Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs has formally recognized the European Wholesale Securities Market (EWSM) as a stock exchange (including for inheritance tax purposes). Run and regulated in Malta, the EWSM is intended to handle so-called “complex debt listings” by providing issuers and arrangers of wholesale fixed-income debt securities access to an EU-regulated market supported by the expertise of a dedicated listing agency service. The joint-venture is likely to attract new customers to investment areas which are well established in one of the jurisdictions but not in the other.
The EWSM was launched last year by Ireland and Malta by the Irish Stock Exchange (which owns 80% of the joint venture) and the Malta Stock Exchange (owning the rest). It is approved by the EU as a regulated market under the MiFID. The MSE has been appointed as ‘Market Operator' and seeks to provide the best-possible trading and post-trading tools to users.
