“Blasio & Partners” is the first international law firm made up of Italian professionals in Malta accredited as official Corporate Advisor of the Malta Stock Exchange – Prospects M.T.F. (Multilateral Trade Facility).
“Blasio & Partners” is an international law firm specialized in: listing of community SMEs on the Malta Stock Exchange; legal consultancy services for the online gaming sector; restructuring, relocation and continuation of companies and groups of companies; Investment funds and UCIs under Maltese law; International Tax Planning; legal and fiscal advice in compliance and anti-money laundering matters.
The role of a Corporate Advisor
A Corporate Advisor plays a fundamental role in the stock exchange listing process as he/she is responsible for verifying that the company meets all the necessary requirements; moreover, he/she assists in the preparation and presentation of the admission documents, as provided for by the Prospects Regulation.
Specifically, the Corporate Advisor: Carries out due diligence work. Checks the effectiveness of the corporate governance of the company. Draws up the accounting documents. Checks the reliability and correct construction of the reference business plan. He/she ensures that the directors are aware of the obligations and the responsibility which derive from listing on the stock exchange. Collects all the information necessary to prepare and submit admission documents (application).
In the phase following the submission of the application, the Corporate Advisor maintains a contractual relationship with the company for the entire duration of its stay in the Prospects price list; in addition, the Corporate Advisor keeps constant contact with the Malta Stock Exchange and with the market, as required by the Prospects Regulation.
The segment of Malta Stock Exchange dedicated to SMEs is Prospects MTF. According to the Prospects Rules, in order to start a listing process, and during the entire period in which securities are listed, an applicant company must necessarily nominate a Corporate Advisor, who is previously accredited by Malta Stock Exchange.
Obligations and responsibilities that a Corporate Advisor must comply with: 1. Ensure maximum information transparency to protect the investors: • Obligation of impartiality, objectivity, confidentiality and independence with respect to client companies, establishing a relationship of constant exchange of information with the directors; • Avoid conflicts of interest and protect the reputation of the Prospect marketplace.
2. Carry out the due diligence on the company, on its shareholders and management: • Verify the effectiveness of the legal and tax structure; • Verify the validity of corporate governance: the effectiveness and appropriateness of the board of directors; • Ensure that all information, documents and minutes of meetings are properly maintained; • Attend the MSE courses on compliance with the principles of corporate governance on an annual basis; • Update the directors regarding the responsibilities and obligation they have in a company listed on Prospects; • Carry out a thorough review of the internal control systems, implemented to guarantee risk management.
3. Assisting the client company in drafting the admission documents, the Corporate Adviser is responsible for: • Verify that the documents are complete, free of omissions and misleading information; • Verify the documents clearly indicate the rights attached to the securities, the general terms of the offer, the estimated costs of the issue, the details of the process to be undertaken before the securities are admitted to trading and the summary details of the financial sustainability of the applicant; • Verify the goodness of the business plan.
4. In the post-listing phase, the Corporate Advisor must continually verfy that the conditions of permanence of the security listed on Prospects exist, through: • Detailed discussions with the client, • Financial statements analyses and annual and semiannual reports, drafted in accordance with IFRSs, and shown on MSE’s website, company’s website, and Corporate Advisor’s website. • Monitoring and review of the business plan, • Sector and of competition analyses, • Revision of the financial sustainability projections, simulations of different scenarios and adjustments in case the main assumptions of the plans have changed over time.
Services Malta
Listing of community SMEs on the Malta Stock Exchange
