S.L. 370.43 Art. 3Licensing of a branch of a third- country firm established in Malta.

(1) A third-country firm intending to provide investment services or perform investment activities in or from Malta, with or without any ancillary services to retail clients or to professional clients, within the meaning of Section II of Annex II of MiFID, shall establish a branch in Malta.

(2) The branch of a third-country firm intending to provide investment services or perform investment activities in or from Malta in accordance with sub-regulation (1) shall be licensed in terms of article 3 of the Act.

(3) Without prejudice to any provisions of the Act and any regulations and rules made thereunder, the branch of third-country firm shall only obtain a licence from the competent authority if the following conditions are fulfilled:

(a) the provision of services for which the third-country firm requests licensing is subject to authorisation and supervision in the third country where the firm is established and the requesting third-country firm is properly authorised, whereby the overseas regulatory authority pays due regard to any FATF recommendations in the context of anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism;

(b) cooperation arrangements, that include provisions regulating the exchange of information for the purpose of preserving the integrity of the market and protecting investors, are in place between the competent authority and the overseas regulatory authority of the country where the firm is established;

(c) sufficient initial capital is at free disposal of the branch;

(d) one or more persons are appointed to be responsible for the management of the branch and they all comply with the requirements applicable to the management body prescribed in Investment Services Rules and, or Conduct of Business Rules, as applicable, issued by the competent authority in terms of the Act;

(e) the third country where the third-country firm is established has signed an agreement with Malta which fully complies with the standards laid down in Article 26 of the OECD Model Tax Convention on Income and on Capital and ensures an effective exchange of information in tax matters, including, if any, multilateral tax agreements;

(f) the firm belongs to an investor-compensation scheme authorised or recognised in accordance with Directive 97/9/EC.