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3 NEWS 11.2.2021 John Mamo reconfirmed chairman of MFSA board FROM PAGE 1 "With the trouble and issues the MFSA faced last year, we felt we needed to focus on appointing new board of governors," Caruana said. "And now that the board is in place, oth- er bodies and services within the MFSA will soon be re-instituted. Amongst these will be the listings committee." A spokesperson for the MFSA, con- tacted a few days before the new board of governors was appointed, confirmed that with a new board of governors, bond applications would soon start be- ing processed. "e MFSA Board of Governors is the Listing Authority for the purpose of the Financial Markets Act (Cap 345)," they said. "e Board of Governors s in the process of being constituted in terms of the MFSA Act Cap. 330" CEO resigns In November last year, MFSA CEO Joseph Cuschieri had resigned after it was revealed that he had flown to Las Vegas with businessman Yorgen Fenech in 2018. Caruana had then accepted his resignation. Cuschieri had initially suspended him- self after it emerged that he and MFSA general counsel Edwina Licari had trav- elled to the US in May 2018, on invita- tion by businessman Fenech, the alleged mastermind in the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia. Cuschieri said he had travelled with Fenech to advise him on regulatory matters. Following an inquiry led by Chief Jus- tice Emeritus Joseph Azzopardi and Dr Mark Simiana, the MFSA's board of gov- ernors ratified Cuschieri's resignation. Bond applications withdrawn Premier Capital plc, the developmental licencee for McDonald's in six Europe- an markets, announced in August that it had submitted an application to the MFSA's listing authority requesting the admissibility to listing of €20,000,000 Premier Capital p.l.c. 3.75% unsecured bonds 2026, with a nominal value of €100. Part of the proceeds of the proposed bond issue were to be utilised to finance the acquisition by Premier Capital BV (a Premier Group company) of the remain- ing 10% minority shareholding in Pre- mier Capital SRL (Premier Capital BV is the 90% shareholder of Premier Cap- ital SRL, which latter entity is the 100% shareholder of Premier Restaurants Ro- mania SRL, the operator of the Premier Group's McDonald's restaurants in Ro- mania). Specifically, the minority shareholder of Premier Capital SRL notified Premier Capital BV that he was exercising a right competent to him in terms of the appli- cable shareholders' agreement, pursuant to which Premier Capital BV was to pur- chase all of the shares held by said mi- nority shareholder at a price calculated in accordance with the terms stipulated in the aforesaid shareholders' agreement. McDonald's Corporation had provid- ed its consent for the transfer of the mi- nority shareholder's shares in Premier Capital SRL to Premier Capital BV and, therefore, Premier Capital BV was to purchase all of said shares in Premier Capital SRL. e terms of the Bonds to be issued were to be identical to those of the €65,000,000 3.75% unsecured bonds 2026 Premier Capital plc had issued in 2016. e new bonds were to be ful- ly fungible with the 2016 Bonds. It was expected that the latest bonds and those of 2016 would trade separately up until the first interest payment date, following which the two would have converged into one single bond. But Premier Capital had to withdraw its application for authorisation for ad- missibility to listing. In a company announcement issued by the Malta Stock Exchange, the company claimed it had withdrawn its application for the latest bond issue "due to unfore- seen delays in the relative regulatory ap- proval process". e acquisition by Premier Capital BV of the remaining 10% minority share- holding in Premier Capital SRL, origi- nally planned to be financed through the proceeds of the issue of the Bonds, will be settled from Premier Group's own funds, the company said. When contacted by BusinessToday in October last year, a spokesperson for the MFSA acknowledged that the time- frames for processing applications for bond listings are not always in line with the expectations of sponsors and appli- cants, without going into the merits of individual cases. "e Authority is making every effort to enhance the process by which bond listing applications are reviewed and processed so that turnaround times are improved," the spokesperson had said. New board of governors Now, operators in the financial services sector are hoping that with the appoint- ment of a new board of governors the MFSA will get its house fully in order. On the new board, Prof. John Mamo was reconfirmed chairman while former finance minister Edward Scicluna, now governor of the Central Bank of Malta, was appointed as member ex officio. e other five members on the board are Philip von Brockdorff, head of the University of Malta's Faculty of Eco- nomics, Management and Accountancy, Mark Galea, head of the public finance unit at the National Statistics Office, Charles Zammit, formerly a member of the MFSA's Board of Management and Resources, Economist Stephanie Vella, and Carmel Cascun, a lawyer. ese appointments are valid for a pe- riod of one year with effect from 4 Feb- ruary 2021. MALTA has been awarded a pos- itive governance rating by credit rating agency Moody's. According to the agency, the country "benefits from a strong institutional environment", so much so that the environmen- tal and social risks to which the country is exposed are "balanced by a very strong governance pro- file". Government said in a statement the positive rating stems from Malta's "track record of strong economic growth." e "elevated wealth levels" of families in Malta also makes the country more resilient to eco- nomic shocks. Having a moderate national debt burden and sufficient liquidity, according to Moody's, help gov- ernment in meeting its financial needs. "Malta's economy will be able to recover without significant lasting scars and its public finances will be brought under control after the pandemic," the rating agency said. e report also expresses con- fidence that government will continue to make the necessary changes to further strengthen the country's institutions. e suc- cess of these reforms according to the report "would also be support- ive of an upgrade of the rating." e report notes how Malta has among the highest rate of head-to- head vaccinations among Europe- an Union countries, more than double the European average. "Government welcomes the pos- itive analysis of this agency's ex- perts while insisting that work will continue in the coming months to further strengthen our country's economic resilience while further improving our country's institu- tions," government said. Credit rating agency Moody's says Malta benefits from a 'strong institutional environment' Moody's gives Malta positive governance rating

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