FinanceMalta is holding the 13th edition of its annual conference on the theme ‘Innovation in financial services: gearing up for the new post COVID-19 era’. This time, the event will be held online, spread over three days between October 13 and 15, with sessions held from 2.30 to 5pm.
FinanceMalta chairman Rudolph Psaila said: “The last six months have brought to the fore the importance of innovation in financial services industry. We always aim to address the sector’s priorities and this year’s annual conference is no exception.
“We need to adopt a holistic approach to innovation. As a jurisdiction, that means focusing on innovating the core financial services sectors, especially regulatory and operational innovation, while being creative in developing new products and markets that reflect the current economic, regulatory and legislative climate. While profits are important, we must place more emphasis on the environmental, social and governance practices of our daily operations.”
Psaila underlined that “the FinanceMalta annual conference has always been a reference point for the sector in Malta. Although this year it will be held in a virtual format, the conference will maintain its strengths: high-quality content provided by a line-up of international and local speakers, while giving participants and sponsors the possibility to network on our interactive platform,” he continued.
Prime Minister Robert Abela will open the conference.
The first session will be a panel discussion on Malta’s vision for the financial services industry. Facilitated by Deborah Webster, co-founder and CEO at AMANIcircle, the panel will bring together key industry stakeholders, including Parliamentary Secretary for Financial Services and Digital Economy Clayton Bartolo; MFSA CEO Joseph Cuschieri; the opposition’s Shadow Minister for Financial Services, Kristy Debono; IFSP chairman Wayne Pisani; and the FinanceMalta chairman.
The conference will then tackle anti-money laundering, with two panel discussions. The first one, facilitated by Federica Taccogna, senior managing director at FTI Consulting, will provide a comparative overview of the Council of Europe countries’ compliance with the AML regulations. The Moneyval assessment, including Malta’s efforts in this regard, will also be discussed. Speakers include Moneyval executive secretary Igor Nebyvaev; Ilze Znotina, head of the Latvian FIU; Liliya Gelemerova, senior financial crime adviser, head of transactions monitoring and investigations, UKFIU, DMLRO, director at Commerzbank; and Alfred Camilleri, chairperson of the National Coordinating Committee on Combating Money Laundering and Funding of Terrorism (NCC).
We need to place more emphasis on the environmental, social and governance practices
The second panel will analyse Malta’s efforts to upgrade its regulatory, supervisory and enforcement resources to ensure a robust, healthy financial services sector. Moderated by Aidan Larkin from Asset Reality, the panel will include MFSA chief officer of supervision Christopher P. Buttigieg, FIAU director Kenneth Farrugia; Alexandra Mamo, assistant commissioner of police, Financial Crimes Investigations Department; and Helga Debono Buttigieg from the NCC.
The second day will focus on sustainable finance. Bloomberg’s Simone Giudici will lead a panel discussion on the role financial services must take on this new, sector. Carlos Joly, Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership Fellow and ex-chair of UNEP FI; David Uzsoki from the International Institute for Sustainable Development; and Malcolm Falzon, partner at Camilleri Preziosi Advocates, will join Malta Stock Exchange chairman Joseph Portelli in the discussion.
‘Tax: quo vadis?’ is the topic of the fourth session. Leading tax experts will discuss what Malta can do to keep its tax system attractive while keeping in line with regulation and best practice. Aldo Farrugia from CFR; Ramona Piscopo from PiscoPartners; John Vella, associate professor in tax law at University of Oxford; and Geraldine Schembri, partner at EMCS, will be the speakers on the panel facilitated by Juanita Brockdorff, partner at KPMG.
The conference’s final day will focus on innovation in the new decade. A Q&A session led by Vanessa MacDonald will feature Michael Xuereb, MFSA chief officer strategy and innovation; MDIA CEO Stephen McCarthy; and Tech.mt CEO Dana Farrugia.
Two concurrent panels will follow. A session on asset management, moderated by Kenneth Farrugia, governor of FinanceMalta, will include Christian Mackintosh, EY’s UK Technology Innovation Leader for Wealth & Asset Management; Andre Zerafa, partner at Ganado Advocates; and Antonia Zammit, CEO at Praude Asset Management.
The second panel will focus on new opportunities in the insurance sector. Moderated by Matthew Bianchi, vice-chairman of FinanceMalta, it will feature Javier Baixas Vall, partner at PwC Strategy; Robert Geraghty, senior vice president and international sales leader at Marsh Captive Solutions; Elizabeth Carbonaro, chairperson of MIMA; and Joanne Alamango, from Lockton European Brokers Ltd.
For more information and registration details, visit https://conference.financemalta.org/2020.