The American Chamber of Commerce - Malta (AmCham - Malta) will be holding the third of four seminars on Alternative Sources of Finance: A U.S. Perspective on December 11  at the Malta Stock Exchange. The seminar will be addressed by Ralph V. De Martino, the Co-Chair of the Securities Offerings and Registration Practice Group of Cozen O'Conner, a full service, international business law firm with over 500 attorneys in more than 22 locations including offices in London and Toronto.

Mr De Martino will speak on ‘Alternative Means of Public Finance for Small and Mid-Cap Companies in Malta'. He will be giving a detailed overview of alternative capital formation strategies utilized by small and mid-cap companies in the United States and specifically, how such strategies can translate into business and venture financing opportunities for companies located in Malta.  Among other topics he will discuss the structure and current US regulatory approach to "reverse acquisitions" (acquisitions of operating companies by so-called "public shells" in which the operating company management becomes the management of the public company and the acquired company becomes public through the "back door"), PIPE transactions (private placement into public equity transactions followed by the registration of the securities sold for distribution) and SPAC transactions (so-called "special purpose acquisition companies" that serve as funding vehicles for the operating companies acquired in reverse acquisitions).  He will also tackle peculiarities of each of the foregoing capital formation vehicles and share his insights into how each can be utilized by companies in need of capital.  Finally, Mr. De Martino will present a model for the creation of a market for these financing vehicles in Malta.

Mr De Martino is a recognised expert in public and private finance with over 28 years of experience representing public and private companies, seasoned and start-up companies across many industries, investment banks, investment advisers, mutual funds, hedge funds and securities exchanges. He regularly appears before the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (formerly NASD), NYSE AMEX, The Nasdaq Stock Market and other securities regulators and exchanges, both in the United States and abroad, in a variety of administrative, enforcement, listing/delisting and other matters.

The speaker for the first in this series of four seminars was Ronald Hopkinson, who discussed Private Equity while the second seminar was addressed by John O'Shea, chairman of Westminster Securities, who spoke about The role of Market Makers in a Stock Exchange.

 The seminars are being organised with the collaboration of the US Embassy in Malta and the support of the Ministry of Finance, Malta Financial Services Authority, the Malta Stock Exchange and HSBC Bank, Malta.

 Further information may be obtained from Ms Dorianne Bonanno at the Chamber of Commerce and Enterprise on 21 247 233 or dorianne@chamber.org.mt .