Sovereign Pensions Malta

Sovereign Pension Services is the Malta pensions office of The Sovereign Group, a privately owned provider of corporate, private client and retirement planning services. It works from Level 5 of St Julian's Business Centre in the Elia Zammit Street area. For British people who have saved into a UK or overseas pension and now live in Malta, or are about to, a local office that understands cross-border rules is a practical starting point. Our directory of pension advisors in Malta lists other firms working in the same field.

The Malta office and its team

The Malta pensions office is led by Managing Director Cristina Cassar Difesa. Its directors are Maria Delia, Darren Whitley, John Hodgson, Peter Max Yeoman and Stephen Griffiths. Staff speak English and Maltese, so clients can deal with the office in whichever language they find easier.

The company holds a licence from the Malta Financial Services Authority as a Trust Service Provider, licence number C26143. The Sovereign Group also keeps a separate Malta office for its trust work, so it is worth saying clearly in your message whether your question concerns pensions or trusts.

Retirement planning

Sovereign's retirement planning arm provides and administers personal and occupational pension schemes designed to offer choice, transparency and portability between countries. Its menu includes workplace pension and savings schemes, personal pensions, QROPS and QNUPS. A QROPS is a qualifying recognised overseas pension scheme, the type of arrangement UK savers sometimes consider when transferring benefits abroad, while a QNUPS is a qualifying non-UK pension scheme. Both carry technical conditions, so independent advice matters. Product application forms and a list of the places where pensions are administered are available from the group, and pension members can change circumstances over time, with the specialists able to adapt a plan when a member moves country, changes job or retires.

The group has in-house pension specialists and qualified actuaries, and it can bring in independent actuarial support for complicated cases. Before taking any step, read our Malta tax guide for UK nationals and the overview of Malta's financial services sector.

The wider Sovereign Group

Sovereign opened its first office in Gibraltar in 1987 and now works in more than 20 jurisdictions. It manages over 20,000 structures, reports assets under administration above £20 billion, employs more than 400 people and holds over 30 professional licences as a corporate service provider or professional trustee. The firm is co-owned by senior staff.

Corporate services cover company formation, domiciliary services, director services, accounting and payroll, company secretarial work and relocation support. Private client services cover trusts, foundations, tax planning, residency, foreign property ownership, wealth management and the registration of yachts and aircraft. Other Malta advisers such as Blevins Franks and Investate Finance work alongside this part of the market.

How the group approaches advice

The group's mission comes down to four words: listening, understanding, planning and delivering. It will not recommend a structure that could not stand up to scrutiny by regulators or tax authorities, whether abroad or in the client's home country. Confidentiality is treated as a professional duty, not as secrecy, and clients are expected to be comfortable with international reporting rules such as the automatic exchange of financial account information between governments. For UK savers that straightforward, compliance first stance is reassuring when large sums are involved.

Starting a conversation

The group invites a first consultation with its nearest office, and cost and time estimates are provided before any work starts. As a regulated provider it must carry out know your customer checks, so expect to supply proof of identity, proof of address and an explanation of where funds have come from. If you are planning a move to Malta from the UK, raise your pension early in the process. To begin, use the VisitMalta.co.uk enquiry form on this page and we will pass your message to Sovereign.