GESSEL Attorneys at Law has the pleasure to invite you to the seminar:
Malta Business 2014
September 10, 2014,
GESSEL Attorneys at Law, Sienna 39, Warsaw

Chair: Dr. JanuszFiszer, Partner, Head of Tax Practice

Malta recently emerged as an important international business center in the Mediterranean. The Malta Business Seminar, jointly organized by the GESSEL Attorneys at Law, the Embassy of Malta, Francis J. Vassallo & Associates Law Office and Alter Domus from Malta, will present various forms of investment opportunities in Malta, as one of the most stable economies of EU, focusing on corporate schemes, investment funds, trusts and private foundations and presenting related possible tax optimization options for Polish residents, both corporate and individual. The Malta Business Seminar will offer an unique opportunity to get the first-hand information from the representatives of the Government of Malta, as well as from renown and experienced Maltese and Polish legal & tax experts.
The Seminar will be held in English.

AGENDA:

9:30-10:00 / Registration/Morning coffee
10:00-10:15 / Welcome/Introduction from the Gessel Attorneys at Law:
Dr. JanuszFiszer, Partner, Head of Tax Practice
10:15-10:45 / Welcome Address and Introduction to Doing Business in Malta, His Excellency Pierre Clive Agius, Ambassador of Malta to Poland
10:45-11:30 / Corporate Structures & Related Tax Matters in Malta, Francis J. Vassallo, Founder & Partner and Dr. Kurt Risiott, Associate, Francis J. Vassallo & Associates, Malta
11:30-12:00 / Snack Break
12:00-12:45 / Investment Funds in Malta / Trusts & Foundations and Tax Treatment in Malta, Michael Ellul, Director, Alter Domus, Malta
12:45-13:15 / Doing Business in Malta, Polish Legal & Tax Perspective, Dr. JanuszFiszer, Partner, Head of Tax Practice, Gessel Attorneys at Law, Warsaw
13:15-13:35 / Discussion, ALL
13:35-13:45 / Concluding Remarks from the Chair, Farewell

SPEAKERS:

His Exellency Pierre Clive Agius, Ambassador of Malta to Poland. Ambassador Pierre Clive Agius is a career diplomat. Mr. Agius read his Masters in Diplomatic Studies (M.Dip) at the Mediterranean Academy of Diplomatic Studies in Malta during 1994 and 1995. He also obtained a Post-Graduate Diploma in Environmental Management in 1994 and graduated from the University of Malta in 1992 with honors as Bachelor in Education (B.Ed. Hons). Mr. Agius joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1993. In 1995 he served his first posting as a First Secretary at the Embassy of Malta in Paris. In 1999 he was posted to Geneva, at the Permanent Mission of Malta to the United Nations Office and other international organizations. During this term, he served also as Consul General of Malta. On his return to Malta, Mr. Agius took up duties as Diplomatic Counsellor to the President of Malta (2002-2004). In 2004 he moved to the Embassy of Malta in Vienna, where he served as Deputy Head of Mission at the Permanent Mission of Malta to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), the United Nations Organization (UNO), the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and other International Organizations. In December 2007, he was appointed Special Envoy of Malta to the Slovenian Presidency of the European Union in Ljubljana. He was appointed Ambassador of Malta to the Kingdom of Belgium in December 2008 and to the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg in March 2009. During this same period Mr. Agius, was also appointed as Ambassador of Malta to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. In March 2012 Mr. Agius was appointed Ambassador to the France and to the Principality of Monaco. Ambassador Agius presented his credentials to President of Poland, Mr. BronisławKomorowski, on 31 October 2013. Ambassador Agius was decorated by the President of the Republic of Italy by an Order of Merit (UfficialeOrdine al MeritodellaRepubblicaItaliana).
Dr. JanuszFiszer, Partner at the GESSEL Attorneys at Law . Dr. Fiszer is an attorney-at-law and certified tax advisor. He graduated from the University of Warsaw School of Law and Administration with distinction in 1980 and received his Ph.D. in Law degree there in 1986. Prior to joining the GESSEL Attorneys at Law in January 2014, during over 21 years Dr. Fiszer was associated with an international law firm White & Case, in which he was Partner from 1998 until 2012. From 2012 until the end of 2013 he was Partner at PwC (PricewaterhouseCoopers), heading the firm’s International Tax Structuring practice department in Poland. Dr. Fiszer heads GESSEL's tax law practice. He specializes in international tax law and in tax aspects of M&A transactions. Dr. Fiszer is also an Associate Professor at the University of Warsaw School of Management, teaching financial law, including in particular Polish tax law and international tax law, as well as lecturing on international tax law matters at the postgraduate Taxes and Tax Law program at the School of Law and Administration of the University of Warsaw and at the International Tax Strategies program at the Warsaw School of Economics. Dr. Fiszer is consistently listed in numerous international and Polish directories of leading law firms, lawyers and tax advisors – "Chambers Global", "Chambers Europe", "PLC Which Lawyer?", "World Tax – Ranking of Tax Advisory Firms and Tax Advisors", " Who’s Who Legal – The International Who’s Who of Business Lawyers", "Rzeczpospolita", "DziennikGazetaPrawna" and "Forbes". He is a member of the Chamber of Legal Counsellors in Warsaw, National Chamber of Tax Advisors, International Bar Association (IBA) and International Fiscal Association (IFA).
Mr. Francis J. Vassallo, President & Managing Director of Francis J. Vassallo & Associates Ltd. Mr. Francis J. Vassallo is a former Governor of the Central Bank of Malta. He occupied several senior positions during his 25 years international career with Chase Manhattan Bank, during which time he was a member of the Board of several Chase subsidiaries in Luxembourg, the Channel Islands and in Spain. Between 1987 and 1991, Francis J. Vassallo was general manager of Chase Manhattan Bank in Spain, responsible for the setting-up of private banking and capital markets. Mr. Francis J. Vassallo was then appointed general manager of Chase Private Bank in Switzerland, where he remained until September 1993. Back in Malta, and prior to founding the Francis J. Vassallo & Associates Group, Mr. Vasallo was appointed Governor to the Central Bank of Malta during the crucial time of the introduction into Malta legislation of the financial services package, which office he held until 1997. He was also appointed Special Envoy to the previous Malta administration to negotiate double taxation agreements with Latin American countries. Mr. Vasallo is a Knight of the Sovereign Military Order of St. John of Jerusalem, has been awarded the National Order of Merit by the President of Malta and the Order of Isabel La Catolica by the King of Spain.
Dr. Kurt Risiott, Associate at Francis J. Vassallo & Associates Ltd. Kurt Risiott studied at the University of Malta and graduated as Doctor of Laws in 2005 and went to complete his Master’s Degree in Financial Services in 2007. Kurt joined Francis J. Vassallo & Associates Ltd in November 2006, where he focused on the application of Malta’s tax treaty network and domestic tax legislation to international corporate structures. Dr. Risiott has taken initiatives both locally and internationally to promote Malta as a jurisdiction for doing business with particular emphasis on emerging markets and developing jurisdictions. He practices corporate law and is responsible for the on-going management of a portfolio of Maltese corporate structures. Dr. Risiott became an Associate of Francis J. Vassallo & Associates Ltd. in 2011 and is also a Director of FJV Management Ltd. He is a member of the Institute of Financial Services Practitioners (IFSP), a member of the International Bar Association (IBA), and a member of the Chamber of Advocates in Malta.
Mr. Michael Ellul, Director in the Malta office of Alter Domus.Joined the firm in April 2012. Following a stint in banking (syndicated lending) with the Maltese subsidiary of IstitutoBancario San Paolo di Torino in Malta, Michael moved to Coopers & Lybrand (now PwC) in 1994 and was involved in the international service offering (Malta-registered tax-efficient structures) of the Maltese firm up to 31st March 2000. Thereafter, Michael Ellul was active as a partner in a boutique tax/fiduciary business/corporate services environment to April 2012, when he merged his business with an international corporate services firm Alter Domus in Malta. Michael is an associate of the Chartered Institute of Bankers and a member of the Malta Institute of Taxation, the Institute of Financial Service Practitioners(ISFP) and the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners in Malta.
CONDITIONS OF PARTICIPATION:

  1. The seminar is free of charge; we welcome participants from among the invitees on a first come, first served basis.
  2. Please register by 8 September by sending an e-mail to .
  3. If the originally registered participant is unable to participate, we welcome another member of her/his organisation.
  4. The seminar’s organiser reserves the right to amend the programme and to cancel the seminar.

By registering to participate, you grant permission for processing your personal data in connection with the meeting organised by Gessel, Koziorowski Sp. k. with its registered seat in Warsaw (00-121) at Sienna 39, as provided for in the legislative Act of 29 August 1997 regarding personal data protection (2002 Dz.U. No 101, item 926 – consolidated text with subsequent amendments).