Fides

Fides is a boutique corporate services firm in the heart of Valletta, on Merchants Street, helping businesses and individuals set up and run their affairs in Malta. The team covers company formation, directorship and company secretarial work, accounting and bookkeeping, tax, trusts and fiduciary services, yacht registration and citizenship and residence applications, with a motto that appears across its work: relationships built on trust.

The firm suits a UK founder opening a Maltese company, an overseas business moving its home to the island, a yacht owner choosing the Maltese flag or a family looking at residence in Malta. It appears on VisitMalta.co.uk in our directory of corporate services in Malta, and the wider setting is described in our overview of financial services in Malta.

What Fides does and how it works

Its focus is Maltese corporate and tax planning, trusts and estate planning, financial services, shipping and aviation, iGaming and the back office support a business needs on the island. It works with start-ups, multinationals and everything in between, with each engagement shaped around the client's own goals rather than a standard package.

Three ideas run through the firm's work: tailored solutions, experience across industries, and integrity and compliance, meaning clients are kept in line with local regulation and international good practice. Communication is open, delivery timely and the approach proactive.

Company formation, redomiciliation and branches

To form a company in Malta, a Memorandum and Articles of Association must be filed with identification for the subscribers and proof that the initial share capital has been paid. Once the paperwork is approved, the Registrar of Companies issues a certificate of registration. Fides drafts memoranda and articles to suit the client's commercial plans and can act as the client's representative during incorporation.

Companies already trading elsewhere have two further options. Under changes to the Companies Act, a foreign company can redomicile to Malta, moving its legal home without winding up and starting again. It keeps its assets, rights, obligations and liabilities, and any legal proceedings continue unaffected. Alternatively an overseas company can open a branch, which is registered with the Registry of Companies within a month of starting business and is taxed in Malta on income arising in Malta and on foreign income brought into the country.

Directors, company secretaries and accounting

A private company in Malta needs at least one director, who does not have to live in Malta, and every company must have a company secretary. Fides provides the secretarial service through its licensed company, Fides Fiduciary Limited, which may also be appointed a director where the mandate sits within its risk appetite. Secretarial duties include keeping the statutory registers, drafting resolutions, organising meetings, filing annual returns and managing the registered office.

The accounting team handles bookkeeping and accounts for both companies and individuals, working to deadlines. Tax services cover planning and compliance so that clients can make use of Malta's tax system correctly. For UK readers comparing options, our Malta tax guide for UK nationals is a useful starting point before you speak to a professional.

Trusts, yachts, residence and specialist sectors

The fiduciary side of the business covers trusts and similar structures: forming them, managing them and administering them with legal compliance and asset protection in mind. Fides also helps clients register a yacht under the Maltese flag, a route valued for efficient procedures, international recognition and a favourable tax regime.

For people who want to live in Malta, the team assists both EU and non-EU nationals with citizenship and residence applications and with the practical side of relocating. Dr Kurt Catania, the firm's head of legal, specialises in investment migration. Anyone planning a move from Britain can read our UK guide to relocating to Malta alongside.

Leadership, compliance and community

Dr Adriano Cefai founded the firm and serves as CEO, after almost twenty years in corporate services that began in the family law practice. Dr Kurt Catania is a Director and Head of Legal, a corporate lawyer with more than fifteen years of practice. Dr Maria Grech is the Money Laundering Reporting Officer and Compliance Officer, and Sam Zerafa is the Financial Controller.

The firm also supports good causes, including the JC Foundation, Puttinu Cares and Pink October.

Visiting Fides and getting started

The office is at 5/1, Merchants Street, Valletta VLT 1171, close to the main streets of the capital, so it is easy to combine a meeting with sightseeing; see our Valletta guide and our listing of hotels in Valletta. Another corporate services firm, Chetcuti Cauchi's company formation office, is also listed nearby if you want to compare providers.

Fides does not publish prices on its website. To start, describe what you need: a new company, a redomiciliation, a director or secretary, accounts, a trust, a yacht or a residence application. Use the VisitMalta.co.uk enquiry form on this page and we will pass your message to the Fides team, who will reply to you directly.