As family offices become increasingly mobile across jurisdictions, relocation decisions are being shaped less by optimisation and more by governance and long-term institutional credibility.
“The defining consideration is no longer tax-efficiency, but where governance, investment decision-making and asset servicing can most effectively be anchored over generations,” say Clare Farrugia and Conrad Cassar Torreggiani.
Malta has long offered private wealth and fiduciary services, but family offices have only recently become a formal strategic focus when the Malta Financial Services Advisory Council, which manages the national strategy for financial services, identified Single Family Offices as a new opportunity area for Malta.
In November 2024, the MFSA updated its regulatory framework to facilitate the establishment of Single Family Offices in Malta through amendments to the Investment Services Rules for Notified Professional Investor Funds and related due diligence service providers, as well as to the trustees of Family Trusts Rulebook.
This shift reflected how high-net-worth families are increasingly prioritising regulatory clarity, EU alignment and structural adaptability over scale or volume when selecting where to establish themselves or a component of their activities. Within this context, Malta has been framing its proposition as an alternative European platform capable of accommodating complex cross-border structures.
Clare Farrugia, MFSA’s head of strategy, policy and innovation notes that while financial optimisation and regulatory compliance remain foundational considerations, they are no longer the dominant force shaping jurisdictional choice.
“Ultra-high-net-worth families are thinking far more strategically about multi-generational governance, asset protection, succession planning and risk diversification. They are seeking jurisdictions that can support bespoke structures while allowing appropriate levels of control, oversight and flexibility aligned with family governance models. Malta is well positioned to offer this through the structures available within its framework.”
Farrugia notes how modern family office portfolios have become increasingly complex, with greater exposure to private and alternative investments and globally diversified assets who therefore require jurisdictions that facilitate efficient structuring and capital deployment without unnecessary operational friction.
“Today, the focus is not simply on tax efficiency, but on jurisdictions combining operational efficiency, international credibility and EU market alignment. In this sense, Malta’s positioning is anchored in regulatory credibility rather than tax competition alone,” explains Farrugia.
At a recent conference, Malta’s regulatory positioning was framed as “light-touch” but Farrugia disagrees.
“We prefer referring to our regulation as proportionate and risk-based, designed to facilitate efficiency without compromising alignment with EU regulatory frameworks and international standards on AML/CFT and tax transparency.
“Within an EU regulatory environment, compliance thresholds are non-negotiable, and that credibility with international banks, custodians and auditors, ultimately defines whether a jurisdiction is operationally viable. Regulatory flexibility is only effective when it is underpinned by credibility. If regulation falls short of expectations, it will be the market participants themselves who will impose constraints that can erode the intended flexibility of the system,” she added.
This approach is particularly relevant given that Malta’s framework targets families above a certain wealth threshold in line with the country’s renewed strategy to target quality over quantity investment.
“We stopped chasing volumes. We’re focusing on sophisticated private capital and genuinely institutional-quality family office structures. Malta’s framework can accommodate complex cross-border wealth structures and incorporates explicit wealth thresholds and eligibility criteria. This shows our clear strategic focus on sophisticated private capital, rather than volume-driven participation.”
Conrad Cassar Torregiani, Partner at Deloitte and head of the MFSAC Working Group for family offices, frames Malta’s role in a broader European context and notes that while it does not match larger global centres in scale, Malta is steadily emerging as a credible EU-based alternative for families seeking regulatory certainty, structural flexibility and predictability of outcomes.
He explained that Malta’s value proposition is not limited to wholesale relocation of family offices and in many cases, family offices may seek to extend their reach by establishing a presence in Malta while retaining existing operational bases elsewhere. This allows families to optimise for cost efficiency, regulatory alignment or proximity to specific markets without necessarily disrupting established infrastructure or relationships.
“The Malta proposition is not necessarily limited to persons looking to establish a new single-family office but extends to single-family offices looking to establish a presence outside their home country.”
A key feature of this model is its compatibility with external ecosystems.
“Family offices established in Malta are not required to replace their existing banks, custodians or advisers but can continue working with established international partners while benefiting from Malta’s EU-based regulatory framework as long as they are prepared to establish the required level of local presence necessary to service and support the functions, risk and assets allocated to Malta. This reduces operational disruption while allowing access to the benefits of the Maltese platform.”
However, he also stresses that jurisdictional competitiveness cannot be assessed solely on legal structuring efficiency and that the success of a family office jurisdiction is rarely determined by a single factor.
“Without access to private banking, investment expertise, custodial infrastructure and specialist advisory capability, even well-designed regulatory frameworks risk becoming operationally incomplete.”
Farrugia and Cassar Torregiani acknowledged that the sector’s most significant constraint is not regulatory design but specialist talent.
“We already have a very strong financial and professional services base but requirements of family offices have become increasingly complex. With the right talent, sophistication of our ecosystem will be the key differentiator.”
“This is the eventual transition that the sector will go through. Efficiency alone is no longer enough. We need to remain competitive while continuing to evolve into a highly capable and internationally credible platform for estate planning, wealth management and long-term stewardship of private capital,” they concluded.
