On the 6th of November 2012, the legal notice laying down the Designated Financial Instruments Regulations for the purposes of the Financial Markets Act came into force. The Regulations establish the categories or classes of financial instruments whether listed or unlisted, deemed to be ‘designated financial instruments’, the register of which is maintained in a central securities depository or in an overseas central securities depository which depository system allows investors to hold and transfer listed securities without the need for physical certificates or special transfer forms.
The Regulations stipulate that such ‘designated financial instruments’ comprise of the following:
– shares in companies and other securities equivalent to shares in companies, partnerships or other entities, and depository receipts in respect of shares;
– bonds or other forms of securitised debt, including depository receipts in respect of such securities and including government stocks;
– treasury bills;
– certificates of deposits; and
– units in collective investment schemes.
The Legal Notice may be downloaded by clicking of the following link:
http://justiceservices.gov.mt/DownloadDocument.aspx?app=lp&itemid=24020&l=1