Malta's financial services plugged at City of London

Progress in the financial sector since Malta's accession to the European Union and the country's growing strength as an international finance centre was under the spotlight during a Financial Times conference at the London Stock Exchange, the Malta Financial Services Authority said.

An audience of over 120 leading figures from the City of London attended the event, which was organised by the business publishing division of The Financial Times and chaired by the editor-in-chief of The Banker magazine, Stephen Timewell.

The Malta Financial Services Authority, Bank of Valletta and HSBC Malta were the main sponsors of the conference, which was entitled Opportunities And Challenges For Inward Investment.

Parliamentary Secretary Tonio Fenech outlined the key factors that have driven Malta's recent development as a finance jurisdiction, including political and economic stability, cross-party political consensus and long-term investment in education.

Other speakers included the Central Bank Governor, Michael Bonello, MFSA chairman Joe Bannister, Bank of Valletta chairman Roderick Chalmers, HSBC Malta chief executive, Shaun Willis, Mediterranean Bank chief executive Frederic Villa, Max Ganado of the legal firm J. M. Ganado & Associates and Peter Astelford from the international law firm Dechert LLP.

Speaking after the conference, Mr Fenech said: "This was a very valuable event in terms of spreading the word about Malta to very influential decision makers and growing our network of contacts.

"What was clear is that Malta is now firmly in many minds as a wholly viable financial services centre with its own unique advantages, and that's exactly how we want to be positioned," he said.