The Institute of Directors Malta Branch (IoD) will be holding a conference at The Phoenicia on May 16 to celebrate 60 years of the IoD in Malta. The IoD is a business organisation for company directors, senior business leaders and entrepreneurs.
The conference, entitled ‘Reshaping Malta’s Boards’, will include three plenary sessions, two working groups, a drinks reception and a gala dinner. The first plenary session will feature a keynote by world renowned corporate governance expert Roger Barker and a panel discussing what should be considered for inclusion in a new draft Malta Corporate Governance Code.
The world of corporate governance has changed enormously in the last decade and now is a hugely important opportunity for Malta to take a lead on issues such as board diversity, remuneration, directors’ duties, technology and the responsibility of companies to their broader stakeholder base and not just their shareholders.
The changes under way impact not just listed entities but all companies no matter how small, whether for profit or not-for-profit. Each has a real part to play. As a result of the pressure to change, IoD Malta has embarked on an exercise with other key stakeholders to review the corporate governance platform for Malta.
Plenary 2 will have a keynote from global IoD chair Charlotte Valeur and will be moderated by IoD Malta chairman Edwin Ward, who will focus on director certification, a topic that IoD Malta is working closely on with the Malta Financial Services Authority in a bid to improve director education in Malta, as well as providing a standard by which directors being appointed to various kinds of entities can be validated.
The Malta Institute is one of the entities we look forward to working with very closely to develop and strengthen our international model
Plenary 3 will feature a keynote from ecoDa secretary general Béatrice Richez Baum and tackle the responsibilities and liabilities of directors, a topic which continues to confuse directors coming from a wide range of backgrounds and industries.
Speakers for the conference include Ms Valeur, Dr Barker, Dr Richez-Baum, Mr Ward, MFSA CEO Joseph Cuschieri, FinanceMalta chairman Kenneth Farrugia, HSBC Bank Malta chairman Sonny Portelli, APS Bank chairman Frederick Mifsud Bonnici, Mapfre MiddleSea chairman Martin Galea, EY Partner Geraint Davies, EVBB board member Anton Theuma, Chartered director Christian Vassallo and former HSBC Malta CEO Mark Watkinson, among others.
Ms Valeur is also a former director at BNP Paribas and Société Générale. Her non-executive experience includes positions with 3i Infrastructure; the JPMorgan Global Convertibles Income Fund and Laing O’Rourke, the UK’s largest privately owned construction company. Apart from the IoD, she has chaired numerous firms, including Blackstone/GSO Loan Financing and is an honorary teaching fellow at Lancaster University as well as a member of the Primary Markets Group at London Stock Exchange.
Dr Barker is a UK member of the European Economic and Social Committee, honorary associate at the Centre for Ethics and Law at University College London and a visiting lecturer at Saïd Business School, Oxford, and Cass Business School, London. He is the holder of a doctorate from Oxford University and the author of numerous books and articles on corporate governance and board effectiveness, including ‘Corporate governance and investment management: The promises and limitations of the new financial economy’ (Edward Elgar, 2017), and ‘The effective board: Building individual and board success’ (Kogan Page, 2010).
Dr Richez Baum, secretary general of ecoDa, is the lead on liaising with the European Commission on behalf of Europe’s Institutes of Directors and is the primary lobby with the European Commission on Corporate Governance issues and related matters.
Ms Valeur said: “Honesty, transparency and trust are my key words; every director should live by these values and every professional director should transfer these driving ideas to their boards. I am delighted to be coming to Malta as the first ever IoD chair to visit the Maltese Islands. The Malta Institute is one of the entities we look forward to working with very closely to develop and strengthen our international model.”
Mr Ward said: “The IoD’s role over the last 60 years has included representingdirectors in Malta, improving director education, creating dialogue with institutions on corporate governance issues and helping make a better business environment. I am delighted that we will have many international speakers and guests for our 60th anniversary conference as well as hosting Charlotte, Roger and Béatrice together with our members and local stakeholders. We look forward to a very special event as IoD’s oldest international Institute.”