Cap. 345 Art. 49Power to make regulations.

(1) The Minister, acting on the advice of the competent authority, may make regulations:

(a) to give effect to the provisions of this Act, including regulations for the better regulation of central securities depositories, data reporting services providers, credit rating agencies and regulated markets and, or the admissibility to listing of financial instruments thereon and to provide for the direct or indirect membership of, or access to, regulated markets within the terms of and in line with Malta’s international commitments;

(b) to govern the transfer of ownership and, or delivery of financial instruments quoted on a regulated market, clearing and settlement of transactions effected on a regulated market, payment in respect of the transfer of financial instruments quoted on a regulated market, pledging of financial instruments quoted on a regulated market;

(c) to regulate the application of article 50 to regulated markets and to commercial partnerships other than companies;

(ca) to regulate the activities of sponsors appointed with respect to applications for admissibility to listing of securities on a local regulated market, including the appointment and registration of such sponsors, the cancellation or suspension of such registration, and any requirements, restrictions and conditions in relation thereto, and to regulate anything that is incidental to, or connected with any such matters;

(d) to regulate the transposition, implementation and giving effect to the provisions, requirements, obligations and commitments relating to regulation of credit rating agencies, data reporting services providers, regulated markets and, or the admissibility to listing of financial instruments thereon arising out of membership of, affiliation to or relationship with international or regional organisations or groupings of countries or out of any treaty, convention or other international agreement whether bilateral, regional or multilateral, to which Malta is a party;

(e) to transpose, implement and give effect to the provisions and requirements of Directives, Regulations and any other legislative measures of the European Union requiring transposition and, or implementation, as they may be amended from time to time, including any implementing measures that have been or may be issued thereunder and including those relating to licence holders, credit rating agencies, regulated markets, commodities markets, central counterparties, central securities depositaries, data reporting services providers, market making, short selling, transactions in OTC derivatives, trade repositories and, or the admissibility to listing of financial instruments thereon and others as may be specified therein or to any other matter falling within the terms of this Act; regulations made under this paragraph, and strictly related to transposition or implementation as aforesaid, may provide that any provision of this Act or of any other law shall not apply to matters falling under the regulations, and that in so far as any of the provisions of the regulations are inconsistent with the provisions of this Act or of any other law, such provisions in any such regulations shall prevail;

(f) to regulate the operation and, or registration of central counterparties operating in or from Malta; and, or

(g) to exempt any person from any one or more of the provisions of this Act and any regulations issued thereunder, subject to such variations, additions, adaptations and modifications as may be prescribed, and subject to such conditions or other requirements, including other forms of authorisation and notification procedures, as may be prescribed.

(2) Regulations made under this article, may be made subject to such exemptions or conditions as may be specified therein, may make different provision for different cases, circumstances or purposes and may give to the competent authority such powers of adaptation of the regulations as may also be so specified.

(2A) Regulations made under this article may impose:

(a) administrative penalties which may not exceed one hundred and fifty thousand euro (€150,000) for each infringement or failure to comply, as the case may be;

(b) punishments or other penalties in respect of any contravention or failure to comply not exceeding a fine (multa) of four hundred and sixty-six thousand euro (€466,000) or to a term of imprisonment not exceeding four years, or to both such fine and imprisonment;

(c) administrative penalties and fines higher than one hundred and fifty thousand euro (€150,000), and fines higher than four hundred and sixty-six thousand euro (€466,000), where deemed necessary or appropriate for any contravention of or failure of compliance with any EU Directive or EU Regulation or of any regulations made under this article to transpose or to give effect to any EU Directive or EU Regulation.

(2B) Regulations made under this article may prescribe penalties and fines as provided for in sub-article (2A)(c), for any breach of any provision of the Act or for any breach of any Financial Market Rules, transposing and, or implementing any EU Directive or EU Regulation.

(3) Where regulations have been issued in terms of this article, the competent authority may issue Financial Market Rules within the meaning of article 4 of this Act for the better carrying out and to better implement the provisions of the regulations.