Malta Stock Exchange receives regulatory approval to launch the Institutional Financial Securities Market

The Malta Stock Exchange has received regulatory approval to launch the new Institutional Financial Securities Market, which will be first fully Maltese Institutional Securities market.

This new market will be open to issuers seeking to issue securities that fall under the Wholesale Securities Market rules, and the purchase of which will be eligible only to institutional investors.

There will be a minimum denomination requirement of €100,000 which is in line with the market’s wholesale characteristic. The securities admissible to listing on the IFSM will include asset-backed debt, convertible debt securities, derivatives and insurance linked notes.

The IFSM will be regulated by the MFSA, and issuers will apply to the Listing Authority for listing approval. This market is recognised as an EU regulated Market and therefore benefits from both HMRC recognition and enjoys withholding tax exemptions.

The approval of the IFSM will place the Malta Stock Exchange, and indeed, the Maltese financial services sector, on an equal footing with other players when it comes to competing for international business and is yet another initiative forming part of the National Capital Markets Strategic Plan that was launched earlier this year.

The Chairman of the Malta Stock Exchange, Joseph Portelli, said that ‘he believes that this market not only complements the other markets operated by the Exchange but also creates new opportunities for the institutional players, issuers and stakeholders who all have an interest in seeing this exciting market develop and grow both locally and internationally. We look forward to the official launch of the IFSM in October. ‘

The Malta Stock Exchange will soon embark on an international promotion campaign highlighting this new market and Malta’s very sophisticated and pragmatic securitisation laws. Indeed, under the recently completed EU Presidency, Malta negotiated and closed an important directive pertaining to securitised instruments which now could list on the Institutional Financial Securities Market. The MSE will also for the first time sponsor a conference outside of Malta, the prestigious annual ABS Conference in Barcelona in June 2018. This will be the first international venue whereby this exciting new market will be promoted.