Mirabella Group Launches New Tied-Agent Service in Malta

Providing easier access into Europe for non-EEA based firms with this latest evolution of its hosting services

Mirabella, the regulatory hosting arm of ACA Compliance Group, today announced that it has enhanced its hosting services in Malta by adding a Tied Agent solution to its existing alternative investment fund manager (AIFM) service. This new solution helps non-European Economic Area (EEA) firms to interact with their EEA clients using MiFID passporting. 

Mirabella has created a new subsidiary, Mirabella Malta Advisers Limited (MMAL), which will act as Principal to locally based Tied Agents, which will be owned by non-EEA firms. This Tied Agent service saves non-EEA based firms money, time and effort, and importantly draws on Mirabella’s existing and significant UK-based expertise in this area. MMAL’s local permissions include: provision of investment advice; the receipt and transmission of orders; and placing on a non-firm commitment basis.  

While there are protocols to observe, this new offering will allow non-EEA firms to operate through their affiliated Tied Agents and thus use MiFID passports to access EEA markets. Malta’s pragmatic and experienced regulatory framework offers distinct advantages in this area. The Mirabella Group’s significant local presence enables the Tied Agents to operate without significant local substance. 

In addition, non-EEA firms and in particular those from English-speaking countries, will enjoy the close linguistic and cultural ties with Malta and particularly its approach to financial regulation, law, and customer service.

Joe Vittoria, Mirabella’s CEO, comments: “Mirabella has been operating a successful, best practice Tied Agent offering in the UK for well over a decade now, and a successful AIFM hosting service in Malta for over five years. It simply makes sense to harmonise these offerings and mirror the Maltese and UK activities. Our considerable experience in the area, as well as our market leading knowledge of both EU and Maltese regulation, makes us well-placed to hit the ground running, and we are pleased that we already have a number of clients benefiting from this service.

“If there’s anything the last decade has taught us it’s that the world of financial regulation is a fast-changing one, both in terms of rules and borders. Our new offering in Malta - a manager friendly EEA state -- in addition to providing a needed service more generally, also offers a bit of futureproofing – we want to ensure that quality non-EEA firms that meet the proper requirements always have a convenient and reliable way to access European markets, as per the spirit of MiFID.”

In addition to the technical service itself, MMAL can also offer advice and assistance to firms at each stage of the process.

MMAL is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Mirabella Group. Its operations are functionally equivalent to Mirabella Group’s existing UK-based service, which has acted as Principal to over 180 TAs in the UK since 2004.

About Mirabella

Since 2004, Mirabella Regulatory Hosting has provided services to more than 200 firms, and has had over 170 UK based Tied Agents.  It currently has over 80 clients, 44 of which are investment managers, and 38 others offering advisory services, and currently manages approximately $17B in assets.

About ACA Compliance Group

ACA Compliance Group (“ACA”) is a leading global provider of governance, risk, and compliance advisory services and technology solutions. We partner with our clients to help them mitigate the regulatory, operational, and reputational risks associated with their business functions. Our clients include leading investment advisers, private fund managers, commodity trading advisors, investment companies, broker-dealers, and domestic and international banks. ACA is based in New York City and has offices in London, Hong Kong and other U.S. cities.

For further information

To learn more about how Mirabella’s appointed representative/tied agent services or regulatory hosting platform can help your firm, contact us here.