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2 NEWS 30.9.2021 THE National Foreign Direct Invest- ment Screening Office (NFDIS) was inaugurated by the Minister for the Economy and Industry Silvio Schem- bri, Chairperson of the NFDIS Mario Galea, and Director General for Trade of the European Commission Dr Dami- en Levie. It will serve as a tool to ensure good governance by protecting Malta's investment interests. e office will en- sure good governance and that the in- vestment attracted to our country from outside of the European Union is secure. Schembri stated that the office screens investment of strategic importance in sectors such as energy, transport, health, artificial intelligence, infrastruc- ture, and cybersecurity. He described how through this office, information can be exchanged, facilitating a transfer of knowledge and build-up of intelli- gence. "e Malta office will be busy screen- ing and evaluating project proposals from investments being registered here and providing its observations, while at the same time giving its input on invest- ments realised in EU countries", he said. "You are welcome in Malta. We will help you get established and succeed. We will carry out checks, but we won't tie you up in bureaucracy." He said that in cases where the activi- ties of an investor do not require screen- ing or further evaluation, the office can give the green light within days. is has been the case in almost 98% of all appli- cations. Statistical information outlined that in the past year NFDIS has evaluated more than a thousand documents of invest- ments being made in Malta. Of these, 15 local investment propos- als were circulated for EU and mem- ber state reviews through the screening mechanism. On all projects, the recom- mendations of the Malta office were up- held. Fewer than 10 local investment pro- posals were either aborted or failed. ey did not meet the required due diligence or fell by the wayside for other reasons. e office also reviewed more than 300 investment proposals occurring in other EU jurisdictions, such as France, Italy, Austria and Germany. Mario Galea, Chairperson of NFDIS Malta, pointed out that nowadays the competitiveness of a country is meas- ured by its level of good governance, transparency and on how easy it is to conduct business in the country. He said by referring to the efficiency of the process, noting that the legislation and the screening mechanism provide clear deadlines for responses. National Foreign Direct Investment Screening Office inaugurated Economy minister Silvio Schembri (centre) and NFDIS chairperson Mario Galea (left) unveiling a commemorative plaque on the opening of the new office A Memorandum of Understanding has been signed between the Central Bank of Malta (Bank) and the Malta Stock Exchange (MSE) in respect of Securities Settlement Systems (SSSs). e MoU agreement was signed by the Governor of the Bank, Edward Sci- cluna, and the Chairman of the MSE, Joseph Portelli. "It is always a pleasure to engage with Malta's stock exchange. As Governor I will do whatever is within my capacity to see our exchange continue to develop and flourish for the good of the econo- my", Scicluna said. On his part, Portelli said "with this agreement besides continuing to strengthen the relations that the Stock Exchange has with the Central Bank, it further strengthens the liquidity of the securities settlement system that is so necessary for the sustainability of the capital markets." e MoU is based on the fundamental principle that Eurosystem counterpar- ties make use of SSSs and links between SSSs operated by central securities de- positaries in order to mobilise adequate collateral for Eurosystem credit opera- tions. e MSE offers clearing, settlement and custody services through its depos- itary established under Article 24 of the Financial Markets Act (Cap. 345 of the Laws of Malta). Furthermore, the MSE establishes and maintains a system des- ignated as 'MaltaClear' – which is the Maltese euro area SSS operator. SSSs and links between SSSs may only be used for mobilising marketable as- sets within the Eurosystem if they are deemed eligible by the Eurosystem. e eligibility regime of SSSs and links be- tween SSSs is established in Annex VIa of Guideline (EU) 2015/510 as imple- mented in Annex 6A of CBM Directive No. 8 on Monetary Policy Instruments and Procedures. Central Bank signs MoU with the Malta Stock Exchange

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