Malta has been chosen to host Corporate Registers Forum Annual Conference next year

The MBR’s CEO and Registrar elected as part of the Corporate Registers Forum Executive Committee for the next two years.

Malta, through the Malta Business Registry, will be hosting the Corporate Registers Forum Annual Conference. This was announced during the CRF AGM, which was organised in the Maldives, and is currently being chaired by the United Kingdom.

The Corporate Registers Forum is an association of international corporate registries with the aim of providing members with the opportunity to keep abreast with the latest developments in corporate business registers internationally as well as serving as a platform to exchange experiences and information on the present and future operation of corporate business registration systems.

The CRF’s decision of choosing Malta as its next host demonstrates the trust in the

Maltese jurisdiction given that it was only this year that Malta was accepted as a full member of this Forum as part of its 60 plus members across the globe.

Moreover, the MBR’s CEO and Registrar Dr Spiteri Lucas has been elected as part of the Corporate Registers Forum Executive Committee for the upcoming two years. This is the highest body within the fora that determines registry policies among its over 60 registry members. After a month-long election, member jurisdictions had to vote to choose from 15 candidates from various registries who put forward their candidacy with Malta making it eventually to the top.

"We are delighted to have invited the Malta Business Registry to host the 2023 Annual Conference of the Corporate

Registers Forum. In a very competitive process, the CRF Executive was impressed by MBR’s focus on Malta’s recent experience of being removed from the FATF grey list, and the reforms they put into place to achieve this. We are looking forward to what promises to be an excellent CRF Conference," said Martin Fidler Jones, CRF general secretary.

The Minister for the Economy, EU Funds and Lands Silvio Schembri said that this was great news for Malta and reflects the sterling work being done by the MBR. “MBR played a vital role in seeing that Malta emerges from the greylisting at the pace it did. One of the FATF’s concerns on Malta’s financial jurisdiction was the way it compiled information on the ultimate beneficial owners of

Malta-registered companies. This was addressed through a string of upgrades at MBR,” said Minister Schembri.

The MBR’s CEO and Registrar Dr Geraldine Spiteri Lucas expressed her satisfaction with CRF’s decision. “This news comes at an apt time and we are committed to using this opportunity to build new bridges of cooperation, ignite discussions on challenges registries across the globe encounter as well as sharing our own experiences in the changes implemented that changed corporate as we know it today, from the establishment of an accurate BO Registry to compliance requirements. We look forward to welcoming registries from across the globe and to give my very best while on the Executive Committee,” said Dr Spiteri Lucas.