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The Malta Stock Exchange (Maltese: Bor?a ta' Malta), is the stock exchange of the island nation of Malta. Since being set up in 1992, almost €4 billion worth of capital has been raised on the market for the private sector through the issue of corporate bonds and equity while a further €15 billion worth of Government of Malta Paper in the form of stocks and Treasury Bills have been issued and fully taken up. The investor base is over 75,000 individual investors, which is a significant number given Malta’s economic size (GDP €6,756 million in 2012) and population (417,617 in 2012). The focus of the Malta Stock Exchange is mostly domestic. It has also invested in technology.

The exchange was established with the enactment of the Malta Stock Exchange Act in 1990, and commenced its trading operations on 8 January 1992. The Central Bank of Malta was appointed as the supervisor of the Exchange. In 1999, the Exchange moved into the former Garrison Chapel building in Castille Square, Valletta. It had been built in 1857 and was used as a multi-denominational place of worship until 1950. The former church was then used for entertainment purposes, as a post office and as a naval school, before it was taken over by the Exchange. The building is located close to the Office of the Prime Minister at Auberge de Castilleand the Upper Barrakka Gardens. In 2013, the Exchange achieved Designated Offshore Securities Market status by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission complementing the HM Revenue and Customs recognition that had been obtained from the UK authorities in 2005.

Financial crisis

Malta’s economy in 2009 shrunk by 3.4 per cent, not two per cent as was originally reported by the National Statistics Office, according to Labor MEP Edward Scicluna. Prof. Scicluna said revised NSO figures showed that Malta was worse hit by the 2008 global financial crisis than initially believed, although the contraction was still healthier than the 4.1 per cent EU average. “All the hype about Malta having avoided the impact of the (economic) crisis is just that, hype. The Prime Minister should stop singing from an outdated script,” he said. Reacting to credit rating agency Moody’s decision to downgrade Malta’s bond rating last week, Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi said on Friday that the best way Malta’s economy could react was to keep doing “what we have been doing”. However, he added that other countries’ financial and political insecurity were taking their toll.

Prof. Scicluna said the original two per cent figure was revised by the NSO once it received updated data. It is standard practice for such GDP figures to be revised and adjusted. He said a EU Commission forecast noted a strong rebound in 2010, with GDP growth of 3.7 per cent driven by a significant rise in the export of goods. Growth this year (2011) was predicted to slow considerably, to two per cent, with much of the growth attributable to a “significant expansion in public investment” which was likely to slow down considerably in 2012.

The forecast, he said, spoke of “very low consumer confidence” and predicted this would have a knock-on effect on private consumption. It also sounded a word of caution with regard to Malta’s external deficit. Unfavorable terms-of-trade developments, it stated were likely to worsen Malta’s external balance. The general government deficit would continue to narrow, from 3.6 per cent of GDP in 2010 to three per cent in 2011, the forecast predicts. However, it notes that approximately two-thirds of this decline will be due to the expiry of temporary measures adopted in the 2010 budget. Air Malta’s upcoming restructuring, it suggests, may entail further government expenditure and push both deficit and debt projections upwards.

Malta achieved its independence on 21 September 1964 (Independence Day) after intense negotiations with the United Kingdom, led by Maltese Prime Minister George Bor? Olivier. Under its 1964 constitution, Malta initially retained Queen Elizabeth II as Queen of Malta and thus Head of State, with a Governor-General exercising executive authority on her behalf. In 1971, the Malta Labor Party led by Dom Mintoff won the General Elections, resulting in Malta declaring itself a republic on 13 December 1974 (Republic Day) within the Commonwealth, with the President as head of state. A defense agreement signed soon after independence (and re-negotiated in 1972) expired on 31 March 1979.

Malta adopted a policy of neutrality in 1980. In 1989, Malta was the venue of a summit between US President George H.W. Bush and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, their first face-to-face encounter, which signaled the end of the Cold War. On 16 July 1990, Malta, through its foreign minister, Guido de Marco, applied to join the European Union. After tough negotiations, a referendum was held on 8 March 2003, which resulted in a favorable vote. General Elections held on 12 April 2003, gave a clear mandate to the Prime Minister, Eddie Fenech Adami, to sign the Treaty of accession to the European Union on 16 April 2003 in Athens, Greece. Malta joined the European Union on 1 May 2004. Following the European Council of 21–22 June 2007, Malta joined the Eur-ozone on 1 January 2008.

Famous People

The lira or pound (MTL) was the currency of Malta from 1825 until 31 December 2007. The lira was abbreviated as Lm, although the traditional ? sign was often used locally. In English, the Maltese currency was referred to as the pound originally and for many locals this usage continued. The euro replaced the Maltese lira as the official currency of Malta on 1 January 2008 at the irrevocable fixed exchange rate of 0.429300 MTL per 1 euro.

In 1825, an imperial order-in-council introduced British currency to Malta, replacing a situation where various coinages circulated, including that issued in Malta by the Knights of St John. The pound was valued at 12scudi of the local currency. Between 1914 and 1918, wartime emergency paper money issues were made by the government. Until 1972, it was subdivided into 20 shillings, each of 12 pence with 4 farthings to the penny; from May 1972 it was divided into 100 cents, and the 1 cent into 10 mils. Pre-decimal British sterling coinage continued to circulate in Malta for nearly a year after it was withdrawn in the UK due to decimalization on 15 February 1971. Then in 1972, a new, decimal Maltese currency, the lira, was introduced, in both coin and banknote form. The lira was initially equal to the pound sterling; however, this parity did not survive long after the floating of sterling on 22 June 1972.

Decimal coinage was introduced in 1972 (one year after the United Kingdom) in denominations of 2, 3, and 5 mils, 1, 2, 5, 10, and 50 cents. The division of the lira into 100 cents (rather than the 240 pence of the old system) meant that the cent was a relatively large unit - the United Kingdom introduced the decimal 1?2 penny for this reason. Malta went further in introducing the mil, equal to 1?10 cent. It will be noted that there was no one-mil coin. However, the coins that were provided (2, 3, and 5 mils) allowed goods to be priced (and change given) for any number of mils. In 1975, a 25-cent coin was introduced. A new coinage was issued in 1986 in denominations of 1, 2, 5, 10, 25 and 50 cents and 1 lira. A third series was introduced in 1991 due to the change in Malta's coat of arms. The mils were withdrawn in 1994, although for some time only the 5 mils had been seen (and then only rarely).

On January 15, 1973, banknotes were introduced, denominated in liri on the obverse and pounds on the reverse, in denominations of 1, 5 and 10 liri. In 1986, 1 lira notes were replaced by coins and 2 lira and 20 lira notes were introduced. Four series had been issuing, designated the second to the fifth series by the Central Bank, with the first series in the pound. Emergency issues between 1914 and 1918 were in denominations of 5 and 10 shillings, 1, 5 and 10 pounds. In 1940, notes dated 13 September 1939 in denominations of 2 1?2, 5 and 10 shillings and 1 pound were issued, followed late in the year by a provisional 1-shilling note overprinted on an old 2 shilling dated 20 November 1918. Note production continued after the Second World War in denominations of 10 shillings and 1 pound, with 5 pounds notes reintroduced between 1961–1963. After the Central Bank of Malta was established by the Central Bank Act of 1967 and began operating on April 17, 1968, the issuing body named on the banknotes switched from "Government of Malta" to "Central Bank of Malta." While the designs of the notes remained unchanged, the colors were changed. The Central Bank refers to this series as the "CBM first series". The CBM second series began with the introduction of lira-denominated notes on January 15, 1973.