Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1486069
1.12.2022 6 MARKETS Symbol Volume Value Trades High Low Open Closing Change Code Traded Traded Trades Price Price Price Price EQUITIES BOV 36,383 31,602.65 7 0.870 0.860 0.870 0.860 -0.010 HLI 18,500 4,070.00 2 0.220 0.220 0.220 0.220 -0.002 HSB 617 450.41 1 0.730 0.730 0.730 0.730 0.000 GOVERNMENT BONDS G30A 700,000 805,490.00 1 115.070 115.070 115.070 115.070 0.000 G32GA 100,000 106,129.00 4 106.130 106.120 106.120 106.130 -0.370 G51A 4,000 2,716.80 1 67.920 67.920 67.920 67.920 -13.080 CORPORATE BONDS 1923A 8,000 8,040.00 1 100.500 100.500 100.500 100.500 -0.500 BV30B 50,000 44,000.00 2 88.000 88.000 88.000 88.000 0.000 DN33A 10,000 10,000.00 2 100.000 100.000 100.000 100.000 -1.000 IH25A 1,400 1,407.00 2 100.500 100.500 100.500 100.500 0.480 IH26A 10,000 9,750.00 3 97.500 97.500 97.500 97.500 0.000 JD32A 4,000 4,000.00 1 100.000 100.000 100.000 100.000 0.000 MI23A 10,000 10,000.00 1 100.000 100.000 100.000 100.000 1.000 Malta Stock Exchange Regulated Main Market Trading Date: 30 Nov 2022 EU urges rapid completion of bloc's crypto rules THE "questionable practices" at now collapsed crypto exchange FTX would not have been allowed to happen under European Union rules that need to be finalised ur- gently, a senior European Com- mission official said on Wednes- day. e crash in bitcoin led to a "cryp- to winter", which saw the collapse of crypto exchange FTX, and earli- er this week cryptocurrency lender BlockFi filed for bankruptcy pro- tection. e European Union has reached agreement on groundbreaking markets in cryptoassets rules (MiCA) for licensing and supervi- sion, expected to come into effect in 2024 and putting the bloc at the forefront of regulating a sector which has shrunk dramatically. But Alexandra Jour-Schroed- er, deputy director general at the Commission's financial services unit, said it was a matter of urgency to complete approval of MiCA with a final vote in the European Parlia- ment. ere were questionable practices at FTX where there was no prop- er record keeping or separation of customer and company accounts, she said, adding that about 10% of the company's customers were in the bloc. "All these failures are very seri- ous. We don't see them as failures of blockchain or crypto assets per se," Jour-Schroeder told a European Parliament hearing. "Under the MiCA regime, no companies providing cryptoassets in the EU would have been allowed to be organised, perhaps it's better to say disorganised, in the way FTX reportedly was." European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde told the parlia- ment earlier this week that MiCA is one step in the right direction, but there will "have to be a MiCA 2" with a broader scope. Jour-Schroeder cautioned against reopening negotiations on MiCA, saying the priority is to quickly approve the original rules which provide important protections to investors and the financial system. "It has to be implemented. at does of course not mean the com- mission will stop thinking after MiCA 1," she said, adding the EU executive would look at decentral- ised finance, and crypto lending. "Let's not do the second step be- fore the first," she said. "is MiCA will make a step change forward compared with the status quo." FTX had a licence to operate in the EU from the Cyprus securities regulator for traditional securities but not cryptoassets, which was suspended when the company's problems began to unfold. Steffen Kern, head of risk analysis at the EU's European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), said there is evidence of market abuse, poor governance and lack of con- trols in crypto markets, but there is no significant risk of spillovers into the wider financial sector from FTX specifically. "ere are problems in this in- dustry. e regulatory framework, once it comes into force, will be ex- tremely important in tackling these issues," Kern said. Asked if ESMA could in the meantime use its powers to ban crypto products, Kern said detailed data is needed to justify interven- tion, but figures are limited for an offshore market, with data from companies unreliable. "Enforcing such a product inter- vention would probably be a par- ticularly difficult thing to do," Kern said. 1.80% MGS 2051 (I) The crash in bitcoin led to a "crypto winter", which saw the collapse of crypto exchange FTX