STEP Conference 2025, Malta

The STEP Malta Conference 2025, held on 28–29 April 2025 at Hilton Malta, brought together private client practitioners from Malta and other jurisdictions under the theme The Demands on a Modern Fiduciary: Navigating Generational Shifts and Wealth Preservation.

Organised by STEP Malta, the two-day conference examined legal, regulatory and practical challenges affecting trustees, fiduciaries, family offices and advisers to internationally active families.

The programme addressed several important developments in private wealth advisory, including:

• International estate and succession planning: The use of trusts, foundations and private trust companies in preserving and transferring wealth across generations.
• Family governance: Changing attitudes towards wealth, family responsibilities and succession among younger generations.
• Cross-border taxation: International tax developments, UK tax reforms and the implications of relocating high-net-worth individuals.
• Trustee regulation and compliance: The evolving European anti-money laundering framework, risk assessments and fiduciary responsibilities.
• Modern asset classes: Digital assets, artificial intelligence and environmental, social and governance considerations affecting wealth administration.

The conference also examined the complexities of international family relationships, matrimonial property regimes and the challenges of coordinating succession arrangements across different legal systems.

For international families and their advisers, these discussions reinforced the importance of integrating estate planning, tax, fiduciary governance and long-term family objectives.

‍Dr Jean-Philippe Chetcuti is a Senior Partner and co-founder of Chetcuti Cauchi Advocates, specialising in international private client tax, citizenship, residency and cross-border wealth planning.

A Trust and Estate Practitioner (TEP), he previously served as Chairman of STEP Malta, contributing to the development of the branch and its professional activities.

His advisory work focuses on internationally mobile high-net-worth families, entrepreneurs and investors, particularly where immigration, tax residence, wealth structuring and succession planning intersect.

Dr Maria Chetcuti Cauchi is a Senior Partner and co-founder of Chetcuti Cauchi Advocates, specialising in property law, philanthropy, art and cultural property.

A member of STEP, she advises private clients and investors on high-value real estate transactions, property ownership structures and the long-term stewardship of family assets.

Her work includes the legal structuring of property ownership through trusts, corporate vehicles and other arrangements designed to address succession, governance and wealth preservation objectives.

Dr Priscilla Mifsud Parker is a Senior Partner specialising in private wealth, family office advisory, trusts, estate planning and cross-border structuring.

A Trust and Estate Practitioner (TEP), she has served as Chairperson of STEP Malta and held other responsibilities within the branch, including its technical committee.

She advises high-net-worth families, family businesses and international advisers on wealth preservation, trusts, corporate structures, fiduciary governance and succession planning, combining Maltese legal expertise with an international private client perspective.

Magdalena Velkovska is Director of Private Client Tax at Chetcuti Cauchi Advocates, specialising in personal tax, international relocation and cross-border tax planning.

Her practice focuses on internationally mobile individuals, entrepreneurs, executives and high-net-worth families requiring coordinated legal and tax advice.

Her experience includes Maltese tax residence, special tax regimes, international personal taxation and the interaction between immigration decisions, asset ownership and wider private wealth planning.

The Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP) is an international professional association for practitioners advising families on inheritance, succession, trusts, estate planning and the protection and transfer of wealth between generations.

Its membership includes lawyers, accountants, trustees, fiduciaries and other specialists involved in advising individuals and families on wealth preservation and succession.

The STEP Malta branch, established in 2007, supports professional education, technical discussion and collaboration on matters affecting the trust, estate planning and fiduciary sectors.

Through its conferences and continuing professional development activities, STEP Malta provides a forum for exchanging professional expertise and examining legal and regulatory developments affecting private clients.

Chetcuti Cauchi Advocates maintains a longstanding professional relationship with STEP Malta through the membership, leadership and technical contributions of its lawyers.

Senior Partners Dr Jean-Philippe Chetcuti and Dr Priscilla Mifsud Parker have both served as Chairpersons of STEP Malta, while other members of the firm's legal team have contributed to branch activities, professional education and technical discussions.

The firm's involvement with STEP reflects its wider commitment to professional standards in international private client advisory, particularly in areas involving trusts, estate planning, family businesses, succession and fiduciary governance.

Through its Families and Wealth Practice Group, the firm combines private client legal and tax expertise with advice on family office structures, trusts, foundations and cross-border wealth planning.

‍

Chetcuti Cauchi's Malta Families and Wealth Lawyers advise internationally active individuals, families and family businesses on the legal, tax and governance considerations involved in preserving, managing and transferring wealth.

Our multidisciplinary practice provides coordinated advice on:

• International estate and succession planning.
• Maltese trusts, foundations and fiduciary structures.
• Family office establishment and governance.
• Cross-border private client taxation.
• Family business succession and ownership structures.
• International relocation and associated legal and tax planning.

Our approach combines Maltese legal and tax expertise with an understanding of the wider international circumstances affecting private clients and their families.

[question]When and where was the STEP Malta Conference 2025 held?[/question]

[answer]The STEP Malta Conference 2025 took place on 28–29 April 2025 at Hilton Malta in St Julian's. The conference brought together trust and estate practitioners, fiduciaries and private client advisers.[/answer]

[question]What was the main theme of the STEP Malta Conference 2025?[/question]

[answer]The conference examined the demands placed on modern fiduciaries, focusing on generational shifts, wealth preservation, international estate planning, trusts, succession and evolving regulatory responsibilities.[/answer]

[question]Which Chetcuti Cauchi professionals attended the conference?[/question]

[answer]Chetcuti Cauchi was represented by Dr Jean-Philippe Chetcuti, Dr Maria Chetcuti Cauchi, Dr Priscilla Mifsud Parker and Magdalena Velkovska, whose respective practices cover private client tax, property, trusts, wealth structuring and international succession matters.[/answer]

[question]What is Chetcuti Cauchi's relationship with STEP Malta?[/question]

[answer]Chetcuti Cauchi maintains a longstanding relationship with STEP Malta through professional membership, leadership and technical participation. Senior Partners Dr Jean-Philippe Chetcuti and Dr Priscilla Mifsud Parker have both served as chairpersons of the Malta branch.[/answer]