The Malta Financial Services Authority has published a circular with some updates on the procedures to be followed when seeking approval for admissibility to listing on a regulated market, and for prospectus approvals (the "Circular").

The Circular is very helpful in that it gives an overview of the listing process which prospective issuers can expect when applying for admissibility to listing on a regulated market, such as the Official List of the Malta Stock Exchange. Apart from giving a pictorial outline of the several steps involved in the process, the Circular also gives practical points which prospective issuers (and sponsors) should keep in mind when making submissions to the MFSA.

The Circular builds on, and updates, a previous circular which the MFSA had published in 2020. In particular, by means of the Circular, the MFSA has now made it clear that:

  1. Sponsors may be requested to revise any indicative timetables previously communicated to it in respect of a particular issue, where any draft documentation requires substantial changes or supplementary information.
  2. Where a prospectus will include profit forecasts and estimates and/or pro forma financial information, such information must be adequately disclosed in compliance with the requirements of the Prospectus Regulation.
  3. Where the financial instrument being offered is deemed to be complex in nature, sponsors (working together with issuers' legal counsel) are expected to submit a complexity analysis addressed to the Head of the MFSA's Conduct Supervision Function.
  4. Where the application involves the admissibility to listing of debt securities, sponsors are expected to submit an extract from the Central Credit Register of the Central Bank of Malta in relation to the issuer, the guarantor/s and any other relevant entity.
  5. As part of the final submission to the MFSA's Board of Governors sponsors must submit a soft copy of the prospectus, duly signed by the authorised officers of the issuer together with the accompanying XML data.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.