Written by The Insolvency and Receivership Service within the Malta Business Registry (the “MBR”) would like to bring to the attention of practitioners and the general public that, in terms of Article 10 of the Insolvency Practitioners Act (Act XXV of 2022) (the “Act”), it shall establish and maintain a public register to be known as the Register of Insolvency Practitioners that shall separately identify the following:
- the insolvency practitioners;
- the registered firms;
- any categorisation of the functions of each insolvency practitioner and the extent of the authorisation of each insolvency practitioner and registered firm;
- the insolvency practitioners whose authorisation has been suspended, revoked or withdrawn in full or in part by reference to any category of authorisation;
- the registered firms whose registration has been suspended, revoked or withdrawn in full or in part by reference to any category of authorisation; and
- the insolvency practitioners or registered firms who are deemed by the Insolvency and Receivership Service to be in default of their obligations in terms of this Act or of any regulations or directives made under it.
The details to be kept in this register shall include the following:
- the name and surname in the case of an insolvency practitioner or the name and designation of the type of legal entity of the registered firm;
- the office address and the electronic mail address of each insolvency practitioner and registered firm;
- in the case of a registered firm, a list of the insolvency practitioners and the information of the insolvency practitioners employed or otherwise connected with the registered firm;
- the date of birth and the identity card number or the passport number of the insolvency practitioners and in the case of the registered firms the registration number of the registered firm and the information in relation to any insolvency practitioner employed or otherwise connected with the registered firm;
- the warrant or licence number of the insolvency practitioners.
Furthermore, Article 29 of the Act includes a transitory provision which introduces an interim measure for the provisional authorisation of the aforementioned persons. Following the coming into effect of the Act, the Insolvency and Receivership Service within the MBR would like to bring to the attention of the general public the requirement for Insolvency Practitioners to obtain a provisional authorisation to act in the field of dissolution and insolvency in terms of Article 4 of the Act.
In terms of Article 29 of the Act, any person who, on the date of the coming into force of this Act:
- is authorised to exercise the profession of an advocate, accountant or auditor; and
- has been appointed as a provisional administrator, liquidator, or a special controller within the meaning of the Companies Act; or
- has otherwise served as an expert or practiced as a lawyer within the Civil Court (Commercial Section), or the Civil Court, First Hall in commercial law or shipping law related cases within the preceding five (5) years from the coming into force of this Act; or
- otherwise proves to the satisfaction of the Insolvency and Receivership Service, of having adequate experience in pre-insolvency, corporate restructuring, business finance, or liquidation,
is invited to file an application with the MBR using the form below of this notice, for the issuance of such provisional authorisation to carry out the said functions in terms of the Act. Applications, duly signed in original, can either be delivered to the MBR to the attention of the Insolvency and Receivership Service or submitted by email on ip.irs@mbr.mt using qualified signature that is in conformity with the requirements set out by 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”).
Download Insolvency Practitioners Application Form