On the 18th of December 2020, Malta's National Foreign Direct Investment Screening
Office Act (the ‘NFDISO Act')
was published, which came into force on the 11th October 2020 and
implements Regulation (EU) 2019/452.
Last year,
the NFDI Screening Office (“NFDI Office”) was set up in
Malta, ahead of the publication of the NFDISO Act in compliance
with the Regulation. In accordance with the NFDISO Act, the NFDI
Office has the power and authority to assess, investigate,
authorise, condition, prohibit or unwind a foreign direct
investment (‘FDI') on grounds of
security or public order in Malta, as well as implement screening
decisions, report annually to the European Commission, and liaise
with the authorities of third countries on FDI screening-related
issues.