MSE Chairman defends integrity of Malta’s capital markets

Malta Stock Exchange (MSE) Chairman Joseph Portelli has defended the integrity of Malta’s capital markets in an early-morning LinkedIn post.

The Chairman admitted that the system isn’t “perfect” and “regulatory breaches occur”, however he stated that “there have been far too many unfounded accusations referring to supposed market manipulation, and breaching of market abuse rules.”

In his post, he called on authorities to investigate whether “having a history of making unfounded, hysterical and misleading claims constitutes a violation of basic ethical standards and fit and proper guidelines for investment professionals.”

Mr Portelli has been under fire for what some industry insiders believe are lax transparency guidelines at the MSE. However, there has also been criticism about a perceived light touch from the regulator – the Malta Financial Services Authority – in enforcing market transparency regulations in relation to HSBC’s expected exit from the country and the announcement, broken by WhosWho.mt, that APS Bank plans to acquire its Maltese operation.

The news prompted huge volatility in both banks’ share price, with HSBC Bank Malta losing over €100 million in its market value overnight, although it later partly recovered.

Nonetheless, neither bank has been entirely forthcoming with more information, leading to concerns that the situation may be detrimental to shareholders.

Apart from the allegations regarding the APS Bank/HSBC Malta deal, Mr Portelli was ostensibly referring to claims of insider trading in Malta International Airport stock.

“The integrity of our capital markets is constantly under attack by so called pundits and demagogues.”

Mr Portelli pointed out that despite the strong criticism, those “who for either political reasons or self-interest constantly traffic in innuendo and false and exaggerated claims” were “conspicuously absent” from an event on capital markets organised by the MSE and the Malta Business Network on Monday.