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The Enforcement of Malta-registered Mortgages
One of the major attractions of the Maltese flag to financing banks is the ease and efficiency with which mortgages are registered over Malta-flagged vessels and the relative simplicity with which mortgage security rights can be enforced in terms of Maltese law. In this paper we shall be mainly considering (i) the procedures required for a mortgagee to enforce a registered mortgage over a Malta-flagged ship and (ii) the arresting of a vessel by a mortgagee in security of its maritime claims, giving rise to the ‘in rem’ jurisdiction of the Maltese courts.
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The Reinforcement of Malta’s Role as a Regulatory Hub for Remote Gaming
Whilst much has been said and written both for and against the removal of barriers to the free movement of gaming services within the European Union, anyone trying to get to grips with understanding how remote gaming is regulated within the EU is bound to have a tough time in digesting the variables involved - not to mention the legal “black-holes” created by the inter-jurisdictional structuring of operators’ affairs, with different laws applying in each of these jurisdictions. Clearly, the explosion of the internet as a medium through which products and services of any kind or description can be marketed across the globe in real time has left lawmakers equally awe-struck and perplexed.
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Malta - The Aircraft Register of Choice within Europe
Spurred by the prosperity and solid reputation of Valletta's maritime register over the past 20 years and the increasing number of US-based owners looking towards Europe for their aircraft registration requirements, the Maltese Government is currently in the course of implementing a comprehensive legal and regulatory framework for the registration of aircraft- primarily business and private jets- on the Maltese aircraft register.
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Employment law overview: Malta
The right of all citizens to work and the state’s role in promoting the conditions to make this right effective is enshrined in Malta’s 1974 Republican Constitution. Indeed the Constitution’s first clause states that “Malta is a democratic republic founded on work and on respect for the fundamental rights and freedoms of the individual”. The Constitution also upholds the basic principles of workers’ rights, including inter alia the maximum number of daily working hours, a weekly rest day, holidays without pay, the establishment of a minimum working age, gender equality, professional and vocational training for workers, contributory social insurance and the provision of the means of subsistence for those unable to work. The Constitution, however, leaves it to statutory acts to add flesh to these basic principles.
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The Judgment
In order to effectively analyse the legal implications of the case, we propose to begin from the very language used by the ECJ in reaching its conclusions, by reproducing some of the concluding paragraphs of the judgment (all emphases have been added):
67. (…) it must be acknowledged that the grant of exclusive rights to operate games of
chance via the internet to a single operator, such as Santa Casa, which is subject to
strict control by the public authorities, may, in circumstances such as those in the main
proceedings, confine the operation of gambling within controlled channels and be
regarded as appropriate for the purpose of protecting consumers against fraud on the
part of operators.
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The giving of financial assistance by a company for the purchase of its own shares was introduced into Maltese law by the Companies Act in 1995, which replaced the Commercial Partnerships Ordinance originally promulgated in 1962.
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As the funds industry seeks refuge under the protective shroud of hardening regulation, the need to re-evaluate investment strategy is of heightened priority. According to Andrew Zammit, managing partner of Zammit & Associates – Advocates, Malta - with its environment catered specifically for professional investor funds (PIFs) - is a perfectly-positioned home for funds fleeing from pressures found in other, more petrified, parts of the globe.
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Malta owes much of its historical development to its strategic location in the centre of the Mediterranean, its natural harbours and its extensive range of maritime services including specialized ship repair, excellent freeport facilities, bunkering services, ship supplies and towage services.
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Malta’s commitment to the fight against money laundering and the funding of terrorism is firmly rooted in the country’s interest in safeguarding its role as a reputable financial services centre, and reinforced by the country’s status as a full member of the European Union and signatory to the main international multilateral treaties intended to tackle the affliction of money laundering in the world’s financial markets. Malta does not appear on any international blacklist whatsoever and co-operates fully with the FATF and the OECD.
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