenants, issuing of legal opinions; Registration, amendment, transfer and discharge of statutory mortgage deeds registered over Malta-registered yachts; Upkeep of annual renewal of registration; Enforcement of claims against Malta-registered yachts, and yachts situated within Maltese territorial waters; Handling of on-going crewing and compliance formalities with the relevant Maltese authorities; Tax structuring and administration.