Abigail Galea is a Senior Associate within the private client team at Ganado Advocates. Abigail’s focus is primarily within the area of trusts and foundations, advising both domestic and international clients with the setting up of structures to organise their wealth or business. Besides advising on the substantive law, Abigail also assists trustee clients, both international and domestic, with regulatory matters from application stage with the MFSA, to ongoing regulatory and compliance matters, as well as AML/CFT matters. Abigail also advises on estate planning matters including cross border successions as well as transfers of immovable property.
Before joining Ganado Advocates, Abigail ran her own practice as a Notary Public. She also worked as a Trust Lawyer within the trust department of one of Malta’s largest financial institutions.
Ganado Advocates
We only have limited information for this firm.
Lawyers
Adrian Gabarretta is a Consultant at Ganado Advocates. He has advised on a wide-range of international and local projects and transactions and regularly assists with cross-border corporate and commercial law matters. His clients range widely from private entrepreneurs and start-ups to well-established international corporate groups and listed entities, as well as HNWIs, with many referrals emanating from leading law firms throughout the world, but notably London, Frankfurt and New York. He has mustered considerable practical and transactional experience in structuring and executing deals over the past 30 years and has also been involved in asset restructuring and financial reprogramming. He regularly assists with both vendor and purchaser legal due diligence processes pertinent to the sale and purchase of going concerns and corporate entities (including Government-owned entities).
Adrian has in the recent past been involved in the privatisation of a significant number of public entities, including major industrial operations, manufacturing sector enterprises and general Government services in various forms, such as asset sales, share allotments, management concessions or long term property grants. In earlier years, he was very active in shipping and ship finance before moving on several years ago to help develop the firm’s now burgeoning corporate practice. He served for 6 consecutive years on the Council of the Institute of Financial Services Practitioners (the body acting as the industry’s primary interlocutor with the Malta Government and the Malta Financial Services Authority in this sector).
Adrian Camilleri is a Senior Associate within Ganado Advocates’ corporate and litigation teams. Prior to joining Ganado Advocates, Adrian ran his own legal practice for thirteen years. He specialised in litigation, including criminal law cases, and had an extra-judicial practice with a focus on matters relating to sports law, company and commercial law and aspects of civil law including family law. He has been appointed by the courts on numerous occasions as a legal referee and arbiter in civil and commercial matters and has also been appointed as a court expert in criminal inquiries.
Amanda Attard is a Senior Associate within Ganado Advocates’ taxation team with particular focus on corporate tax advisory and tax planning, individual taxation and value added tax. Amanda advises clients on the setting up of tax efficient corporate structures through the use of different corporate vehicles and on the taxation arising on a number of transactions. Amanda also regularly assists clients with the formation of companies in Malta, opening of bank accounts and assists clients in other corporate matters.
André Zerafa heads Ganado Advocates’ investment services and funds team and he is also responsible for the firm’s capital markets initiatives. André regularly advises promoters on various corporate, regulatory and other legal issues involved in the setting up of asset management firms, administrators, custodians, prime brokers and securitisation vehicles. He also specialises in the structuring and establishment of alternative investment funds, UCITS funds and other retail funds. André was involved in the setting up of the first segregated patrimony umbrella fund in Malta. His team also advises one of Malta’s largest banks on their range of retail funds. André is particularly knowledgeable on the structuring of Maltese limited partnerships and contractual funds. André also acts as an external examiner and tutor at the University of Malta for dissertations relating to investment services and funds. He is also a council member of the Maltese Institute of Financial Services Practitioners.As from March 2021, Andre assumed the role of Managing Partner of Ganado Advocates.
Annalise Papa is a Partner within Ganado Advocates’ corporate team with particular focus on mergers, acquisitions, continuations and joint ventures. She assists both local and international business clients on a broad range of matters including legal due diligence processes, corporate restructuring and corporate finance projects. Annalise also regularly assists clients with their ongoing corporate and commercial work – both local and cross-border – including the formation and conversion of companies, corporate governance issues, share dematerialisations and voluntary dissolutions. She also advises local companies on their beneficial ownership reporting obligations and has most recently taken the lead of the firm’s CSP advisory practice. Annalise enjoys delivering training sessions on corporate law issues both at the firm and externally.
Anselmo Mifsud-Bonnici is an Associate within Ganado Advocates’ corporate team, assisting clients on various corporate matters including formation of companies, advice on corporate governance, financing and M&A.
Anselmo also specialises in real estate and construction matters, and has assisted clients on both contentious and non-contentious matters relating to the sale, purchase and letting of real estate, as well as local and international construction projects (particularly FIDIC forms of contract).
Anthony Cremona leads the trusts and foundations team at Ganado Advocates, advising Malta-based domestic and international trustee companies. Offering a full service, Anthony not only counsels on substantive trusts and foundations law, but actively engages in structuring Maltese trusts and foundations for a diversified client base. He has further assisted a vast number of international players in this sector with obtaining MFSA authorisation or with other regulatory and non-regulatory matters in the trust law field, and advises across the spectrum of applicable regulation. Anthony represents a number of local trustees in respect both of substantive trust law matters as well as in respect of regulatory matters, including in judicial proceedings before the courts of Malta. Anthony has also developed the firm’s anti-money laundering and counter terrorism financing practice, assisting licensed and non-licensed entities with applicable legislation and sector-specific guidelines. He is the Malta Chamber of Advocates representative on the joint committee of the Financial Intelligence Analysis Unit and sits on various other committees active in this area and in the area of trusts and foundations law. An external examiner and tutor for post-graduate dissertations in these fields, Anthony is also a visiting lecturer at the University of Malta on the subject of trusts and foundations law. He is the country-editor for the ‘Trusts and Trustees’ Journal, and has been invited to speak at numerous international conferences on the subject of trusts and foundations law (including the 25th, 26th and 28th Annual Transcontinental Trusts Conference in Geneva, the International Trusts Congress in London and various local and international STEP conferences). Anthony was the co-chair of the 2015-2016 STEP Malta technical committee. Anthony has written the Malta Chapter of the international book ‘World Trust Survey’ (edited by Charles Gothard and Sanjvee Shah) and of ‘Private Foundations World Survey’ (edited by Johanna Niegel and Richard Pease). He has contributed to or provided chapters to the ‘An Introduction to Maltese Financial Services Laws’ published by the Institute of Financial Services. Anthony has also contributed various articles to local and international journals on the subjects of his practice areas.
Caroline Risiott is a Senior Associate within Ganado Advocates’ banking ship finance team. She regularly assists leading international banks and financial institutions involved in the financing of Maltese registered vessels and aircraft by perfecting the registration of mortgages and security interests on such vessels and aircraft. Caroline was also involved in several legal drafting projects and also regularly assists in aviation finance related matters.
Catherine Formosa is a Senior Associate within Ganado Advocates’ banking and finance team, assisting banks and financial institutions in financing transactions and other banking operations. Catherine also advises in relation to corporate governance issues, regulatory matters, retail banking and corporate and commercial matters. Catherine joined the firm after 16 years working within the banking industry. As Bank of Valletta Group Company Secretary, she was Secretary to the BOV Board and the MSV Life Board and to the respective Board Committees. She was also a member on a number of management committees. Whilst at legal office, Catherine advised the bank on different legal matters, both in relation to its corporate as well as its retail business. She represented the bank on external committees in relation to financial services legislative initiatives and regularly trained staff on civil and commercial law issues and on banking law developments. Catherine is also a visiting lecturer and an examiner at the Faculty of Laws, University of Malta.
Chiara Frendo is a Senior Associate within Ganado Advocates’ litigation team with particular focus on dispute settlement in the financial services sector, wherein she assists clients in contentious matters relating both to regulatory disputes as well as investor related disputes. She previously formed part of the trusts and foundations team, with particular focus on the setting up of trusts and matters related to trust law.
Christina Scicluna is a Senior Associate within Ganado Advocates’ corporate and fintech teams. She advises a variety of multinational clients on international corporate structures, including the setting up of Maltese entities and redomiciliations of entities, M&A transactions and assisting clients on corporate governance matters.
Christina has also been involved in the fintech industry since 2017 and advises a number of clients on legal matters relating to blockchain, virtual financial assets and distributed ledger technology projects.
Christine Cassar Naudi is a Partner within the corporate finance and tax team at Ganado Advocates, and heads the firm’s tax practice for yachts. She joined Ganado Advocates after working for a number of years with one of the Big Four firms in Malta in the international tax department. Christine provides tax advice to mostly international clients (both corporate and individual) on tax optimisation through Malta, including income tax, stamp duty and VAT implications for clients with Malta-based companies and structures. She is a speaker at a number of seminars and conferences.
Clement Mifsud-Bonnici is a Senior Associate at Ganado Advocates. He assists clients in commercial and contentious matters with a special focus on issues involving competition, state aid, public procurement and regulatory law. He advises clients in the energy and resources, infrastructure, waste, health, transport, human resources management and food and beverage sectors.
Clement regularly assists bidders with the drafting of tender documentation and joint bidding agreements and with any subsequent challenges by aggrieved bidders before the Public Contracts Review Board and the Court of Appeal. He also advises clients on concessions, private-public partnerships, and EU State aid implications on public procurement processes.
Clement also represents clients before the Office for Competition in anti-trust investigations, advocacy requests and merger control matters.
Clement holds a LL.M. in Competition Law from King’s College London focusing on EU public procurement law, EU State aid law and EU competition law. He has also written on international scholarly publications, including the Journal of European Competition Law & Practice, the European Procurement & Public Private Partnership Law Review and the European Competition and Regulatory Law Review.
Clement is the Malta Contributor for the Oxford Competition Law Case Reports series since 2019 and the Malta Country Correspondent for the European Procurement & Public Private Partnership Law Review since 2020.
Conrad Portanier’s legal practice focuses on banking and financial law, as well as general commercial and corporate law. Conrad heads the banking and finance team at Ganado Advocates and has a wealth of experience in advising domestic and international financial institutions. He has considerable practical experience in structuring deals and advising on various aspects of commercial and financial law. He is also responsible for issuing the firm’s industry legal opinions to a number of organisations including the International Swaps and Derivatives Association, Inc. (ISDA), the International Capital Markets Association (ICMA) and the Central Bank of Malta. He has written a number of articles on financial services legislation in Malta and has participated in many Maltese legislative initiatives in connection with financial services legislation. Conrad is also a visiting lecturer at the Faculty of Laws, University of Malta.
Daniel Aquilina is the Partner heading Ganado Advocates’ banking ship finance and aviation teams, assisting leading international banks and financial institutions involved in the financing of Maltese registered vessels and aircraft by perfecting the registration of mortgages and security interests. Daniel has considerable experience in the drafting of Maltese law regulated security and has been involved in complex multi-vessel and aircraft transactions, including advice relating to alternative ship finance mechanisms and structures under Maltese law. He has been involved in major Maltese ship finance deals for several years, advising major multinational and providers/arrangers of finance with loan restructuring and mortgage enforcement matters. He also advises on ship sale and purchase, shipbuilding contracts, ship registration and all other aspects of ship purchase, chartering and operation.
Daniel formed part of the team engaged to develop and draft Malta’s Aircraft Registration Act and was instrumental in Malta’s decision to accede to the Cape Town Convention and the Aircraft Protocol. He continues to contribute to the legislative development of Maltese aviation laws and has recently assisted and advised Transport Malta with recommended amendments and general fine-tuning of the existing legislation.
Daniel was the Secretary of the Malta Maritime Law Association and Council Member of the Maritime Legislative Advisory Council for many years and now continues to give his contribution as a member of the Association. He also served on the board of governors of the International Propeller Club, Port of Valletta. Between 2016 and 2019, Daniel served as Chairman of Malta Marittima Agency – the Government Agency entrusted to promote enhanced cooperation between the maritime industry and Government stakeholders and to further develop maritime services in Malta as well as to act as the EU focal point for the Integrated Maritime Policy.
David Borg-Carbott is Counsel within the firm’s investment services and funds team with particular focus on advising investment firms, asset managers, investment funds, and their service providers. Over the years, David has amassed significant expertise and experience in the area, advising and assisting investment services clients with novel or complex legal structures, transactions, and legal or local and EU regulatory issues, including redomiciliations, mergers, and aspects of custody and settlement.
David also regularly advises on and assists with the broader range of legal, regulatory and compliance matters in the financial services industry, including obtaining regulatory authorisation, the establishment and authorisation of investment services businesses and funds, and the regulatory aspects of corporate acquisitions within the financial services sector.
David has been ranked as a Rising Star by Legal 500 (2022) for investment funds in Malta.
George Bugeja is a Senior Associate in the corporate finance team and regularly assists clients with various corporate law matters, including mergers and acquisitions and corporate restructuring, and general commercial law. George also retains a special focus on energy law related matters and aviation law related matters. He has assisted clients in these industries both from a regulatory perspective as well as from a transactional and financing perspective. George completed his Doctor of Philosophy in Law (Ph.D.) degree from King’s College London in 2018, having written a thesis entitled “The Basel Accords as a Transnational Regulatory Law: A Focus on Regulatory Consistency and Domestic Embeddedness“.
James Farrugia spearheads the Ganado Advocates’ investment services and funds licensing and regulatory consultancy activities. Leveraging his extensive experience working with the local competent authority, James is able to offer clients regulatory sound insight and practical solutions throughout the licensing application process on an ongoing basis. More recently, he has been involved in assisting a number of blockchain-based projects. James regularly contributes to international journals associated with investment funds and has addressed a number of local and international conferences focusing on this sector. James also regularly lectures on investment services and investment funds at training programs organised by the Institute of Legal Studies, the Institute of Financial Services, the Malta International Training Centre and the Malta Financial Services Authority.
James Debono is an Associate within Ganado Advocates’ banking and finance team, assisting institutional as well as start up clients on various regulatory matters, particularly in the fintech space, particularly payment and e-money institutions, credit institutions, blockchain and crowdfunding platforms. Besides being involved in financing transactions, James advises clients on corporate matters including formation of companies, corporate governance, and general company law.
Prior to joining the banking and finance team, James formed part of the corporate finance team and the investment services and funds team, focusing on corporate restructurings, and the setting up of investment services providers and funds from the Malta Financial Services Authority.
James is also a visiting lecturer and examiner at the University of Malta.
Jan Rossi is a Senior Associate within Ganado Advocates’ shipping team. Jan specialises in maritime law, with a particular focus on advisory and transactional matters.Jan acts for shipowners, ship managers and other maritime operators on Malta flag issues and related subjects, including ship and superyacht registrations, tonnage tax, port operations, corporate structures and maritime and commercial law issues generally. He regularly assists clients on ship and superyacht sale & purchases, sale & leaseback deals, ship management arrangements, vessel financings and corporate matters arising during clients operations.Jan has also been involved in a number of shipping litigation files and has also advised on areas regulated by public international maritime law.
Jotham Scerri-Diacono is a Partner within Ganado Advocates’ shipping team, with particular focus on ship registration, shipping litigation and maritime law generally. Jotham also regularly advises and assists clients on corporate law and dispute resolution. Jotham sits on a number of Committees and Boards involved in maritime and environmental law. He lectures and is an examiner at the University of Malta on topics dealing with shipping and advocacy. He regularly writes and contributes articles on maritime law in various local and international journals. Jotham has acted for major banks, owners and buyers in arrest and sale of vessels in Malta. He regularly assists clients with the registration of yachts under the Malta Flag. In 2020, Jotham chaired the subcommittee of the Malta Maritime Law Association (MMLA) dealing with amendments to Maltese maritime law and concluded the ambitious task of drafting proposed amendments to the COCP and the MSA, which proposals are currently being discussed by a working group purposely set up to finalise this endeavour. During the same year, a task force led by Jotham proposed to the transport authorities revamped “policy and procedures on the application of the tonnage tax scheme regarding time/voyage charters”, which policy and procedures have now been taken on board by the said authorities.
Julienne Bencini is a Senior Associate within Ganado Advocates’ banking and finance team. She advises financial institutions on their compliance obligations and the management and avoidance of legal risk. She previously formed part of the litigation team and is devoted to representing credit and financial institutions in civil proceedings and in other forms of dispute resolution procedures, including mediation and arbitration. Her experience has been supplemented with practical in-house experience with particular focus on lender liability, letter of credit, breach of contract, fraudulent claims and other claims regularly brought by or against financial or credit institutions.
Karl Grech Orr is a Partner in the shipping department at Ganado Advocates, and has assisted in a multitude of shipping transactions and regularly advises on all aspects of shipping and corporate matters. Karl acts for ship owners and financial institutions with particular focus on Malta flag issues and related, ship and yacht registrations, ship mortgage and related security registration, maritime and corporate law issues generally. Karl has been heavily involved in the drafting of the Merchant Shipping (Shipping Organisation – Private Companies) Regulations and has lectured on shipping and corporate areas. Karl is also a member of the Malta Maritime Law Association.
Lara Pace is a Senior Associate within Ganado Advocates’ employment team, regularly assisting clients on legal and regulatory matters relating to drafting of employment contracts and other legal documentation as well as on issues relating to termination of employment, dismissals, redundancies, discrimination, industrial disputes and litigation connected to such matters. Lara also advises clients on general corporate and company law matters as well as environmental law issues.
Leonard Bonello is a Partner within Ganado Advocates’ banking and finance team, assisting credit institutions, electronic money institutions and payment institutions in regulatory and other matters including ongoing capital markets issues. Leonard also heads the fintech group at the firm and is involved in assisting a number of blockchain-based projects. Leonard assists financial institutions extensively in financing transactions and other banking operations with a particular focus on derivative contracts. Leonard is also a visiting lecturer and examiner at the University of Malta.
Lorraine Poole is a Senior Associate within Ganado Advocates’ banking and finance team, assisting clients with a range of transactions including secured financing, prime brokerage, repos, securities lending and derivatives. Lorraine provides bespoke advice on a range of specialised issues including inter alia close-out netting and collateral arrangements, and is involved in the issuance of the firm’s industry legal opinions to a number of organisations including the International Swaps and Derivatives Association, Inc. (ISDA). She also regularly assists with corporate and other matters. In addition, Lorraine is a visiting lecturer and examiner at the Faculty of Laws, University of Malta.
Hall of fame
Louis Cassar Pullicino is a Consultant at Ganado Advocates. He is an experienced litigator specialising in commercial litigation, who is particularly active in admiralty and shipping, banking, corporate, insolvency, insurance, telecommunications, pensions and contractual disputes with an international dimension. For over 30 years, Louis has been advising numerous banking institutions and has been involved in the market’s most complex marine and commercial litigation cases.
In June 2015, Louis was appointed Managing Partner at Ganado Advocates with a vision to continue driving the success achieved by the firm over the years. As his role of Managing Partner came to an end in March 2021, Louis continues to focus exclusively on litigation and international arbitration in the years ahead.
Marina Grech is a Partner within Ganado Advocates’ investment services and funds department. Over the years, she has assisted a number of clients obtain authorisation from the local regulator, the MFSA. Her expertise spans from company service providers, to investment services licence holders, such as AIFMs, UCITS management companies and brokers, as well as UCITS schemes, AIFs, venture capital funds, real estate funds and private equity funds.
In her day-to-day practice, Marina assists authorised entities navigate through legal and regulatory obligations to ensure ongoing compliance therewith, in the pursuit of their operations. In this context, Marina has taken a keen interest in GRC considerations and actively advises clients on the structuring of internal governance arrangements, as well as their compliance and risk frameworks, with a view to bolster internal operations, controls and reporting lines.
Additionally, Marina regularly advises clients on corporate matters. This includes the setting up in or continuation to Malta of legal entities, the restructuring of authorised entities, as well as ongoing operational and governance considerations.
Mario Zerafa is a Senior Associate within Ganado Advocates’ investment services and funds team. Mario has a wide range of experience in setting up, structuring and licensing of PIFs, UCITS, AIFs and NAIFs as well as investment services licence holders such as AIFMs, UCITS management companies, and MIFID firms. On an ongoing basis, he advises clients on their ongoing obligations in terms of the applicable legal and regulatory framework. As part of the ongoing support to clients, Mario also assists with various corporate matters including the re-domiciliation of companies into or out of Malta, drafting of shareholders agreements and corporate governance matters.
Mario also specialises in anti-financial crime-related matters within the financial services sector, concentrating particularly on anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing, anti-bribery and corruption, and whistleblowing laws. On an ongoing basis, he advises clients on governance issues as well as on the establishment of an anti-financial crime framework in line with Maltese laws and regulations. Mario regularly represents clients before the Maltese authorities responsible for countering money laundering and funding of terrorism in Malta.
Mario acts as examiner and lecturer at the University of Malta. He also lectures at a number of academic institutions on investment services and anti-financial crime related subjects.
Mark Caruana Scicluna is a Senior Associate within Ganado Advocates’ investment services and funds team. He focuses on the structuring, licensing and ongoing servicing of collective investment schemes (including AIFs, NAIFs, UCITS funds and PIFs), asset management firms and other investment service providers. Mark also regularly assists in fintech and blockchain projects and general corporate and commercial matters.Mark previously worked in the corporate and insurance teams at Ganado Advocates. He has also delivered lectures at the University of Malta, the Malta Financial Services Authority, the Institute of Legal Studies, the Institute of Financial Services and other institutions.
Matthew Xerri is a Partner within Ganado Advocates’ shipping and aviation team, with particular focus on ship and aviation finance, including the implementation of alternative financing methods. Matthew regularly assists financial institutions and leading banks in the perfection of security over yachts, commercial vessels and aircraft. Matthew also assists in the registration of international interests in the international registry as well as acts on behalf of various aircraft lessors in aircraft leasing transactions and structures, including the drafting of lease agreements. Matthew, together with the litigation team, also provides guidance on enforcement issues, including the arrest and/or re-possession of aircraft and vessels.
Matthew also assisted the Malta Civil Aviation Directorate with the drafting of legislation in order to amend the Malta Aircraft Registration Act.
Matthew Attard is a Partner within Ganado Advocates’ shipping team, with particular focus on shipping registration and sales/acquisitions of vessels, and the formation and support of shipping organisations and companies, regularly assisting clients in corporate matters and M&A transactions. Matthew also regularly assists major financial institutions and owners in the financing of vessels and related matters.
Matthew Bianchi is the Partner heading the firm’s insurance and pensions legal and regulatory team. As a leading specialist in insurance, he regularly advises insurance and reinsurance companies, insurance managers, captive insurers, protected cell companies (PCCs) and insurance intermediaries established in Malta or offering their services there. He is also active in the field of insurance securitisation and assisted with the establishment of the first ILS structures. Matthew sits as the Secretary General of the Malta Association of Insurance Brokers and the Malta Insurance Managers Association and represents the Maltese insurance industry as a Governor on the Board of FinanceMalta. As head of the pensions team, Matthew was instrumental in the development of a market for pensions in Malta and now supports and advises most of the pension trustees. He was also a founder of the Association of Pension Administrators.
Matthew Brincat is a Partner at Ganado Advocates, whose practice mainly revolves around employment and pensions, areas of law he believes connect both the human and the corporate aspects of legislation. Matthew is a co-founder and the General Secretary of the Malta Association of Retirement Scheme Practitioners (MARSP), which brings together all the licensed pension administrators in Malta. He has also been heavily involved in the formation of Ganado Advocates’ employment and pensions law department and has gained valuable experience of Industrial Tribunal and OAFS proceedings. Matthew is a member of the Lex Mundi European employment practices group and delivers lectures at the Malta Employers Association on employment legislation. Matthew is also the co-author of the Malta volume of the Kluwer Encyclopaedia on labour law and the author of a number of articles in local and foreign magazines and journals in relation to both employment and pensions legislation.
Max has been practicing law for close to 40 years. He started his career as a maritime lawyer dealing with all aspects of shipping, including ship finance. He became a Partner of the firm in 1986 and moved on to develop the Financial Services practices at Ganado Advocates. He has been heavily involved in the drafting of new legislation required for the development of Malta as a financial centre, including the revision of the law relating to trusts and the law on legal persons and foundations, as well as on netting, securitisation, DLT and aviation.Max has been delivering lectures on varied subjects for a number of years, having been actively involved in disseminating education to the Maltese legal professions and Maltese law students. He has published various articles and has acted as editor of a number of publications.Max was the firm’s Managing Partner for 6 years. In 2015, he moved into a Senior Partner position within the firm, taking over a mix of duties, some professional and others relating to strategy.Max retired in December 2020 and is now acting as a Consultant to the firm.
Nadia Cassar is a Senior Associate within Ganado Advocates’ insurance team. Nadia regularly advises from both a legal and regulatory perspective and takes a leading role in projects relating to acquisitions, mergers, restructurings, financing and portfolio transfers.
Nicholas Curmi heads Ganado Advocates’ capital markets practice, where he advises on a broad range of securities regulation, structured finance and financial services matters, including private and public offerings of securities, listing on Maltese as well as foreign markets, and the establishment of securitisation structures.
He regularly assists listed issuers with their continuing obligations in terms of Malta’s listing rules and all relevant EU securities regulation. Nicholas is also a member of the Malta Stock Exchange’s External Advisory Board, a visiting lecturer at the University of Malta and is admitted to practise law in both Malta and New York.
Nicholas Micallef is a Senior Associate within Ganado Advocates’ investment services and funds team. His main areas of practice include the licensing of Collective Investments Schemes (UCITS, PIFs, AIFs and NAIFs) and investment services providers, as well as compliance, governance, regulatory advice, restructuring and winding-up of such entities.
Prior to joining the firm, Nicholas assisted with the first transformation of an investment company with variable share capital (SICAV) to an incorporated cell under a Recognised Incorporate Cell Company (RICC) in Malta, as well as with the registration and recognition of the first Limited Partnership with Variable Capital (L.P.V.C.) in Malta.
Nikolai Muscat Farrugia is a Partner within Ganado Advocates’ corporate team, with particular focus on the formation and support of companies. He regularly assists clients in all corporate matters, including corporate and company law advice, assistance with capitalisations, the conduct of enhanced legal due diligence, corporate finance, corporate restructuring and M&A transactions. Nikolai acts for a number of the firm’s companies with international interests. In addition, he also regularly assists medicines and pharmaceuticals related matters.
Paul Micallef Grimaud is a Partner at Ganado Advocates and heads the firm’s intellectual property, TMT and data protection practice group. Paul’s focus is dedicated to counselling and assisting clients in the media, technology and entertainment space on the legal aspects of their operations and to representing them in court and arbitration. The team that Paul leads is regularly involved in the drafting and negotiation of IP assignment, licensing and management contracts, advising on content and end-user related matters, registering and enforcing IP rights, and assisting with data protection and regulatory compliance. Paul is a warranted advocate and regularly represents his clients in arbitration and litigation proceedings relating to intellectual property infringements, anti-counterfeit measures, trade mark and design oppositions, telecoms regulatory matters, media, slander and freedom of information disputes, data protection breaches and unfair competition cases.
Paul Falzon is a Senior Regulatory Advisor within Ganado Advocates’ investment services and funds team, focusing on the setting up, procurement of licences and ongoing servicing of investment service licence holders and collective investment schemes. Paul also regularly assists the firm’s clients with other regulatory matters.
Paul also forms part of Ganado Advocates’ banking and finance team, assisting banks and financial institutions extensively in regulatory matters. In particular, he advises clients on the licensing regime in Malta applicable to credit institutions and financial institutions, including ongoing compliance with the various legislation applicable to payment services, electronic money and general banking activities. Paul also regularly assists in general corporate matters and also forms part of the firm’s blockchain team, mainly assisting service providers to obtain a licence from the Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA) to operate as a VFA Service Provider.
Paul is an integral part of the firm’s ESG practice, and regularly advises clients on sustainability related aspects in the area of financial services. He also regularly delivers training to clients in connection with ESG and sustainable finance matters in the EU.
Philip Formosa is a Senior Associate within Ganado Advocates’ intellectual property, TMT and data protection practice group. Philip regularly assists clients in all IP-related matters and across the various types of intellectual property rights, both transactional and contentious in nature. This includes assisting clients with applying for and obtaining registered IP protection, brand protection and enforcement of IP rights and also defending them against IP-based claims and with the drafting of agreements for, or otherwise involving, the exploitation of IP rights, such as IP assignment agreements, software licences, end-user licences and franchise agreements.
Philip also regularly assists clients with data protection compliance, particularly with understanding and meeting their respective data protection obligations and duties. He has assisted and guided a number of clients, from a diverse range of industries and market sectors (including insurance, banking, gaming and real estate) with adapting and adhering to data protection legislation and has conducted a number of data protection audits. He also provides regular support to data protection officers (DPOs).
Philip gives regular advice in the areas of privacy, telecommunications and media law as well as in relation to e-commerce, digital signatures, web-hosting, affiliate and white labelling arrangements.
Philip Mifsud is a Senior Associate within Ganado Advocates’ corporate department, regularly assisting clients in all corporate matters including advice on corporate governance matters, assistance with corporate financing, M&A transactions, voluntary dissolutions and various other corporate transactional projects.
Philip also works in the IP and TMT practice area and has regularly given legal advice on matters related to this area including registration of trade marks, advice on copyright law, review of franchising agreements, drafting and review of software licences as well as providing assistance to clients in the areas of telecommunications law and media law.
He has also worked in the firm’s office in Luxembourg where he advised clients on setting up, establishing and licensing of investment funds, management companies and alternative investment fund managers as well as provided ongoing assistance to clients once the structures had been set up.
Robert Taylor-East is a Senior Associate within the firm’s corporate finance and tax team. Before joining Ganado Advocates, Robert was a partner in a law firm providing (primarily) tax and corporate advice and services. Robert also spent several years in the tax and corporate services department of a big four firm in Malta where he gained technical and practical experience and exposure to a broad range of clients, structures and arrangements. Robert lectures on the Malta fiscal aspects of trusts and foundations as a visiting lecturer at the Malta Institute of Taxation, Diploma Course in Taxation.
Rosette Aquilina is Counsel at Ganado Advocates, forming part of the corporate finance and tax team, with a particular focus on assisting clients with company formations, continuations, corporate financing transactions, restructurings, mergers and acquisitions and formation of European Companies (societas europaea). Rosette also regularly assists clients with any ongoing corporate matters relating to their structures.
Simon Schembri is a Partner within Ganado Advocates’ corporate team. Simon has vast experience in formation and support of companies and is conversant in all corporate matters ranging from company advice to legal due diligence processes, restructuring and M&A transactions. He has served as general counsel to a number of leading local organisations providing advice on matters of a commercial nature and has on numerous occasions assisted clients in tendering bids of major projects in Malta. Simon is also involved in assisting a number of blockchain-based projects.
Stephanie Sciberras is a Senior Associate within Ganado Advocates’ corporate governance team, with particular focus on the formation and support of companies. Stephanie regularly assists clients in all corporate matters, including corporate and company law advice and guidance on corporate governance. She also regularly assists in matters relating to investment services law.
Stephanie Zarb Adami is a Senior Associate within Ganado Advocates’ corporate finance and tax team with a particular focus on various corporate matters such as the formation of companies, the formation and transfer of registered office of European Companies (societas europaea) and the re-domiciliation of companies into and out of Malta, as well as the provision of advice in relation to all corporate matters related to the clients’ structure. She also regularly advises on and assists with corporate financing structuring and transactions including mergers, takeovers and restructurings, related security arrangements, as well as various corporate projects, corporate governance and other corporate and company law matters. She also regularly assists in matters relating to both vendor and purchaser related legal due diligence. Stephanie has previously advised and assisted the firm’s clients in the formation of shipping organisations and the registration of vessels, as well as with legal matters in relation to insurance and reinsurance companies, insurance intermediaries and captives.
Stephanie Farrugia is a Senior Associate within Ganado Advocates’ investment services and funds team, assisting in the set-up of investment services providers, UCITS funds and professional investor funds. Stephanie completed her two-year traineeship at the firm within the investment services and funds, corporate and banking and finance departments assisting in the formation of companies, the setting up and licensing of investment services providers, in company law related matters, corporate projects, financing transactions and related security arrangements.
Stephen Attard heads the firm’s corporate finance and tax department, and has advised and assisted international clients in respect of Maltese corporate law and tax aspects in a wide range of transactions for more than 25 years. His clients include various internationally-listed corporate groups, financial institutions, private equity and hedge fund promoters and managers, investment funds, privately-held corporate entities, and high-net-worth individuals. Stephen has contributed directly in drafting various amendments to Malta’s tax laws over the years, including tax rules applicable to companies, yacht and aircraft finance leases, securitisation vehicles, trusts and foundations. Stephen is a frequent speaker at domestic and international conferences, and is also a lecturer and examiner on trust law at the University of Malta.