Chetcuti Cauchi Advocates

Chetcuti Cauchi Advocates is a Maltese law firm that describes its clients as international families, founders and investors, and that combines legal, tax, immigration and corporate work under one roof. It is based in Valletta, where it occupies a seventeenth century palazzo, and it works with people who live, invest or run businesses across several countries at once.

For a UK reader, the firm's relevance is practical: it handles the kind of Maltese matters that arise when a British family relocates, buys property, sets up a company, plans for a move of residence or arranges succession across borders. This page describes what the firm does and who is at the practice. It is not legal advice, and any decision about your own situation should be taken with a qualified adviser. The firm appears in our directory of lawyers in Malta, as well as the categories for patent attorneys and immigration consultants.

Who the firm is

The firm was founded in 2002 by former Big Four tax and legal advisers who wanted to create Malta's first multidisciplinary law firm, mixing legal, tax, immigration and corporate expertise. In 2010 it moved to Palazzo St Ursula in Valletta, and the team grew to 75 professionals. In 2021 it formed strategic relationships with tax and legal professionals around the world, and in 2024 it launched a new brand and website aimed at easier digital access.

The firm now works with clients from more than 160 countries and its people speak 20 languages. It is an independent firm that routinely works alongside clients' own advisers abroad and co-ordinates advice across jurisdictions where needed. Its approach combines a boutique, personal feel with the standards of a large international practice, with partners remaining closely involved in client work.

Practice groups and services

The work is organised into practice groups: Families and Wealth, Immigration, Tax, Technology, Commercial, Corporate and Property. Within these sit specialist practices that include cross border structuring, European residency, personal tax, philanthropy and impact advisory, residential property, US to Malta immigration, citizenship law, corporate services, dispute resolution, employment, family office advisory, global mobility, intellectual property, privacy, private clients, risk and compliance, sports law, succession law and trusts.

People looking at Malta as a base will find our Malta relocation guide and our guide to tax for UK nationals in Malta useful background before a first conversation with any adviser. Remote workers can also read our digital nomad guide.

Immigration, residency and citizenship

Immigration and global mobility is a major strand of the practice. The team works on Maltese residence and citizenship pathways for individuals and families, including routes grounded in merit, and on US to Malta immigration. The firm's publications cover topics such as the Permanent Residence Programme and the options for visas, residence and citizenship, and its lawyers include a senior immigration lawyer who wrote a doctoral thesis on how citizenship is acquired under Maltese law.

The firm positions Maltese residence and citizenship as legally distinct pathways, each giving different rights and different degrees of permanence. Your own eligibility depends on your circumstances, so use this page only to see what the firm handles. Families usually bring several advisers together on a move like this, covering immigration, tax, property and sometimes a company, and a multidisciplinary firm aims to keep those strands in one place. The firm also offers a regular stream of written guides and podcasts on these subjects.

Tax, family offices and private clients

Private client work covers personal tax, wealth structuring, trusts, succession and philanthropy, and Malta is promoted by the firm as a location for family offices within the European Union. Priscilla Mifsud-Parker leads the Families and Wealth practice group, and Magdalena Velkovska is a director in private client tax. Our guide to Malta's corporate tax structure explains the wider system in plain terms.

The firm's writing on topics such as the Malta 15% tax status for international residents, share pledges and the US to Malta double tax treaty shows the range of cross border subjects it covers.

Corporate services, property and industries

The corporate team handles company formation, company administration, domiciliation, local directors, company secretary services, bank account support, fiduciary services, redomiciliation and back office support. It is led by Priscilla Mifsud-Parker, and managers Joanna Pace and Charlene Ciantar are named as key contacts for corporate services. Our guide to financial services in Malta places this work in context.

Property and real estate law is led by Charlene Mifsud, covering development, construction, planning, licensing and foreign buyer rules, and co-founding partner Maria Chetcuti Cauchi also oversees property and the philanthropy, art and cultural property practice. Industry groups include financial services, gaming, technology, family offices, yachting, film, pharmaceuticals and biotech, manufacturing and retail. Gaming businesses can read our iGaming in Malta guide.

Financial services, funds and technology

A dedicated financial services group draws on lawyers, accountants and tax specialists from the banking, capital markets, investment services, fund services, insurance, corporate, tax and real estate practices. It works with hedge funds, fund managers, investment services providers, credit institutions and insurance intermediaries, and its pages list services around alternative investment funds, professional investor funds, electronic money institutions, insurance brokers and crypto related business.

Those businesses operate under the Malta Financial Services Authority, the single regulator for financial services in Malta. The firm works with promoters and in-house teams to set up and run regulated operations from a Maltese legal viewpoint, while its tax and finance teams advise on structure and ongoing compliance. A separate technology practice advises on blockchain, crypto, artificial intelligence and other new technologies, and the firm's industry pages also cover manufacturing, retailing, yachting, charities and philanthropy, and film.

Community, culture and professional memberships

The firm supports charities through a Gift of Time programme in which each department adopts up to two causes each year, raises funds and gives volunteer hours, especially around Christmas. It also takes on pro bono work for foundations, shows the work of Maltese artists in the palazzo with part of the proceeds going to local charities, and gives legal support to start-ups at a revised rate. It operated paperless from its first day.

Partners and managers take part in the wider professional world, including the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners Malta branch council, the Institute of Financial Services Practitioners, the Malta Institute of Taxation, FinanceMalta, the Chamber of Advocates, the International Tax Planning Association, the International Fiscal Association and the European Family Business Network. The palazzo is one of many historic buildings in Valletta, and the firm's art exhibitions make good use of its rooms.

The people and visiting Valletta

The senior partners are Jean-Philippe Chetcuti (citizenship, residency and private client tax), Maria Chetcuti Cauchi and Priscilla Mifsud-Parker. The partners are Charlene Mifsud for property, corporate and commercial, Natasha Cachia for risk and compliance, and Antoine Saliba Haig for immigration and global mobility. Marina Magri is a director in immigration and global mobility, Matthew Debono is chief executive and Gilbert Bonnici is chief finance officer.

Palazzo St Ursula is currently under refurbishment and the main entrance is at 86 Merchants Street. Valletta is easy to explore on foot, so see our Valletta guide and the Upper Barrakka Gardens, and our list of hotels in Valletta if you are visiting from the UK. To start, use the VisitMalta.co.uk enquiry form on this page and we will pass your message to Chetcuti Cauchi Advocates, who will reply to you directly.