Why Malta for your ICO Licence

Malta currently operates a full imputation system of taxation, whereby tax charged to the company is imputed to the shareholder in the event of a dividend distribution. This means that a shareholder will not be charged tax twice on dividends. Shareholders are entitled to claim refunds of up to six sevenths of tax charged to the company. The result of such refunds is that the effective total tax paid is of 5%. This regime is fully complaint with international tax standards and with EU legislation.

Coupled with the above, the considerations that Malta enjoys a sovereign credit ‘A’ rating, an excellent economic track record, political stability and has become part of the eurozone, confirm Malta’s attractiveness as an onshore financial centre, making it ideal for the establishment of your Malta ICO.

With an ever-increasing work force, the Authority is fully equipped to deal efficiently with licensing applications and with ongoing monitoring. However, it does not limit its role to policing activities. Furthermore, the Authority operates an ‘open door’ policy whereby prospective or licensed operators may discuss an issue upfront with the responsible officials.

Malta boasts a flexible, reliable and highly productive multilingual workforce. The number of university student graduates has more than tripled in the last decade with close to 3,500 students graduating each year who are sure to make your Malta ICO a successful venture.

Malta has an established state-of-the-art telecommunications infrastructure capable of hosting and delivering round the clock connectivity. Ancillary services such as online payment processors are also available. The World Economic Forum has recently ranked the Maltese Government as the second most successful government in promoting the use of ICT.

In November 2009, Malta ranked first amongst EU member state when it comes to IT and e-government. The 2009 EU e-Government Benchmarking has shown Malta making an outstanding leap in the delivery of e-Government services. In fact Malta has topped the country ranking in both Online Sophistication and Fully Online Availability by achieving the maximum possible score (100%), making it the best performing country in the EU.

Malta has reached maximum possible score (100%) in the ‘One stop Shop’ and ‘User focused portal design’, whilst attaining second and third place respectively in ‘User Satisfaction Monitoring’ and ‘Usability’.

The Fintech Unit within the Malta Financial Services Authority was set up with the aim of creating a sector-specific point of reference for blockchain and crypto operators, thus offering direct access to operators who may wish to address several issues with the benefit of collective experience.

Not only is Malta in the ideal position in the Mediterranean in its proximity to mainland Europe and North Africa, but it offers a very good quality of life, low criminal rates, excellent health services and diverse entertainment and sport facilities.

Malta is considered to be Europe’s centre in the blockchain and crypto spaces  and this is evidenced from the decision of a number of the industry’s companies to set up their operations in Malta. Malta’s growth and emergence as an attractive blockchain and crypto jurisdiction would not have been possible if it hadn’t been for its legal-certainty oriented regulatory framework which, in spite of its rigorous nature, has been well received by the industry.

With years of experience and know-how and being a jurisdiction which is home to data centres, online payment processors, systems auditors, software developers and platform providers, a company seeking to register an ICO whitepaper with the MFSA will always have the support it needs to manage and grow its operations. This consideration coupled with the tax planning advantages and the other benefits highlighted above, promise to consolidate Malta’s position as the preferred blockchain & crypto jurisdiction, ideally suited for your Malta ICO.