Malta on the forefront with the enactment of three pieces of legislation; namely: The Malta Digital Innovation Act (the “MDIA Act”), The Innovative Technology Arrangement and Services Act (the “ITAS Act”), and The Virtual Financial Assets Act (the “VFA Act”).
The introduction of these three pieces of legislation, which although to date are not yet in force, but which however are expected to be in force within the coming months, made Malta become the first jurisdiction to regulate in such detail crypto currencies, ICOs, and DLT service providers, thus rendering Malta a true Blockchain Island.
Malta did not remain legally blind in front of these technological novelties relating to Blockchain, but indeed it provided a very comprehensive legal framework to the Industry.
The MDIA Act establishes the Malta Digital Innovation Authority, which once the Act is in force, shall mainly have the role of promoting and administering the ethical development of the innovative technology industry in Malta through the formal recognition and authorisation of Innovative Technology Arrangements (ITA) and Innovative Technology Services (ITS), including also the enforcement of the applicable laws, regulations, and rules.
The ITAS Act, which is intended to serve as a supplement to and be read in conjunction with the MDIA Act, provides for the recognition and regulation of ITAs and ITSs by defining what these are and laying down the regimes, procedures, and requirements, for the recognition of ITSs and certification of ITAs, including also revocations and cancellations thereof.
The VFA Act provides a legal framework mainly for the ICOs, admission to trade of VFAs, and service providers of virtual financial assets, including the specific requirements for the registration of a white paper in respect of an ICOs and admission to trade on DLT exchanges, and licensing requirements for service providers of VFAs.
The VFA Act also provides an indebt definition of the various DLT Assets and tries to eliminate the uncertainty revolving around the classification of the DLT Assets by means of introducing the Financial Instrument Test.
