Malta is becoming an increasingly attractive destination for financial services, according to Denis Nagy, CEO of the London-based investment firm Dolfin, who addressed a recent briefing hosted by Finance Malta and Dolfin at the firm’s offices in London. The event aimed at discussing the potential of Malta as a jurisdiction for fund management in the EU.

“We believe in Malta,” Mr Nagy told delegates. “We have had a presence on the island since 2016 and are enormously impressed with the productivity and openness we have experienced there. Its proximity to the UK and robust legal environment make Malta a focus for asset managers, and we are optimistic about its future.”

Addressing the guests, Ivan Grech, head of Business Development at Finance Malta said: “There are key investment opportunities in financial services in Malta. It is a strategic hub experiencing strong economic growth, low unemployment and featuring a stable sovereign rating. Over the past decade, Malta’s financial services industry has experienced strong growth traction and has evolved into a highly diversified ecosystem of asset management, insurance and private wealth business. There are currently over 10,000 people employed in the financial services sector, and we are very much in labour import mode.”

Its proximity to the UK and robust legal environment make Malta a focus for asset managers

Mr Grech added that Malta is home to 163 investment services licensees, 663 investment funds, 26 fund administrators and eight custodians.

Ramon Bondin, Malta-based project manager for Dolfin said: “Currently, none of those eight custody licences is held by a London-based firm and Dolfin is setting out to change this. What we are doing is adding another entity to the group, which will be based in Malta and will carry out brokerage and depositary services for our clients. By leveraging our operational set-up and the huge investment we have made in technology in London, we will be able to bridge a gap when it comes to investments that might be considered complex in Malta but are bread and butter here in London.”

He added: “Dolfin’s goal is to become the only London-based operation to offer depository ser­vices in Malta from early 2018.

“Long-term, having an operation that is based in Europe makes strategic sense for Dolfin and for our clients.”

Finance Malta is a non-profit public-private initiative that was set up to promote Malta as an international business and financial centre within, as well as outside of, Malta.

It brings together and harnesses the resources of the financial services industry and the government to ensure that Malta maintains a modern and effective legal, regulatory and fiscal framework in which the financial ser­vices sector can continue to grow and prosper.

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