Malta Business Registry to remove 10,000 inactive companies from registry

The Malta Business Registry has begun the extensive process of cleaning up the registry from inactive companies, and so far has removed 10,000 inactive companies.

This was announced on Friday by Economy, Investment and Small Businesses Minister Silvio Schembri, who was addressing a webinar hosted by the entity aimed at beneficial owners of companies.

He explained that this process is part of the work and purpose by the same entity which looks into the safeguarding of the country’s reputation and jurisdiction.

 “The action taken by the Malta Business Registry show that the amount of inactive companies has decreased drastically. In fact, from time to time, reports are issued to companies that do not have appointed officials, or that have failed to enter their annual reports, or have not provided the necessary information relating to the owners’ beneficiaries. When one fails to meet these criteria, it is then followed by the procedure of removing the company from the register,” said Schembri.

On the topic of Moneyval, the Minister insisted that the government is dedicated to strengthening the existing structures as it has done already and will continue to do so. He reflected that the government’s work and efforts have been noted by the European Commission before.

 “In the case of the Malta Business Registry, the law has changed so that the registry has enough strength to promote, ask for the necessary information to be collected from beneficiaries, as well as take action if required information is not provided”, explained Schembri.

He added that in order to increase transparency and efficiency in the service provided to the client, the Ministry will continue to invest in emerging technology and will soon be operating an artificial intelligence system to facilitate the verification of documents and increase communication with professionals in the field.