The social, political and economic changes worldwide have raised new questions as well as expectations about governance and social responsibilities. Recent years have witnessed an escalating importance of Corporate Social Responsibility ('CSR'), especially as concerns about climate change are becoming mainstream. An increasing number of companies of all sizes and sectors are recognising the importance of their role in society and the real benefits of adopting a proactive approach to CSR. Commission President José Manuel Barroso encourages this approach and while speaking at CSR Europe's General Assembly in Brussels on 11 June 2009 he called for a "new culture of ethics and responsibility". Barroso stressed the importance of re-building trust in business. "People still want markets - but they want markets with a conscience", Barroso said. He further stressed the fact that in the current global exceptional circumstances, CSR is more crucial than ever.

CSR has been defined by the World Business Council for Sustainable Development as "the continuing commitment by business to behave ethically and contribute to economic development while improving the quality of life of the workforce and their families as well as of the local community and society at large." Essentially, CSR is the deliberate inclusion of public interest into corporate decision-making, and the honoring of a triple bottom line: people, planet, profit. For an individual company, this means the integration of social - including human rights, environmental and economic concerns into that company's values and culture. Increasingly, CSR is evolving beyond philanthropy to an essential business function directly related to companies maintaining their social license to operate. Companies' CSR may take various forms and may be carried out through various institutes. Indeed, the Maltese foundation set up as a voluntary organisation provides an ideal vehicle for CSR.

In the past few years the legislator in Malta has responded to an increasing social conscience in both companies and individuals and has been active in creating a framework for voluntary organisations. The law provides that an organisation established for a lawful purpose, as non-profit making and which is voluntary is to be considered as a voluntary organisation in Malta. Any voluntary organisation may apply to become enrolled with the Commissioner for Voluntary Organisations and, once enrolled it may enjoy numerous privileges/exemptions and may even be entitled to contributions from governments or other organisations. Insofar as tax benefits are concerned, a voluntary organisation may apply in writing with the Tax Authorities in Malta requesting exemption from Malta tax.

Once a foundation is established, a new legal person is created and will be considered an independent legal person for all intents and purposes of Maltese Law. Therefore, there would be a clear division between the business setting up the foundation and the foundation itself with the latter having a distinct patrimony. The founder of a foundation may be an individual person or a company. There is no issue of relinquishment of control when a foundation is set up so much so that the founder may choose to exercise supervision over the administration of the foundation and may even be an administrator himself. Administrators may either be natural persons or juridical persons and need not be Maltese nationals or companies registered in Malta.

Setting up a foundation in Malta is not an expensive task nor is its administration costly. The procedure is very straight forward and the foundation may be set up in little time. Keeping this in mind one may say that contributing to and supporting CSR does not have to be costly or time consuming and increasing amounts of small businesses are seeing significant benefits from their involvement, namely: improved reputation, increased business leads, improved staff morale, improved relationships with the local community and clients, skill development, innovation in processes, products and services, and managing better the risks the company faces.

A number of businesses have already recognised that the Maltese foundation is an ideal vehicle for CSR and have chosen the Maltese Foundation as the institute through which to promote the public interest. The voluntary sector in Malta, which the foundation falls under is fully equipped to be used as a platform for CSR, wherever its aims are to be achieved.

The Government in Malta has given considerable importance to the development of the voluntary sector. The national action plan aims to aid and encourage the sector to continue increasing its effectiveness and efficiency, and ultimately to deliver. The enactment of the Voluntary Organisations Act in the year 2007 solely dedicated to non-governmental organisations further demonstrates this rationale whilst creating the certainty required for the functioning of foundations and other non-governmental organisations. All this coupled with the expertise of practitioners in the area and the extensive privileges granted by law to foundations set up as voluntary organisations in Malta makes the foundation a very attractive vehicle for CSR.

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