Circular on Regulatory Submissions for Trustee and Fiduciary Services under Article 43 of the Trusts and Trustees Act

Circular
Triq l-Imdina, Zone 1 Central Business District, Birkirkara CBD 1010 +356 2144 1155 communications@mfsa.mt www.mfsa.mt Circular addressed to Persons Authorised to Provide Trustee Services and Other Fiduciary Services in terms of Article 43 of the Trusts and Trustees Act – Regulatory Submissions

1. Submission of the Annual Compliance Return – 2026
   This circular is relevant to persons authorised to act as trustees in terms of Article 43(3) of the Trusts and Trustees Act (“TTA”) and other fiduciaries (including persons whose authorisation is restricted to providing mandate services in terms of Article 43(12)(a) of the TTA), hereinafter referred to as “Authorised Persons”. Such Authorised Persons are required to submit an Annual Compliance Return (“ACR”) annually as part of their obligations relating to regulatory submissions. Please be informed that for the ACR 2026 submissions (covering reporting period 2025), no changes have been made to the ACR template. Kindly ensure the template is downloaded by clicking here; and scrolling to the Trustees and Other Fiduciaries section and clicking on the tab labelled ‘Regulatory Submissions’, document entitled ‘Annual Compliance Return:
   Trustees and Other Fiduciaries’. It is highly recommended to save the downloaded ACR Excel sheet on your desktop to facilitate the workflow and ease of access. Any Authorised Persons who are solely authorised to provide the services of administrators of private interest foundations in terms of Article 43(15) of the TTA or are registered as Trustees of Family Trusts in terms of Article 43B of the TTA are requested to refer to the relevant Circulars issued in their regard.
2. Submission of Financial Statements and other supporting
   documentation to the ACR
   Authorised Persons are reminded that apart from the audited Financial Statements, the supporting documents mentioned in the ‘List of Docs for submission’ tab must be submitted together with the ACR for the submission to be deemed complete. Authorised Persons are also requested to ensure that the shareholding structure charts provided are comprehensive, up to date and indicate the percentage of shares held as at the date of 24 March 2026

Circular
Triq l-Imdina, Zone 1 Central Business District, Birkirkara CBD 1010 +356 2144 1155 communications@mfsa.mt www.mfsa.mt submission. Furthermore, the organisation chart and resolution of the board of directors are to also be duly executed.
3. Timing of Submissions
Authorised Persons are reminded that the ACR (in both Excel and PDF format) and the required accompanying documents are to be submitted through the Licence Holder portal (“LH Portal”) within four months from the Authorised Person’s financial year end. The Authority would like to highlight that it will not be granting any extensions to the above￾mentioned deadlines.
4. Guidance on the Completion of ACR
Authorised Persons are reminded that where the field for the response restricts answers through drop-down menus or specific formats, any further details or clarifications may be provided in the ‘Comments’ section. In the event that lengthier explanations may be required, Authorised Persons are kindly requested to send an email to supervisiontrustees@mfsa.mt with the subject line “ACR Further Information” which contains any additional information, including the name of the Authorised Person and a specific reference to the relevant sheet number. Where an Authorised Person is providing company services in terms of the exemption granted in terms of Regulation 3 (1) (a) of the Company Services Providers(Exemption) Regulations information relating to such company service provider activities must be clearly reported in the pertinent fields in the ACR subject of this circular and linked above. For the avoidance of doubt, there is no need to complete and submit a separate ACR applicable only to persons authorised under the Company Service Providers Act. All questions need to be completed, unless otherwise indicated, for the submission to be deemed complete. A validation sheet is included as the last sheet in the excel workbook which should display all ‘green ticks’ to confirm that all relevant fields have been duly completed. In completing the ACR, Authorised Persons are expected to refer closely to the Glossary tab included in the Excel workbook.
5. Submission through LH Portal
Authorised Persons are reminded that the ACR, audited Financial Statements and all supporting documents outlined in the ACR are to be submitted through the LH Portal. It is important that all documents are zipped in the relevant folder based on the type of regulatory

Circular
Triq l-Imdina, Zone 1 Central Business District, Birkirkara CBD 1010 +356 2144 1155 communications@mfsa.mt www.mfsa.mt submission and that the below guidance is used when naming the respective folder (as indicated on the right-hand side of the upload section on LH Portal):
Type of Regulatory Submission Naming convention to be used ACRs and supporting documents (such as shareholding structure charts, staff organigrams, board resolution and compliance reports) CODE_260430_TRUACR.zip Financial Statements CODE_260430_TRUFNS.zip Management Letters CODE_260430_TRUMGL.zip All Authorised Persons have been supplied with usernames and passwords to be able to access the LH Portal through the following link: https://lhportal.mfsa.mt/ .The allocated user for the Authorised Person is encouraged to verify the username and password supplied. In case where the individuals identified by the Authorised Person are no longer employed with the said Authorised Person, the Authority is to be informed, accordingly and to provide the Authority with details of the new user as soon as possible and well in advance of the due date for submissions. Furthermore, any Authorised Person who still needs to setup an account on the LH portal is requested to provide the Authority with details of the individual identified user by sending an email on supervisiontrustees@mfsa.mt, also at the earliest and well in advance of the due date for submissions.
6. Electronic Signatures
As indicated in the Circular issued on 15 November 2022, the Authority is also accepting electronically signed documents, provided that such documents are signed with a qualified electronic signature as defined and regulated under Regulation (EU) No 910/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 July 2014 on electronic identification and trust services for electronic transactions in the internal market and repealing Directive 1999/93/EC (“eIDAS”). However, any documentation submitted, which is signed by any other form of electronic signature, will not constitute a validly signed document, and would need to be resubmitted. Submissions signed with a qualified electronic signature are not required to be sent to the Authority in original. Any queries with respect to the ACR or the other regulatory submissions are to be sent on supervisiontrustees@mfsa.mt.