Mr Fenech opened by stating:

"It is my pleasure to announce another period of good performance for the Malta Stock Exchange. This is not just because of the positive results shown for the period where an increase in pre-tax profit of 15% is reported over 2006 to reach EUR1.3m. More critically the importance of these results lies in the resurgence in listings in 2007, as well as the increased participation of active Maltese investors."

"As Mr. Zammit Tabona presented, there were nine new bond issues, two new equity issues and thirty Government Stock and Treasury Bill issues. The total new primary listings raised EUR808m in 2007, and this excludes Government Treasury Bills."

Fenech went on to add:

"We have always recognised the Stock Exchange to be a strategic component of Malta’s financial services industry. It enables investors to capitalise companies for growth in various industries. It provides an alternative investment channel for the Maltese. It also provides a more complete range of financial services for local and foreign companies in Malta, or companies wishing to tap our market and potential."

"With this in mind, during 2007 we had embarked on a number of initiatives to achieve this type of growth in the financial services industry as well as all other industries. In the first quarter of 2007 we changed our tax code in agreement with the European Commission, to make this competitive and attractive to both local and international business."

"We then created FinanceMalta to act as both a marketing arm to the finance industry as well as our consultative channel with the industry through the Board, the Associations, and the expert groups within. FinanceMalta has worked well in 2007 and continues to do so through its 2008 programme and strategic agreements that support its marketing and public relations drive," he continued, going on to state that:

"We have also changed the Financial Markets Act to enable the Malta Stock Exchange to restructure itself to take advantage of valuable opportunities that complement the financial industry in Malta. This has led to the creation of CSD (Malta) plc, a sister company to the stock exchange that will handle the certificate depositary business."

"The Stock Exchange has also started to handle Treasury Bills issued by government and to have these cleared and settled on the same day. Treasury bills are an important instrument to the functioning of Government. Liquid and well run primary and secondary markets add value to these securities."

Fenech then went on to talk about more recent developments, revealing that:

"We have, only a couple of days ago, announced our entry to the final stages of a Double Taxation Agreement with the USA. This is critical to better business links with the world’s largest market. This announcement by the US Treasury is a critical milestone in the process since it gives adequate notice to organisations in their business planning phase who may be considering new countries to invest in."

He concluded his speech by announcing that:

"It is the Malta Stock Exchange’s intention to continue the success shown through further strategic initiatives in 2008 aimed at increasing the range of services on offer to issuers, investors and intermediaries."

"The Exchange will continue to work on compliance with its international commitments and will offer access and interoperability to its core systems. It is also working on improving market liquidity, and attracting more companies to the market, especially the smaller family-owned companies as well as smaller overseas companies."

"The Exchange is also deepening its international presence and roots. It is currently working on memoranda with the Shanghai Stock Exchange in China and the Cypriot Stock Exchange, pending clearance from the Malta Financial Services Authority, to introduce shipping related investment products of interest to Malta."

"Truly, the Stock Exchange is and will continue to be the main trading venue for Malta into the foreseeable future. It is now left to me to congratulate the Chairman and Board, as well as the staff of the Malta Stock Exchange who have worked for this success."