The Malta Stock Exchange is to use Xetra – Deutsche Börse Group’s fully electronic trading system – around mid 2012, after both parties signed a minimum five year contract recently.
“We are delighted to be providing the Malta Stock Exchange with one of the fastest and most reliable trading systems in the world,” said Frank Gerstenschläger, a member of the Deutsche Börse executive board who is responsible for the Xetra business area. “Trading participants in Malta are now connected to a fully electronic network of 4,500 traders in 18 countries.”
“We are looking forward to becoming a participant exchange on the Xetra platform in mid-2012, which we believe will open up new opportunities for international expansion not only for the exchange itself but also for its members, issuers and investors in line with the MSE’s on-going strategy,” said Eileen Muscat, CEO of the MSE. Cash market trading on the Vienna Stock Exchange has been based on Xetra technology since November 1999.
The Irish Stock Exchange has been operated with Xetra since 2000, the Bulgarian since 2008 and the Ljubljana Stock Exchange in Slovenia since 2010.
The Eurex subsidiary Eurex Bonds and the European Energy Exchange also use the Xetra trading system. The Shanghai Stock Exchange uses Xetra as the basis for its New Generation Trading System introduced at the start of 2010.
Deutsche Börse Group’s global liquidity provider Clearstream integrated Malta into its settlement network in April as the last country in the eurozone. This settlement link provides international investors with access to Maltese securities.
The Xetra business unit of Deutsche Börse provides listing, trading and clearing services for issuers, intermediaries and investors. Xetra provides efficient access to the capital markets, supports the latest trading techniques and provides an ever-growing range of tradable securities.
Xetra offers the highest liquidity, transparency and cost efficiency to more than 250 European banks and brokerage firms from 18 countries. Approximately 830,000 securities are currently traded using Xetra technology, more than on any other trading platform.
The Malta Stock Exchange commenced trading operations in January 1992. There are currently 21 local equities, 45 corporate bonds, 42 Malta Government bonds and 28 Treasury bills listed and traded on the Exchange. Up until last Tuesday there were 15,371 deals totalling €443 million during this year.