On 14 November 2025, Malta enacted the revised National Interest (Enabling Powers) Act, 2025 (Act No. XXXV of 2025), repealing and replacing the previous National Interest (Enabling Powers) Act framework with a substantially expanded legislative regime governing sanctions, restrictive measures and related compliance obligations.
The new legislation modernises Malta’s sanctions framework and implements key elements of recent European Union legislation, including Directive (EU) 2024/1226 on criminal offences and penalties for breaches of EU restrictive measures, provisions relating to instant credit transfers, and requirements concerning transfers of funds and crypto-assets.
A notable change introduced by the Act is the formal recognition and regulation of three categories of restrictive measures:
- European Union restrictive measures;
- United Nations Security Council sanctions; and
- Domestic restrictive measures that may be adopted by Malta where national or international interests so require.
The legislation further provides that both European Union restrictive measures and United Nations Security Council sanctions are directly applicable and binding under Maltese law, streamlining their domestic implementation and enforcement.
The Act significantly expands the powers and functions of the Sanctions Monitoring Board. While the Board already existed under the previous framework, the revised legislation establishes a more comprehensive governance structure, broadens the Board’s supervisory and enforcement responsibilities, introduces powers relating to sanctions implementation, licensing, inspections, administrative penalties, information gathering and coordination across national authorities, and creates a dedicated sanctions governance framework.
Another important development is the introduction of detailed statutory obligations for persons carrying out relevant activities and relevant financial business. These obligations include the identification, assessment and documentation of sanctions and proliferation financing risks.
The express inclusion of proliferation financing obligations represents a significant enhancement of the previous framework. The Act introduces a statutory definition of proliferation financing and requires entities falling within its scope to assess and mitigate risks associated with sanctions breaches, proliferation financing and sanctions circumvention.
The revised framework also strengthens enforcement measures. The legislation introduces a detailed catalogue of criminal offences relating to sanctions breaches, including the making available of funds or economic resources to designated persons, failures to freeze assets, prohibited trade and service activities, and the circumvention of restrictive measures. The Act additionally establishes administrative penalties for certain lower-value infringements and creates mechanisms for out-of-court settlements in specific circumstances.
For payment service providers, the Act introduces new requirements linked to instant credit transfers, including obligations to regularly verify whether payment service users are subject to European Union restrictive measures. Separate administrative penalties may apply in the event of non-compliance.
The legislation also establishes new mechanisms relating to asset freezing, appeals, temporary administration arrangements and sanctions-related decision-making.
The National Interest (Enabling Powers) Act, 2025 entered into force on 14 November 2025 and represents the most extensive reform of Malta’s sanctions framework in recent years, aligning the national regime more closely with evolving European Union sanctions enforcement requirements and the increasing regulatory focus on sanctions compliance and proliferation financing controls.