Further to the publication of Legal Notice 14 of 2015 notaries who also act as depositary notaries and publishing notaries in terms of the notarial procedure laid down by article 43A for private trustees may also, if they wish to, act as qualified persons in terms of article 43(9) of Trusts and Trustees Act.

Such notaries are required to submit an application form to the Authority for registration to act as such, as required by Regulation 3 of Legal Notice 14 of 2015. Moreover they are  required to complete and submit a personal questionnaire in the form prescribed by the Authority.

Essentially, all notaries applying for registration to act as qualified persons in terms of the said Legal Notice will be subject to a competence assessment by the Authority in order to determine whether or not to grant registration. In this respect the Authority shall, inter alia, take into consideration whether the applicant can demonstrate that he/she possesses sufficient knowledge of the Maltese regulatory framework for trusts and trustees and local Anti-Money Laundering requirements.

Once an application has been accepted and registration granted, the notary shall be listed in a register for the purpose and every time such notary is appointed to act as a qualified person, it shall notify the MFSA accordingly.