Do I need MFSA licensing just to provide company formation services?

If your activities go beyond generic business consultancy and involve acting as what Maltese law defines as a company service provider, such as forming companies on behalf of clients, providing a registered office, acting as a nominee director or shareholder, or providing company secretarial services, you are likely to fall within the scope of the Company Service Providers Act, Chapter 529 of the Laws of Malta, which requires authorisation from the Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA) before offering these services on a professional basis, subject to certain thresholds and exemptions for occasional or ancillary activity. Operating as an unauthorised company service provider when your activities meet the legal definition can expose you to regulatory penalties and potentially affect the validity of arrangements you helped establish for clients. Given how specifically the boundaries of 'company service provider' activity are defined in the regulations, it is worth getting a clear assessment of exactly which services you intend to offer before launching, since the licensing threshold can turn on details that are not always obvious from a general description of the business.