Moneybase which forms part of the Calamatta Cuschieri Group, in collaboration with the Chamber of Commerce, organized a unique seminar on Capital Markets on Tuesday, 18 April 2023.
13 leading representatives of the capital markets industry together with Mr. Joseph Portelli Chairman of the Malta Stock Exchange and Dr. Marthese Portelli, CEO of the Malta Chamber of commerce, gave their views on Capital Markets in Malta.
Interest from local businesses in borrowing money by issuing bonds or raising finance through Equity on the Malta Stock Exchange has continued to grow in recent years. The aim of the event to help familiarise companies considering a listing themselves with the ins and outs of the listing process. Leading stakeholders participated in the event and shared their experience of raising capital through a listing on the exchange. The attendance at the seminar, which was fully booked, attest to the growing interest in listing locally.
Alan Cuschieri CEO of Moneybase and Co-CEO at Calamatta Cuschieri who opened the seminar entitled, ‘The Capital Markets Boom’ commented, “Capital Markets has grown considerably in Malta, and today we all realise the importance for companies to be able to access finance easily to allow them to flourish and achieve their full potential.
Moneybase is committed to helping business thrive, we are working towards this by leveraging our technology but also by bringing the community together through our network to create new experiences and communication channels. We have been working closely with the business community, listening to their needs and pain points and this is a first step towards our contribution towards local business.
We are delighted to have managed to get the best of what Malta has to offer together to share their knowledge, take part in some interesting discussions. I would like to thank all the panellists for their participation and all the businesses who attended this event.
We also plan to organise other initiatives in the future covering other areas of interest to business which will be announced soon.’
Being part of the CC Finance Group, we are able add value to local business in several ways and this is continue to add value to local businesses in other areas too. Calamatta Cuschieri also provides Wealth Management services to businesses and intends to organise seminars on wealth management specifically for the benefit of local companies.
In his opening address for a panel discussion Patrick Mangion Head of the Capital Markets Division at Calamatta Cuschieri said “Borrowing money from the bank and borrowing money through a bond issue are no longer seen as alternatives to each other but as complementary to each other. The number of local corporate entities which have a listing on a local exchange stands at an all-time high of 106. This is a testament to the fact that the business community has become much more attuned to the benefits of listing. As we assist an ever-increasing number of local businesses in obtaining financing through a local listing, we share the main reasons which have spiked the interest in capital markets transactions locally.”
Marthese Portelli, CEO of the Malta Chamber of Commerce in her closing remarks said “
In today’s fast-moving world businesses are facing new realities and new exigencies, including on the financing front. We are firm supporters of agility and adaptability. The alliance between The Malta Chamber and Moneybase is offering businesses an alternative to traditional financial instruments in line with digital evolution and ecosystem transformation.”
Moneybase which forms part Calamatta Cuschieri Finance Group is one of Malta’s largest financial services provider which pioneered the local financial services industry as early as 1971. Today the company offers a wide range of services including Investment Advice, Moneybase a digital platform that offers online investing and payments, saving plans, retirement planning and wealth management services amongst others.
Participants included Alexander Fenech from Brown’s Pharma Holdings p.l.c., Charles Borg representing PG Group, George Vella, Partner at Grant Thornton, Kevin Rapinett, CEO Halmann Vella Group, Jean C. Farrugia, Partner at DF Advocates, Luca Vella, partner at GVZH, Malcom Falzon, partner at Camilleri Preziosi, Nicholas Curmi, Partner – Ganado Advocates, Patrick Mangion, Head of Capital Markets at Calamatta Cuschieri and Jordan Portelli, Chief Investment Officer at Calamatta Cuschieri, Raphel Aloisio, partner at Deloitte.
The seminar entitled the capital markets boom was held at the Chamber of Commerce premises in Valletta and was followed by a networking event.
During his keynote, Nick Calamatta highlighted “The Investment and savings market in Malta is circa €15Bn, and this is expected to continue to grow as a function of more affluence and a growing population that has grown from circa 400k to 600k in the last ten years, as a result of this bank deposits of households today exceed €24Bn.” Similarly, there has been an large increase in corporate bond issues which since 2013 more than doubled in number, from 50 to 120 whilst the value of Maltese corporate bonds have gone from €1Bn to €2.5Bn. “
The Malta Stock Exchange started operations in 1992, initially with Government bonds and soon followed by BOV and Mid-Med Bank IPOs. Today the exchange has just over €15Bn of securities trading and this has increased almost two-fold from €8.5Bn 10 years ago
Going public or listing you shares is an important tool for succession, increasing governance and growing a company profile. The fact that shareholders selling or financing through an equity issue have no tax incident is another advantage that business owners consider as more industries consolidate and M&A activity increases.
