Anyone registering a ship or aircraft in Malta can utilise the country’s novel cell company framework to segregate and protect these assets from claims by creditors.
Malta is the only country in Europe to provide for such set-ups, known as Mobile Assets Protected Cell Companies (MAPCC).
Taking inspiration from cell company structures used in the insurance and securitisation fields, the MAPCC structure provides additional safeguards while offering cost-efficient benefits – namely the possibility for different cells to use a single operative licence. Cells are also much easier to open and close than entire companies. The cell company retains single legal personhood, although each individual cell needs to be registered with the Registry of Companies under a distinct name.
If the company directors maintain a clear, constant and easily distinguishable separation between all the differently designated assets, MAPCC structures can issue shares and pay out dividends for any of their cells without taking into consideration the financial position of any other cell within the company or of the company’s core (non-cellular) assets.
