|
Malta Stock Exchange revises
Council Notice No 1
The Council of the Malta Stock Exchange has reviewed and revised
Council Notice No 1 which deals with fees and other charges.
The revised Notice comes into effect on 1 January 2001.
One major change involves the brokerage/commission charged and
paid to stockbrokers. These will no longer be fixed by the Exchange
but will become subject to negotiation between the investors
and stockbrokers. However, for the benefit of the investing
public, the Exchange has reproduced the schedule of the existing
commission/brokerage structure (see table).
The revised Council Notice also addresses the method of calculating
Stockbroking Firm fees, the Listing Fees and charges relating
to the
services provided by the Central Securities Depository in connection
with the maintenance of the registers of holders.
The following are the main changes to the Notice.
1. Membership of the Exchange
No change.
2. Accredited Representatives
(i) Admission Fee
The Accredited Representative admission fee is raised to Lm250
(from Lm200) and is payable on application. The additional Lm50
is meant to cover at least eight hours of compulsory training
provided by the Exchange. Should the Accredited representative
require more training, a further charge of Lml0 – per hour
is levied. Furthermore, should an AR
fail the test and is not accepted, the admission fee is non-refundable.
The AR may however re-sit the test at no extra charge other
than for additional training required, if any.
(ii) Annual Fee
At present there exists the anomaly that some Accredited Representatives
are charged an Annual Fee of Lm300; some Lml50 and others Lm25.
The Council decided that these should be streamlined and set
an Annual Fee of Lml00 applicable to all.
3. Stockbroking Firm Fees
The fixed brokerage/commission will no longer be fixed by the
Exchange. As from l January 2001 these are subject to agreement
between the parties concerned.
Since brokerage/commissions may now be negotiated it will not
be possible for the Exchange to calculate the Stockbroking Firms’
Gross Income. Hence fees payable by stockbroking firms paid
annually in arrears cannot be calculated in relation to the
Gross Income.
Instead, the stockbroking firm fees will now be calculated at
0.03 per cent of turnover and invoiced monthly. Stockbroking
firms are to note that no distinction will be made with regards
to business originating from FI. This means that stockbroking
firms have to bear this in mind when deciding how to share commission
with Financial Intermediaries.
4. Financial Intermediaries
A: No change.
B: A recent amendment to Bye-Law 3.25 allows FI’s to negotiate
the commission they share with the brokers. As explained above,
the FI will no longer be charged a fee on the gross income because
the brokers are henceforth going to be charged at 0.03 per cent
per cent of the total turnover. Hence it is up to the stockbroker
and FI to take this in consideration when agreeing on how the
commission is to be shared
5. Listing Fees
No change – Initial fee (where applicable) is refundable.
However, should a listing not be granted, the Council reserves
the right to charge an administrative fee to cover processing
costs.
6. Central Securities Depository
(i) Primary Issues
Processing fees regarding Primary Issues are no longer subject
to negotiation. Instead, should the Exchange be requested to
process primary issues, a specific charge of 50 cents per holder
is being introduced in addition to the initial take-on fees.
(ii) Initial Fees
Up to 1,000 – Fees reduced by 25 cents per holder
Above 1,000 – No change
(iii) Annual Fees
No change but the ancillary services have been incorporated
in the Annual Fee (see also (vi) below)
(iv) Maintenance of Registers
Bought/Sold Movements: Charge reduced to Lm1 in either case
(see also 9 below).
(v) Remote Access (to Register of Holdings)
No change, however this will
be reviewed when remote trading is introduced.
(vi) Ancillary Reports
The ancillary services (with the exception of those reports
requiring despatch and therefore, including postage) have been
incorporated in the Annual Fee (see also (iii) above).
(vii) Charges to Third Parties
Donations charge increased to Lm3 per movement.
7. Brokerage
Deleted because stockbrokers/ investors are now free to negotiate
on the commission to charge/be charged. It should be noted however,
that the commission agreed between the client and the broker
must be included on the Client Instruction Form and signed by
the client before the order is executed.
8. Sponsorship Fees
Deleted because the fee payable by the listed companies is subject
to agreement between the issuer and the sponsor and therefore
outside the scope of this Notice.
9. Transaction Charge
The transaction charge has been raised to Lm2 (see also 6 (iv)
above).
| 
