The Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA) has published a circular on share buy-backs carried out by
Maltese issuers. The circular does not enter into the substance of
share buy-backs, but does make two notable points, the first on
compliance and the second on MFSA meetings.
1. Compliance
The MFSA has, once again, acknowledged that it is
"difficult to fully comply" with the strict
criteria which the law – primarily article 5 of the EU Market
Abuse Regulation (MAR), and Commission Delegated Regulation (EU)
2016/1052 (Delegated Regulation) – imposes on issuers who
wish to carry out their buy-backs under the 'safe harbour'
regime afforded under article 5 of MAR.1
Given the acknowledged illiquidity of the Maltese market, the
primary obstacle is the daily volume restriction, which limits
purchases to no more than 25% of the average daily trading volume.
While this may be manageable for larger issuers with somewhat
higher liquidity in their shares, it poses
