[ S.L. 463.39 ACCESS TO FINANCE SUBSIDIARY LEGISLATION 463.39 ACCESS TO FINANCE REGULATIONS 1st December 2020 LEGAL NOTICE 71 of
- The title of these regulations is the Access to Finance Regulations. Citation.
- requires: In these regulations, unless the context otherwise Interpretation. "Act" means the Malta Enterprise Act; Cap.
- "Corporation" means Malta Enterprise established under the Act; "eligible investment project" means an initial investment project in a qualifying economic activity as defined in the Guidelines; "guidelines" means such guidelines as may be published by the Corporation from time to time in terms of the Act; "relocation" means a transfer of the same or similar activity or part thereof from an establishment in one contracting party to the EEA Agreement (initial establishment) to the establishment in which the aided investment takes place in another contracting party to the EEA Agreement (aided establishment). There is a transfer if the product or service in the initial and in the aided establishments, serves at least partly the same purposes and meets the demands or needs of the same type of customers, and jobs are lost in the same or similar activity in one of the initial establishments of the beneficiary in the EEA; "small and medium sized enterprise (SME)" or "(SMEs)" shall have the same meaning as assigned to it by Annex 1 of Commission Regulation (EU) No 651/2014 of 17 June 2014; "start of works" means the earlier of either the start of construction works relating to the investment, or the first legally binding commitment to order equipment or any other commitment that makes the investment irreversible. Buying land and preparatory works such as obtaining permits and conducting feasibility studies are not considered "start of works". For take-overs, "start of works" means the moment of acquiring the assets directly linked to the acquired establishment; "the same or a similar activity" means an activity falling 1 2 [ S.L. 463.39 ACCESS TO FINANCE under the same class (four-digit numerical code) of the NACE Rev. 2 statistical classification of economic activities as laid down in Regulation (EC) No 1893/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 December 2006 establishing the statistical classification of economic activities NACE Revision 2 and amending Council Regulation (EEC) No 3037/90 as well as certain EC Regulations on specific statistical domains; "undertaking" shall have the same meaning as assigned to it in the Act. Qualifying enterprises. 3.
(1)Where the Corporation is satisfied that an SME is carrying out an eligible investment project in Malta in accordance with the terms and conditions set out in the Guidelines, the Corporation may support the eligible undertaking with a guarantee to be used against a bank loan.
(2)Applications must be submitted prior to the commencement of the investment project giving the Corporation reasonable time to evaluate prior to the intended start of works.
(3)The beneficiary shall provide a financial contribution of at least twenty-five per cent (25%) of the eligible costs either through its own resources or by external financing in a form which is free of any public support.
(4)The undertaking must not have carried out a relocation to the establishment in which he initial investment for which aid is requested is to take place in the two
(2)years preceding the application for aid and it must commit that it will not carry out a relocation up to a period of two
(2)years after completion of the supported initial investment.
(5)The investment made shall be retained in Malta for a minimum period of at three
(3)years after completion of works. This shall not prevent the replacement of plant or equipment that has become outdated or broken within this period, provided that the economic activity is retained in the area concerned for the relevant minimum period. Term of the guarantee. 4.
(1)Eligible undertakings may be supported through a guarantee to be used against a bank loan required for: (
- a)the setting up of a new establishment; or (
- b)the extension of the capacity of an existing establishment.
(2)The support may be used to finance construction works, furbishing and finishing of buildings and industrial structures, and acquisition of plant, machinery and equipment as prescribed in the ACCESS TO FINANCE [ S.L. 463.39 3 guidelines.
(3)The value of the guarantee shall not exceed ten million euro (€10,000,000). Maximum value of loan guarantee. 5. Support shall be limited to a value of aid that does not exceed twenty per cent (20%) of eligible costs if the applicant is a medium-sized enterprise or thirty per cent (30%) of eligible costs if the applicant is a small enterprise. Aid intensity. 6.
(1)Applications for assistance under these regulations shall reach the Corporation before 31st October 2021. Deadline for submission of applications for assistance.
(2)No assistance under these regulations shall be awarded by the Corporation after 31st December 2021.