GTG

GTG is a corporate and commercial law firm with its office at 66 Old Bakery Street in Valletta, Malta's capital. Its focus is technology, and it is best known for work in fintech, cybersecurity, telecommunications and the legislation around new technology. It is also called on for complex mergers and acquisitions, particularly in innovative technology, financial services and gaming.

Alongside the law practice, the group runs GTG Corporate, a company service provider that helps businesses from set-up through to winding up. On VisitMalta.co.uk the firm is listed with the island's lawyers in Malta and among our corporate services providers.

Who GTG is and how it works

Since its foundation, GTG has brought established private practices together into a single centre of expertise. The firm works in a multidisciplinary way for local and international clients, pairing regulatory insight with practical, commercially minded advice for fast-growing, innovation-led industries.

Four values run through the firm's work. Excellence means aiming for meticulous, innovative and timely solutions. Individual attention means clients get partner-level time. Respect and integrity cover confidentiality, trust and loyalty, and teamwork reflects a belief that the firm's strength lies in the people who make it up. The firm also appears in international legal directories such as Chambers and Partners and Legal 500, particularly for fintech.

Our guide to financial services in Malta gives context for the sector in which much of this work happens.

Clients range from local businesses to international groups, and the firm is regularly engaged by gaming companies that need licensing applications handled before domestic and international regulators, as well as regulatory and compliance advice. It also advises on data protection compliance and intellectual property rights for those sectors.

Practice areas

GTG organises its legal services into a long list of practice areas. They include corporate law and commercial law, mergers and acquisitions, capital markets, competition law, data protection and privacy, intellectual property, litigation and alternative dispute resolution, and artificial intelligence, innovative technologies, media and telecommunications. There is also a legal futures team, as well as work on citizenship and residence schemes.

Two areas stand out for visitors and investors. Financial services and fintech cover applications for licences, and gaming and betting law serves operators who need licences and compliance support. If you are interested in how the gaming industry fits into the Maltese economy, read our iGaming in Malta guide.

This page describes services only and is not legal advice.

Financial services and fintech

Malta is presented as one of the foremost hubs for international financial services in the Euro-Med region, helped by flexible regulation and by membership of the European Union since 2004. A licensed operator in Malta can offer services across the EU under passporting procedures, and the island has a wide network of double taxation treaties.

GTG's team gives regulatory guidance to domestic and international clients applying for Maltese licences. The categories include credit institutions, crowdfunding service providers, e-money institutions, financial institutions, insurance companies, intermediaries and captives, investment funds, investment services, payment services institutions, and pension scheme service providers and retirement funds. Beyond client work, GTG publishes a steady stream of articles and longer publications. Recent topics such as the Malta Financial Services Authority, EU anti-money laundering rules, digital operational resilience and crypto-asset regulation, so a reader can gauge how the firm thinks about the rules before making contact. The firm has also hosted a tech law seminar covering regulation, compliance and innovation.

UK readers who want to understand how Maltese tax interacts with all of this can start with our guide to Malta tax for UK nationals.

Yachting and maritime

Malta has a strong yachting industry and holds the record for the highest number of registered superyachts in the world. The firm assists clients with pleasure and commercial yacht registration, sale and purchase, VAT structuring, importation, temporary admission, employment matters, registered agent services and ship finance, including the registration of mortgages.

Temporary admission lets a privately owned non-EU yacht operate in EU waters for up to eighteen months a year without paying import VAT, which suits owners using Malta as a first port of call. The firm also guides clients on the deferral of VAT when importing commercial yachts under certain circumstances. Brokers such as 73 Marine can help with the boats themselves.

GTG Corporate: company formation and services

GTG Corporate is the trading name of GTG Ltd, a limited liability company authorised by the Malta Financial Services Authority to act as a Class C Company Service Provider. It offers a one-stop service from incorporation through to dissolution.

The services include incorporating a company with the Malta Business Registry, providing a registered office, applying for bank accounts, administration, tax registration and representation, applications under the Highly Qualified Persons income tax scheme, liquidations and dissolutions, and corporate restructuring. Alongside the legal team, further services cover accounting, payroll and tax support, corporate governance support, redomiciliation of companies, statutory filing support, key person outsourcing, regulatory auditing and compliance services for regulated entities.

Setting up here is often part of a wider plan, so our guides to the Malta corporate tax structure and relocating to Malta from the UK are worth reading first.

Why Malta, and why a Valletta firm

Malta sits half-way between Europe and Africa, is an EU member state with laws aligned to EU requirements, and legal entities the right to operate across the Union under the freedoms of establishment and to provide services. Registration and licensing are efficient, and the tax regime and treaty network have helped the island become a base for holding and trading companies, banks and other financial institutions.

GTG's role is to help clients make the most of those advantages and to guide them through setting up and running a trading or business company here. In practice that means explaining what Malta can offer before any paperwork starts, then supporting the client through incorporation, licensing and the ongoing filings that follow. Being based in Valletta puts the firm close to the regulators and courts, and in a city that is easy to visit; see our Valletta guide and the hotels in Valletta if you are travelling in for a meeting.

The team

The team is organised so that clients deal with senior people directly. The senior team is led by Ian Gauci as Managing Partner, with Reuben Portanier as Partner for gaming, M&A and capital markets, and Andrew Demanuele as Finance Partner. Cherise Abela Grech, Terence Cassar and Josef Cachia Fenech Gonzi are also partners, and Robert Tufigno is a consultant.

Associates include J.J. Galea, Neil Gauci and Malcolm Vella Bray, and the advocates include Kimberley Blundell and Mattea Pullicino. Corporate support comes from a compliance support advisor, accountants, a secretary and a legal procurator, and the firm takes on legal trainees. Foreign language capabilities, knowledge of different legal systems and international contacts help the team to turn a client's requirements into concrete legal solutions. Trainee lawyers shadow the team during their studies, gaining practical experience of the firm's working culture.

Contacting GTG

GTG's office is at 66 Old Bakery Street, Valletta VLT 1454. The firm welcomes contact in person, by phone and by email and does not publish fees, so the cost of an engagement depends on its scope. The best first step is a short message describing the issue, such as a licence, a company set-up or a yacht.

While in the capital you may want to see St John's Co-Cathedral for its Baroque interior. Use the VisitMalta.co.uk enquiry form on this page and we will pass your message to GTG, who will reply to you directly.