MBR_ISSUE 46_NOV_DEC_18_LowRes

COVER STORY 

Connecting Malta for a better 

Future 

Interview Sonia Hernandez, Vodafone 

Malta’s new CEO p.06 

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW 

Artificial Intelligence and Customer 

Service – Here to help? 

Interview with Pierre Mallia, Managing 

Director, iMovo p.12 

CORPORATE INTERVIEW 

Organizational Standard, Excellence 

& Outstanding Achievement 

Interview with Mark Farrugia, Regional 

Director at Lidl Malta Ltd p.16 

SPECIAL FEATURE: SRB 

Delivering Financial Stability 

Exclusive Interview with (SRB) Chair, Elke 

Könige p.28 

MALTA BUSINESS REVIEW 

ISSUE 46 | 2018 

Newspaper Post

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Together we thrive

your perfect atmosphere 

Malta Business Review 

CONTENTS 

Issue 45 

34 THE COMMON BACKSTOP: HOW IT WILL 

STRENGTHEN THE SINGLE RESOLUTION FUN 

Single Resolution Board Article by SRB Vice Chair, Timo 

Lottinyemi 

COVER STORY 

6 

INTERVIEWS & FEATURES 

36 EMPOWERING PEOPLE TO POWER THEIR 

GOALS 

Shield Consultants 1-2-1 interview series with key 

employees 

06 

CONNECTING MALTA FOR A BETTER FUTURE 

Interview Sonia Hernandez, Vodafone Malta’s new CEO 

38 3DZ – TOLY GROUP CASE STUDY 

How Toly uses 3D printing 

TALKING POINT 

08 EU-WIDE PROTECTION AND SUPPORT FOR 

WHISTLE-BLOWERS 

New system to protect and encourage reporting of 

breaches of EU law with safeguards against retaliations 

and protects whistle-blowers 

INTERVIEWS OF THE MONTH 

12 ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE AND CUSTOMER 

SERVICE – HERE TO HELP? 

Interview with Pierre Mallia, Managing Director, iMovo 

12 

16 

16 ORGANIZATIONAL STANDARD, EXCELLENCE 

AND OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT 

Interview with Mark Farrugia, Regional Director at Lidl Malta Ltd 

18 

28 

BLOCKCHAIN SUMMIT INTERVIEW 

18 TRUST IS A WAY OF LIFE 

Martin Vella interviews Manuela Sedvartaite founder of 

SociumTrade 

SPECIAL FEATURE: SINGLE RESOLUTION 

BOARD 

28 DELIVERING FINANCIAL STABILITY 

Exclusive Interview with (SRB) Chair, Elke König, responsible 

for the management of the organisation, 

the work and the Executive and Plenary sessions of the 

Board (EP) 

OUR GOLDEN PARTNERS 

42 SCOPE ASSIGNS MALTA FIRST-TIME CREDIT RAT- 

ING OF A+ WITH STABLE OUTLOOK 

Euro area membership, high economic growth, 

prudent fiscal management among Malta’s credit 

strengths 

46 INNOVATE AND GROW! MALTA’S INNOVATORS 

INVITED TO JOIN THE EIT COMMUNITY 

The European Institute of Innovation and Technology 

(EIT) is showcasing its innovation cooperation 

opportunities during an Awareness Day in Kalkara 

50 THE GENDER PAY GAP 

President of Malta Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca about 

the gender pay gap 

SIMON 

ESTATES 

56 BREXIT: ENSURING A SMOOTH TRANSITION 

Isabel Teixeira Nadkarni on EU safety and quality standards 

to be maintained 

4

COVER STORY 

Connecting Malta for a better 

Future 

Interview Sonia Hernandez, Vodafone 

Malta’s new CEO p.06 

Newspaper Post 

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW 

Artificial Intelligence and Customer 

Service – Here to help? 

Interview with Pierre Mallia, Managing 

Director, iMovo p.12 


Organizational Standard, Excellence 

& Outstanding Achievement 

Interview with Mark Farrugia, Regional 

Director at Lidl Malta Ltd p.16 

SPECIAL FEATURE: SRB 

Delivering Financial Stability 

Exclusive Interview with (SRB) Chair, Elke 

Könige p.28 

MALTA 

BUSINESS REVIEW 

PUBLISHER 

MBR Publications Limited 

OFFICES 

Highland Apartment - Level 1, 

Naxxar Road, 

Birkirkara, BKR 9042 

+356 2149 7814 

EDITOR 

Martin Vella 

TECHNICAL ADVISOR 

Marcelle D’Argy Smith 

SALES DIRECTOR 

Margaret Brincat 

DESIGN 

MBR Design 

ADVERTISING 

Call: 9940 6743 or 9926 0163/4/6; 

Email: margaret@mbrpublications.net 

or admin@mbrpublications.net 

CONTRIBUTORS 

Giacomo Barisone; Bernhard Bartels; Antoine 

Bonello; George Carol; James Vella Clark; Neil 

Corlett; Jaume Duch Guillot; Elke König; Timo 

Löyttyniemi; Pierre Mallia; Isabel Teixeira 

Nadkarni; Manuela Sedvartaite 

SPECIAL THANKS 

DOI; European Parliament Information Office in 

Malta; European Parliament, Directorate- General 

for Communication/Press Office; European 

Research Council; FIMBank; HSBC; LinkedIn; 

Edwards Lowell & Co.; MORGEN EUROPA; OPR; 

POLITICO SPRL; Politico Global Policy Lab; PTV 

Group; Taylor & Francis Group. 

PRINT PRODUCTION 

Gutenberg Press Ltd 

QUOTE OF THE MONTH 

“Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The 

most certain way to succeed is always to try just 

one more time.” 

Thomas A. Edisonn 

Disclaimer 

MALTA BUSINESS REVIEW 

ISSUE 46 | 2018 

All rights reserved. No part of this work covered by copyright may 

be reproduced or copied and reproduction in whole or part is strictly 

prohibited without written permission of the publisher. All content 

material available on this publication is duly protected by Maltese 

and International Law. No person, organisation, other publisher or 

online web content manager should rely, or on any way act upon 

any part of the contents of this publication, whether that information 

is sourced from the website, magazine or related product without 

first obtaining the publisher’s consent. The opinions expressed in the 

Malta Business Review are those of the authors or contributors, and 

are not necessarily those of the editor or publisher. 

EDITORIAL 

Midlevel managers are underperforming and underserved 

in a world of increased competitive pressures and reduced 

resources, midlevel managers are the lifeblood of the company. 

They execute the most important strategic priorities. They 

motivate the company’s employees. 

And yet, in most organizations, this key group is underperforming, 

with estimates of nearly half of midlevel managers’ performance 

seen as fair to poor. Traditional leadership development programs 

aimed at this group fall short of expectations. They either do not 

work within a company’s priorities or distract from day-to-day 

work. Many focus too much on specific skills, neglecting crucial 

leadership concepts like self-awareness, mind-set, and values. 

BREAKTHROUGH LEADERSHIP: Focusing on mind-set and skill set is the first event that MBR 

Publications Ltd will be organising in 2019, together with Resource Productivity Consulting Services, 

and engineered by Prof. David J Dingli. Our research indicates leadership development for midlevel 

managers would be more effective if knowledge and skill sets were more tightly integrated with 

the development of leadership mind-set and attitudes. That’s what the Breakthrough Leadership 

event we have in mind is designed to do. 

Breakthrough leaders see themselves and the world differently. They believe the organization 

is their responsibility. Breakthrough leaders are made, not born. Through extensive work and 

research we have found that building breakthrough leaders requires development of deep 

expertise across core disciplines. 

In Malta there is a scarcity of Breakthrough leaders, across the social, civil, government, political and 

business clusters. Most leadership training provides incremental change. MBR programs provide 

monumental change. Change in retention, self- and employee- satisfaction, and performance 

across the board. 

This MBR event set for February 22nd 2019, is designed to bring today's managers and 

professionals the fundamental information they need to stay competitive in a fast-moving world. 

From the preeminent thinkers whose work has defined an entire field to the rising stars who will 

redefine the way we think about business, the event will bring leading minds and landmark ideas 

that have established MBR as the B2B platform for ambitious businesspeople in organizations. This 

event will create an “ownership” culture of integrity, responsibility, innovation and inspired action 

across departments and teams. 

When leaders grow, the community and companies grow too! Watch out for more news and 

information about this event in the coming weeks. 

As the curtain closes down on another year, the last quarter, like the last few miles of a race, is a 

great time to dig deep and aim to excel. Much can be accomplished in a few short weeks. After all, 

while everyone else is pulling up, the winner is often the one who finds the strength for one more 

burst of speed. I close this year with a T. S. Eliot quote- “Only those who will risk going too far can 

possibly find out how far one can go.” 

Happy Christmas and a peaceful New Year to all. 

Martin Vella 

Editor-in-Chief 


Talk to us: 

E-mail: martin@mbrpublications.net 

Twitter: @MBRPublications 

Facebook: www.facebook.com/MaltaBusinessReview 

Malta Business Review’s editorial opinions are decided by its Editor, and besides reflecting the Editor’s 

opinion, are written to represent a fair and impartial representation of facts, events and provide a correct 

analysis of local and international news. 

Agents for: 

www.maltabusinessreview.net 

5


COVER STORY INTERVIEW 

Connecting Malta for a better future 

By Martin Vella 

MBR interviews Sonia Hernandez, Vodafone Malta’s new CEO, who has been living in Malta with her 

family for the past five months, where she already feels at home. Sonia is personally committed to making 

a significant positive impact and reiterates that Vodafone will be investing in helping transform people’s 

lives for the better and in bringing more value to Malta. 

MBR: Can you tell us how you started your 

career and worked your way to the top spot 

at Vodafone? 

SH: I joined Vodafone in April 2012 and have 

21 years of international experience in the 

telecommunications industry. 

I graduated as an electrical engineer in 

Madrid in 1996, with a final thesis on 

microelectronics at the Technical University 

of Darmstadt in Germany. I started my 

career working in sales for Siemens, based in 

Munich. I then decided to undergo a drastic 

change in my career, with the aspiration of 

one day getting into general management, 

and changed to Human Resources. 

After fifteen years working for the same 

company, I was offered the opportunity to 

make the change to one of the largest global 

telecom operators: Vodafone. I joined the 

management team of the Global Vodafone 

Procurement Company based in Luxembourg 

in 2012 as Head of Global Radio Access 

"We have a duty to 

work within the 

community to create 

better, more inclusive 

societies and deliver 

more value to this 

great country. 

Supply chain. I was promoted to Director of 

Global Supply Chain Commercial & Services 

in 2015, as well as a member of the Board 

of the Vodafone Procurement Company in 

Luxembourg. I was also appointed member to 

the Board of Kabel Deutschland Holding AG 

and Supervisory Board of Vodafone Germany 

GmbH. After six years in Luxembourg Supply 

Chain I was offered the CEO role of Vodafone 

Malta. 

Nothing has been easy or “free of charge” - I 

have always felt stretched, along every step 

of the way, but I always applied my passion 

and drew from my reserves of courage to 

successfully make it happen. For many years, 

I was the only woman in most meetings; 

but that didn't bother me at all. I am very 

authentic and straightforward person, and I 

always felt well supported by the industry. 

MBR: What can you tell us about Vodafone's 

new strategy? 

SH: We feel we have a duty to work within 

the community we operate in to create 

better, more inclusive societies, and deliver 

more value to this great country. This aim is 

6

COVER STORY INTERVIEW 


Sonia Hernandez 

at the heart of Vodafone’s recently launched 

purpose: "connecting Malta for a better 

future". Our new Digital Vodafone strategy 

is the vehicle by which we will achieve this 

purpose. 

There are three pillars within the framework 

of our new Vodafone strategy: connecting 

a digital society, help protect Malta and 

the environment, and inclusion for all as a 

company culture. Our leadership in Internet 

of Things will underpin all three pillars whilst 

being the best digital workplace is our 

foundation for attracting and retaining the 

best talent. 

As Vodafone we are also highly committed to 

investing in our future workforce. To mention 

just one example, we want to empower 

young Maltese women and address the 

wide gender gap in STEM careers. Our Code 

Like a Girl initiative was born out of this. We 

offered girls aged between fourteen and 

eighteen free training sessions on coding, 

in a bid to give them a taster of the fun and 

opportunities, which come from studying 

and pursuing a career in technology. We 

were overwhelmed by the feedback we 

received and the thirst for such initiatives, 

and heartened by the girls' sheer enthusiasm 

and boundless energy. 

To cement our commitment to carry on 

with this initiative and introduce others, we 

signed a Memorandum of Understanding 

with the Ministry for Education and 

Employment which establishes a framework 

for cooperation to help equip students in 

Malta with the knowledge and skills needed 

for a digital future. This also includes working 

towards a safer digital environment; In fact, 

we will be holding workshops on digital life 

skills for parents. 

MBR: How does the Vodafone Malta 

Foundation feed into this strategy? 

SH: Our Foundation is an integral part of the 

Digital Vodafone strategy. Its Connecting for 

Good strategy is all about harnessing the 

power of mobile technology to bring about 

social change. In one of the latest projects 

announced, the Foundation, together with 

the University's Department of Artificial 

Intelligence, is working on providing an 

alternative to drugs in order to relieve the 

pain which children suffering from various 

illnesses such as cancer go through. This will 

result in cutting-edge technology combining 

virtual reality with ‘affective gaming’, 

meaning that the specially designed game 

will be intelligent enough to also determine 

the child’s emotional and physical state and 

adjust the game accordingly in real time to 

distract the child from feeling pain. 

In the next few months, the Foundation 

will also be announcing new Connecting for 

Good projects revolving around persons with 

disability, persons with autism and mental 

health, amongst others. 

"Connecting a digital 

society, helping 

protect Malta and 

the environment, and 

inclusion for all are 

the three pillars of our 

new strategy. 

MBR: What plans are in the pipeline for the 

growth of the company in Malta? 

SH: We will be investing a solid €150 million 

over the next few years with an aim to 

create the most engaging digital customer 

experience by adopting new ways of working, 

embracing new technologies and simplifying 

business models. This will not only make our 

customers lives’ easier by making it simpler 

to deal with us, but it will also enable them 

to make the most of the future. The world 

around is becoming increasingly more and 

more connected, and we believe we have a 

role to play in helping our customers realise 

the opportunities this brings and help them 

make the most of it. 

One of the enablers in this is the Internet of 

Things (IoT). Around the world, industries 

are being transformed and on a global level, 

Vodafone has been rated by analysts as the 

global leader in IoT. Vodafone has helped 

organisations from all industries—from 

healthcare to manufacturing, automotive to 

public sector—along their IoT journeys. The 

potential benefits of IoT are immense and 

we’ll be leveraging our global expertise and 

experience to transform Malta’s businesses 

through IoT. 

In fact, we have recently introduced 

next generation IoT network based on 

Narrowband IoT (NB-IoT) technology in 

Malta. Vodafone has been the first to bring 

this technology to Malta. Our new NB-IoT 

network provides excellent data connectivity 

in places where regular radio signal is not 

sufficient (e.g. sensors could buried deep or 

under water as well), coupled with very low 

energy consumption for the sensors. 

The applications of NB-IoT are endless, 

ranging from monitoring patients to 

intelligent parking and efficient street lighting. 

Vodafone is committed to bring best of value 

with this technology and help customers to 

get full transparency of data and the industry 

to become more efficient. 

The first live application on this network is 

aiming to revolutionise waste collection. 

Working alongside recycling cooperative 

GreenPak, we developed connectivity for 

smart sensors for rubbish bins which indicate 

when a bin is full and needs to be emptied. 

The sensors will also detect any tampering 

or damage to the bins, such as if a bin has 

caught fire. 

Looking ahead to 2019 and beyond, I relish 

the prospect of our business playing an 

increasingly important role in building a 

better today as well as an exciting future for 

us and for Malta. MBR 

All rights reserved - Copyright 2018 


7


EU: INDUSTRY / RESEARCH 

MEP's want to increase research funding to 

€120 billion in 2021-2027 

• €120 billion for Horizon Europe research 

programme 

• European Defence Fund programme worth 

€11.5 billion 

• €14.8 billion for EU Space Programme 

• Digital Europe to be funded with €8.2 billion 

Industry Committee MEPs call for budgetary 

means to match ambitions on research, 

defence, space and digital Europe 

Following Parliament’s adoption of its position 

on the EU’s long-term budget (multiannual 

financial framework - MFF 2021-2027) last week, 

the Industry, Research and Energy committee on 

Wednesday set out their scope and priorities for 

funding important areas that will stimulate future 

growth such as research, defence, space and 

digital Europe. 

MEPs underlined that they are ready to start 

negotiations with EU ministers at any time to reach 

an agreement before the European elections. 

Horizon Europe - research 

Complementing the plenary’s decision to better 

fund Europe’s future budget, the Industry 

Committee MEPs voted to: 

• Increase the Horizon Europe research 

programme budget for 2021-2027 to €120 

billion in 2018 prices (instead of €83.5 

billion, as proposed by Commission). 

• Increase support for small and mediumsized 

enterprises (SMEs) by reintroducing 

the possibility of grants for incremental 

innovation, with a ring-fenced budget of 

€2.5 billion. 

• Introduce innovative measures, such 

as widening fellowships to strengthen 

European Research Areas, and reduce the 

scientific and technological divide. 

• Give priority to programmes that include 

women, SMEs or participants from lowerperforming 

EU countries when deciding on 

two equally strong applications. 

The European Defence Fund (EDF) 

By supporting the Commission’s proposal to 

allocate €11.5 billion in 2018 prices to the 

European Defence Fund for 2021-2027, the 

committee stresses there is a need for a more 

‘European’ approach, to defence. The EDF will 

finance cross-border collaboration in defence 

research and development projects, for 

interoperable technology and equipment in areas 

such as encrypted software and drone technology. 

The EU Space Programme 

In order to help maintain, and further enhance, 

the EU's leadership in the field, Parliament wants 

to raise the Commission’s proposed budget to the 

EU Space Programme, with €621 million to €14.82 

billion in 2018 prices during 2021-2027. This will 

also give an important boost to EU industry in the 

field of space. 

MEPs also voted to include tackling cyber threats 

and supporting space diplomacy to the scope. 

The Digital Europe programme 

The European Parliament has welcomed the 

Commission’s proposal to create the first ever 

Digital Europe programme, and will invest €8.2 

billion under the EU budget 2021-2027, to address 

increasing digital challenges. The funding is crucial 

to achieve the Digital Single Market strategy and to 

increase the EU's international competitiveness. 

In addition to reinforcing Europe's strategic 

digital capacities, it is also vital to support highperformance 

computing, artificial intelligence, 

cybersecurity and advanced digital skills. 

The following reports on MFF related files were 

adopted today 

• Horizon Europe (Research and Innovation), 

adopted with 60 votes to 1 and 3 

abstentions. 

• Specific programmes implementing Horizon 

Europe, 


abstentions. 

• Research and Training Programme of the 

European Atomic Energy Community (2021- 

2025), adopted with 43 votes to 12 and 7 

abstentions. 

• European Defence Fund, adopted with 35 

votes to 11 and 14 abstentions. 

• Digital Europe programme for 2021- 

2027, adopted with 57 votes to 2 and 3 

abstentions. 

• Space programme the EU Agency for the 

Space Programme, 


abstentions. 

• European Joint Undertaking for ITER and the 

Development of Fusion Energy, 


abstentions. 

• Nuclear decommissioning assistance 

programme of the Ignalina nuclear power 

plant in Lithuania, adopted with 61 votes to 

2 and 0 abstentions. 

Next steps 

The Plenary will now vote on the decision to start 

talks with EU ministers, which can begin, once a 

common position is agreed. MEPs want to make as 

much progress as possible before the end of this 

legislative term. MBR 

Participation of Tibor Navracsics, Member of the EC in charge of Education, Culture, Youth 

and Sport, at Joint Research Centre (JRC) Scientists’ Awards ceremony. 

© European Union , 2018 / Source: EC – Audiovisual Service / Photo: Jennifer Jacquemart 

Creditline: EU Press Office/EPO Valletta 

8


EU: 

EU-wide protection and support 

for whistle-blowers 

in Europe, this Directive protects individuals 

speaking out for the public good much better 

than before. Parliament has introduced significant 

improvements to the Commission's text. The 

creation of a single and easily identifiable public 

authority in each Member State, which will provide 

free of charge confidential advice to those who 

intend to blow or have blown the whistle, together 

with legal and financial assistance, are major 

steps to make sure that we efficiently protect free 

speech". 

Next steps 

• New system to protect and encourage 

reporting of breaches of EU law with 

safeguards against retaliations 

• Protection of whistle-blowers is currently 

fragmented in the EU 

• The loss of potential benefits due to lack 

of whistle-blower protection in public 

procurement is estimated to be between 

€5.8 to €9.6 billion each year in the EU 

Proposals to protect whistle-blowers, set up safe 

mechanisms for reporting breaches and measures 

against retaliation were adopted by the Legal 

Affairs Committee. 

Recently, Legal Affairs Committee MEPs approved 

draft legislation to guarantee that whistle-blowers 

in the EU can report breaches of EU law in the 

area of tax evasion, corruption, environmental 

protection and public health and safety, without 

fear of retaliation or intimidation. Legal Affairs 

MEPs agreed that the same protection measures 

must also apply to those assisting the reporting 

person, e.g. journalists. 

Safe reporting mechanisms 

To make sure that potential whistle-blowers feel 

safe and are aware of reporting channels, MEPs 

agreed that: 

• member states would be requested to ensure 

that private and public sectors put in place 

adequate internal and external reporting 

channels; 

• reporting avenues should ensure that the 

reporting person is notified that their report 

has been received within a week, while 

follow-up on the report should be received 

no later than two months after the report 

was received; 

• it should be up to the reporting person 

to choose the most appropriate channel 

to report, whether internal or external, 

depending on circumstances. 

Prohibition against retaliation and support 

The agreed text explicitly prohibits reprisals and 

member states would have to take necessary 

safeguards against retaliation towards whistleblowers. 

MEPs also urge member states to provide 

information and advice free of charge as well as 

legal, financial and psychological support. 

Quote 

Rapporteur Virginie Roziere (S&D, FR) said: 

“Following recent big scandals, such as Luxleaks, 

and the great difficulties faced by whistle-blowers 

The text was adopted by 22 votes to none against, 

with one abstention. The decision to enter into 

negotiations was approved with 22 votes, none 

against and two abstentions. Once plenary has 

endorsed the negotiating mandate, talks with EU 

ministers can start, to agree on the final shape of 

the legislation. 

Background 

Whistle-blower protection is fragmented or only 

partial across member states, with only 10 EU 

countries (France, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Lithuania, 

Malta, Netherlands, Slovakia, Sweden and UK) 

providing comprehensive legal protection. 

The European Commission’s legislative proposal 

follows on from the Council of Europe’s 

Recommendation on Protection of Whistleblowers 

and the European Parliament’s resolution 

of 24 October 2017 on Legitimate measures to 

protect whistle-blowers. 

A 2017 study carried out for the Commission 

estimated the loss of potential benefits due to 

a lack of whistle-blower protection, in public 

procurement alone, to be in the range of €5.8 to 

€9.6 billion each year for the EU as a whole. MBR 

EP/EU/Valletta 

10

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INTERVIEW OF THE MONTH 

AI and Customer Service – Here to help? 

Interview with Pierre Mallia, Managing Director, iMovo 

By George Carol 

MBR: AI and Customer Service? Is this fiction 

or a reality? 

PM: It’s real alright, I am pretty sure that a 

lot of us have been using it and have just not 

realised that they have been interacting with 

AI instead of a human being. AI in customer 

service was estimated to be generating some 

$100B in value in the retail sector alone. 

The scope and application of AI to improve 

service, create new efficiencies and generate 

value is growing every day. 

MBR: What’s behind this latest venture by 

iMovo in the field of AI? 

PM: We have been focused on Customer 

Service technology and services since 

inception, some eight years ago. About three 

years ago we started taking a serious look at 

AI and how it could affect our business and 

whether it would help our customers. This 

brought about our first direct encounter 

with an AI called Amelia and for the first time 

ever, I heard another human being refer to 

an AI as "she". During this encounter, which 

was more an awakening than anything else, I 

could see that the opportunity was very real, 

and we were looking at the future of not only 

our business, but that of our customers. To 

phrase how I thought of it at the time, "it was 

like standing on a railway track watching an 

oncoming train - thinking, either get on this 

train or get run over by it". So, our move into 

this area was not just a "smart" move, it’s a 

necessary one. 

We also saw the potential positive impact that 

it could bring to our customers. Organisations 

spend a lot of money on customer service and 

yet customers are still frequently unhappy 

with the experience. Just remember the last 

time you called your bank or your telecom 

provider. What did that feel like? 

MBR: Who are Digital Genius? And what is 

the relationship with iMovo about? 

PM: Digital Genius is an AI platform that helps 

put your customer service on autopilot by 

understanding conversations and automating 

repetitive processes. The company has been 

around for around four years and has been 

invested in by leading venture capital funds 

including Salesforce ventures. You might have 

heard of chatbots, which are the latest fad in 

customer service - a lightweight AI that carries 

out chat conversations and provides answers 

to frequently asked questions, like "When is 

the next flight to Rome?" etc... DigitalGenius 

does a lot more than that, it will go away and 

do your booking if you ask it to. As a young 

start-up, DigitalGenius' cultures meshes well 

with the entrepreneurial culture at iMovo. 

We have a multi-faceted relationship with 

them, acting as an extended part of their 

project team as well as reselling the AI service 

and building intellectual property to enhance 

the AI platform. 

MBR: What is the significance behind the 

new partnership with Digital Genius, and 

what does this mean to you and iMovo? 

PM: Over the past few months, both 

companies have invested time in getting to 

know each other well and defining potential 

synergies. For iMovo, this catapults us into 

an exciting new area of technology and 

business. It brings to bear the strategy we 

laid out some three years ago when we set 

AI as a business goal. It also puts us in the 

forefront of the customer service industry. 

We have a lot of experience working with 

a lot of organisations in this field across 

several countries and we see a lot of scope of 

helping these organisations to innovate and 

move their customer service departments 

into the sphere of AI. It’s a massive growth 

opportunity and gives us a unique blend to 

offer the market. 

MBR: How does DigitalGenius help 

organisations and is it different from 

Chatbots? 

PM: Let me start with the second bit of your 

question. Chatbots are what I would term, 

"lightweight" AI, they allow a customer to 

converse and answer basic questions which 

are limited by pre-designed conversations 

and limited data sets. They are useful but 

Pierre Mallia, Managing Director, iMovo with Dmitry Aksenov, CEO & Founder, 

DigitalGenius and Chris Kellner, Head of Sales & Strategic Partnerships, DigitalGenius 

12

INTERVIEW OF THE MONTH 


Pierre Mallia 

only to a very limited extent. When you're 

dealing with possibly hundreds of calls a 

day, Chatbots are not able to scale. Digital 

Genius can do the Chatbot thing, but then 

its designed to also execute processes. 

For instance, if you call your local telecom 

provider and ask about your current billing, 

Digital Genius can answer you. Then if 

you decide you want an upgrade on your 

bandwidth, Digital Genius can be configured 

to handle this. In a typical Chatbot scenario, 

you would probably not be able to ask for 

your latest billing info and certainly not trigger 

off the provisioning of a bandwidth upgrade. 

This is the huge difference that Digital Genius 

makes in the market, it’s really quite powerful 

and unique and works well side by side with 

human customer agents. 

MBR: Can you tell us about iMovo's vision 

and what the plans are in view of the new 

partnership with Digital Genius? 

PM: Eight years ago, we set out a vision to 

be a thought leadership company in the 

field of customer relationship management 

and customer service management. Our 

vision is to continue with this journey and 

help our customers turn their customer 

service departments into sources of value 

generation. 

Our partnership with DigitalGenius will 

contribute to our growth strategy especially 

in terms of growing even further than 

we have internationally. During a recent 

meeting in London, Dmitry Aksenov, one 

of the founders, and I discussed how we 

saw each other being an essential part of 

our respective organisation's growth plans. 

When you have that kind of synchronicity 

at company leadership level, its proof of the 

potential. 

MBR: Will technology such as AI replace 

workers in the future or will it just enable 

workers to get the job done more efficiently? 

PM: There is a lot happening in the field of 

AI and no doubt every year the technology 

is getting smarter and more capable. As a 

personal belief I think we need to be careful 

how we use AI. It must be applied as a force 

for good - it should not be used to create 

further distortion in the distribution of 

wealth and disparity between the have and 

have-nots. There is a lot of debate about 

how to manage this aspect, including ideas 

like instituting an AI tax to be used to fund 

programmes designed to address the wealth 

gap I mentioned. That said, there is also 

the danger of an AI arms race lurking in the 

background. China, US and Russia are all 

known to have programmes to weaponize AI. 

This is where things could go horribly wrong. 

Will AI replace workers - not just yet, in many 

cases - at its current level and the way we see 

DigitalGenius in this specific case, it’s about 

"augmenting" people's jobs, freeing them up 

to do more complex tasks than the mundane 

repetitive. In short, I call it "amplifying the 

impact of your people". 

"There is alot 

happening in the 

field of AI and no 

doubt every year 

the technology is 

getting smarter and 

more capable. 

MBR: How has AI technology impacted the 

industry and will advances in AI technology 

change the workforce for the future? 

PM: It depends which industry you are 

referring to, but as a general statement AI is 

already impacting several industries and like 

the introduction of the printing press and the 

weaving looms hundreds of years ago, it will 

change the workforce. Into what and how, is 

something I don’t particularly feel prepared 

to answer. Some writers like Yuval Hariri and 

Martin Ford, have taken some pretty good 

stabs at this in their books. 

MBR: Where do you see the greatest 

opportunities for growth and what is the 

future direction for iMovo? 

PM: We are at the beginning of a new chapter 

in iMovo's growth with our relationship with 

DigitalGenius, so for the time being I'd say 

we're concentrating on this for now. Part 

of the fun of iMovo is that despite being an 

eight-year-old company, its culture is very 

much like that of a start-up and we are able 

to adapt to change quickly and there is an 

open mind. We just love to find interesting 

niches; I'd say we're the only company in the 

country which is specialised in the fields we 

are in like customer service. Customers like us 

because of this. They don’t just come to us 

because of the software we sell, but because 

they know of our deep experience in certain 

areas and we also advise them at times, 

without selling them any sort of technology. 

We offer expert and practical experience in 

seeing how AI can help their organisation, or 

indeed if its right for them in the first place. 

A lot of our customers are repeat customers 

or come to us by word of mouth. To me that's 

a clear signal that we are on the right path. 

Editor’s Note 

Pierre Mallia is a 28-year veteran 

of the ICT industry and has worked 

extensively on projects across a 

range of sectors including the public 

sector, telecommunications, software 

development, manufacturing, healthcare, 

media, retail, transport, financial services 

and recruitment. After a number of years 

working with start-ups, he then moved 

to Microsoft where he spent seven years 

as a Country Manager and established 

Microsoft’s subsidiary in Malta. In 2010 

he founded iMovo Limited, a specialized 

company in the area of Customer 

Experience & Service Management 

using approaches like CRM, Business 

Intelligence and Workforce Management 

to help its customers extend and deepen 

their own customer relationships. Pierre 

is a graduate in Computer Science from 

Kingston University and has followed 

executive development programmes 

at the National University of Singapore 

and INSEAD. He has a keen interest in 

technology and underwater photography 

in his spare time. 

About iMovo Limited 

iMovo specialises in Customer 

Experience Management (CEM), Business 

Intelligence (BI) Big Data Analytics, 

Artificial Intelligence & Workforce 

Management (WFM). Blending some of 

the most innovative technology solutions 

in the market with a formal advisory 

approach, iMovo enables organisations to 

build long-term value relationships with 

their customers resulting in consistent & 

profitable growth. For more info about 

iMovo visit: www.imovo.com.mt 

iMovo is a Premier Solution Provider for 

DigitalGenius, Planday, Qlik, Salesforce, 

Tableau, Talend and Zendesk. MBR 

Creditline: iMovo Limited 


13


EU: CIVIL LIBERTIES / FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS 

Malta: lead MEP demands thorough 

investigation of latest revelations 

Sophia in ‘t Veld, Chair of the EP’s Rule of 

Law Monitoring Group, called on Tuesday 

for a thorough investigation of the latest 

revelations regarding the Maltese “17 

Black” company. 

Following media reports that 17 Black, a 

Maltese company suspected of money 

laundering, is owned by Maltese businessman 

Yorgen Fenech, who is also director of the 

ElectroGas Malta power station and CEO of 

Tumas Group, Sophia in ‘t Veld (ALDE, NL) 

said: 

“Any possible links and alleged payments 

between 17 Black and the two Panama 

companies Hearnville and Tillgate, owned 

by the Prime Minister's Chief of Staff, Keith 

Schembri, and Minister Konrad Mizzi, have 

to be brought to light. These new revelations 

are extremely worrying and should trigger an 

immediate and thorough investigation by the 

Maltese authorities. 

Given the possible relevance for the ongoing 

investigation into the murder of Ms Daphne 

Caruana Galizia, we expect Europol to be 

fully involved in the follow up. In that light, 

we also sent a letter to Europol requesting 

their involvement and assessment of the 

current situation.” 

Ms in ‘t Veld recently led a European 

Parliament mission to Malta to check on 

the ground the progress in the murder 

case investigations regarding the death of 

Ms Daphne Caruana Galizia and assess the 

situation of rule of law in the country. 

The report summarising the meetings and 

conclusions of the MEPs travelling to Malta 

will be presented in a meeting of the Civil 

Liberties Committee on 20 November. MBR 

Credit: Office of Sophia in't Veld MEP 

Lotto Warehouse strikes landmark 

deal with Betsson 

The Betsson family of brands will soon 

offer its customers access to the world’s 

biggest and best lottery jackpots, perfectly 

complementing their extensive portfolio 

of Sports Betting, Casino, Poker, Bingo and 

other games. 

This deal is truly a significant one for Lotto 

Warehouse as it sees the Nasdaq Stockholm 

listed company, and one of the largest 

companies within the European iGaming 

industry, embracing the potential of the 

lottery vertical. 

Lotto Warehouse CEO Thomas Biro said: 

“Betsson are a hugely respected operator 

and we are pleased they saw the great 

potential of our offering.” 

“We wanted to revolutionise one of the 

oldest gaming industries whilst giving players 

the opportunity to dream big. Today’s players 

are discerning ones - they want choice and 

they want customization. Lotto Warehouse 

offers all that and more by breaking down 

borders and offering the world’s biggest 

lotteries in one place.” 

Mark Adams, General Counsel for The Multi 

Group, “Absolutely delighted that we have 

reached an agreement to provide services 

to Betsson Group. Both the legal and 

commercial teams have done an outstanding 

job to bring this deal together.” 

Joey Hurtado, Head of Gaming for Betsson 

Group added: “After a thorough search and 

review of different lottery providers, we felt 

that Lotto Warehouse’s great UI, excellent 

offering and outstanding business models 

were the best fit for Betsson Group and our 

players.” 

Lotto Warehouse are a B2B Lottery Betting 

provider for the iGaming industry. They are 

licensed by both the Malta Gaming Authority 

and the British Gambling Commission 

and offer operators the chance to add a 

catalogue of the world’s biggest lottery 

betting products to their platforms, with all 

higher tier payouts protected by their unique 

jackpot indemnity insurance model. They 

are a subsidiary of New York Stock Exchange 

listed online sports lottery service provider 

500.com (NYSE: WBAI) and their extensive 

client list now also proudly includes Betsson. 

If you too want to learn more about this 

exciting new vertical that you can offer your 

customers, why not set up a meeting with 

Lotto Warehouse at Sigma by email to info@ 

lottowarehouse.com. It’s time to let your 

customers dream big! MBR 

For press related inquiries please 

contact Melanie Hart at melanie.hart@ 

themultigroup.com or via mobile on 00356 

99441047. 

14

Know that you’ve made 

a healthy investment 

Timberland Securities Investment plc. 

2 New bond issues 

ß Minimum investment of €3,000 

ß 

Yield paid in June & December 

ß 

A copy of the prospectus is available 

from our offices 

A bond with 

yield 

for a 5 year period 

maturing in 2023 

Another bond with 

3.75% 4.6% 

Aragon House Business Centre 

Dragonara Road, St Julian’s STJ 3140 

Email: info@timberland-malta.com 

www.timberland-malta.com 

yield 

for a 10 year period 

maturing in 2028 

Call us on 

2090 8100 

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Investment in the Bond should 

be based on the full details of the 

prospectus 

Timberland Securities Investment plc. 

has appointed Timberland Invest Ltd. 

as an authorised distributor in Malta. 

Timberland Invest Ltd. is authorised 

by the MFSA. 

Prospective investors should note that the bonds are not redeemable before maturity. If you invest in these 

products, you will not have access to your money before 15 th November 2023 in respect of the bond having a 

yield of 3.75% or before 15 th November 2028 in respect of the bond having a yield of 4.6%. However, you may 

transfer or sell your bonds to third parties in accordance with the terms of the Prospectus. The value of your 

investment may go up as well as down and you may lose some or all the amount you invested. A copy of the 

prospectus is available free of charge from our offices. Timberland Securities Investment plc is incorporated 

under the laws of Malta and has issued a Prospectus under the Liechtenstein Securities Prospectus Act and 

passported a prospectus in terms of the Prospectus Directive (Directive 2003/71/EC).


MBR: What motivated you to work with 

LIDL? How did the idea come about and 

what is your role? 

MF: Lidl is one of the top four grocery retailers 

in the world. Who wouldn’t be motivated 

to work for a company of this stature? The 

Company has a presence in 30 Countries 

worldwide, with over 10,500 stores and more 

than 260,000 employees! 


Organisational Standard, Excellence 

and Outstanding Achievement By George Carol 

Interview with Mark Farrugia, Regional Director at Lidl Malta Ltd. 

I started at Lidl in 2013. Before I had 

been working for an important local food 

distributing company for nearly nine years. 

I was very happy working for that company, 

but felt at the time that I was not growing 

enough personally. I was approached by a 

recruitment agency to fill the post of a Sales 

Operations Executive, which was a stone’s 

throw away from my home. I went for an 

interview - and it turned out to be Lidl, and 

the rest is history now. 

Following an initial training stint in Italy 

(of around 16 months) I took over the 

Sales Department for Lidl Malta as Sales 

Operations Executive and as of last June as 

Regional Director. 

MBR: How would you measure success in 

what you do and also in the role you hold? 

MF: Success is measured in various ways; the 

easiest is the numeric one, which is financial 

performance and the attainment of KPIs. The 

more difficult one is the qualitative one. 

At Lidl Malta the success factor can be 

clearly seen every day through the number 

of clients who choose us consistently as their 

supermarket of choice. This can be confirmed 

by the fact that we have been voted the best 

value and most loved supermarket on the 

island consistently for a number of years now. 

Today’s leading enterprises such as Lidl 

Malta foster a work ethos that encourages 

employee enthusiasm, vision, and problem 

solving skills that are crucial in ensuring the 

success of the enterprise. The success of such 

a work ethos is measured in the development 

of a team that believes in what they do, and 

who carries out their daily duties with passion 

and dedication. 

MBR: How much oversight/interaction 

do you like to have from your employees 

when working and how important are the 

relations you keep with your team? 

MF: In a world where we are more 

networked than ever, where one could say 

we have become completely interdependent, 

interaction with one’s team is imperative. 

In today’s world, a company’s purpose 

or mission will need to be ingrained, or 

At every level of this 

journey someone, 

somewhere in some way 

would leave some sort 

of influence on me. 

moulded into the minds of all employees. We 

must nurture this talent towards becoming 

collaborators in value rather than individuals 

after personal success. This talent will need 

to be gradually empowered to take real time 

innovative decisions always in line with the 

company’s mission or purpose. 

MBR: What is the most interesting LIDL 

project you have worked on? What did you 

learn from this, and how did you apply it? 

Mark Farrugia 

MF: There are so many projects covered 

that it is difficult to pinpoint one - so I will 

mention two which have definitely been 

game changers. 

The first was the opening of the Lidl Mosta 

store. This was definitely a gamble since it 

distanced itself from the conventional Lidl 

stores we had opened previously. The store 

was the first of its size to be built offering 

a completely different experience to our 

customers. The siting was also very different 

to what we would have usually opted for and 

the timeline we gave ourselves, to take the 

store from the drawing board to being fully 

operational (sixteen weeks), was what some 

people would have deemed "ambitious". 

The outcome depended on a number of 

internal departments and external entities 

working perfectly in sync in order to achieve 

the deadlines. We managed to build and 

open the store in a record fourteen weeks; 

unprecedented! The store went on to 

become one of the most successful in the Lidl 

portfolio worldwide. 

The second would have to be ‘Evoluzzjoni 

Store Manager…….L’evoluzzjoni hija is - sahha 

taghna’. This was a project which kicked 

off in June 2015 when the company took 

the decision to raise the bar on all levels of 

management. In order to do so, it required 

a formation strategy and level of planning 

which was unparalleled. Imagine waking up 

one morning and saying that we are going 

to re-train every level of management in the 

company on a global scale. Easier said than 

16



done. The project was meticulously planned 

and implemented. Locally it involved more 

than 17,000 hours of training over a period of 

two years. Truly one of the most intense yet 

rewarding projects ever executed. 

MBR: What kind of “tools” do today’s 

entrepreneurs want/need, and how is 

LIDL positioning itself to be of value to its 

customers? 

MF: Today’s modern retail framework is 

constantly evolving in terms of speed and 

complexity. This is mostly driven by our 

endless crave for accessibility to more human 

knowledge, and dependence on modern and 

innovative technologies. 

Entrepreneurial spirited individuals want 

to learn, experiment, apply, share, partner 

in the running of the enterprise - and this is 

specifically what we have focused on doing at 

Lidl Malta over the years, developing a strong 

team which has gone from just 50 people to 

more than 350. 

The growth, results and market share we 

have gained in recent years and the fact that 

we have been voted the best value and most 

loved chain of supermarkets on the island, 

consistently over the last years is the result of 

smart people working together, challenging 

themselves continuously and consistently 

raising the bar. Together, we keep pushing the 

boundaries of what was initially thought of as 

impossible, and make it possible! 

MBR: Who has been your greatest influencer 

along your entrepreneurial journey? How 

did they shape what you do at LIDL? 

MF: I cannot possibly mention one. Everyone 

I have crossed paths with has in some way 

influenced this journey, especially at Lidl. This 

company takes everything to a different level. 

Every time a new colleague joins the company, 

I like to reminisce with him/her of my first day 

at Lidl - on a freezing morning in Padova. It 

had snowed so much that the trailer couldn’t 

back into the unloading bay to unload the 

daily order. The store manager smiled and 

handed me a shovel and before I knew it the 

whole team was shoveling snow, or breaking 

ice blocks to get the stock unloaded and get 

the store stocked for our customers for that 

day. At that point, I understood everything 

that this company stood for and that at every 

level of this journey someone, somewhere in 

some way would leave some sort of influence 

on me. 

In these six years I have been lucky enough 

to work under the guidance of a board of 

directors I consider visionaries. I have learnt 

to challenge myself endlessly; how to be 

motivated and how to motivate others, but 

more importantly to believe that together 

'nothing is impossible'! 

MBR: What is your overall approach to the 

supermarket trade today? 

MF: The supermarket trade is a dynamic 

sector which continues to evolve rapidly. It 

is one where not everything can be planned 

ahead, so both you as an individual and as 

a company need to be extremely flexible in 

your approach towards the industry. 

In addition to that, new technologies, a 

proliferation of supply of different formats, 

and all of that, means that customers have 

more choice of where to shop. Together, 

with increasingly busy lifestyles, this leads to 

fragmentation of where they shop - that all 

supermarkets have to respond to. 

You need to be at the top of your game all 

the time. You need to think outside the box 

and you need push your team to come up 

with an innovative approach to everything. 

Ultimately, I consider it to be exciting. Not 

a single day is similar to another. It can 

be challenging at times but it definitely is 

incredibly motivating and rewarding. 

MBR: Can you tell us about how you felt 

when your name and that of LIDL was 

announced as winner of the Chairman’s 

Award for Excellence during Malta’s Best 

Entrepreneur of the Year Awards 2018? 

MF: Let’s start off by saying that it was an 

honour and a privilege for the Lidl team to 

be nominated, let alone to win the award. 

On the night of the event sitting there with 

so many beautiful minds, so many successful 

entrepreneurs, managers and companies 

alike was an incredible experience. It sort of 

re-assures you that as an individual and as a 

team you must be doing something right. 

The prestigious Chairman’s award for 

excellence recognises organisational 

standard, excellence and outstanding 

achievement which clearly sums up 

everything this Company has achieved over 

the last ten years since it set foot here, and 

I was truly humbled to be picking up this 

award on behalf of the company. 

MBR: How significant is it to be recognised 

by such prestigious awards and would you 

support sponsoring such causes in the 

future? 

MF: I believe that recognition is an 

integral part of one's professional journey. 

Acknowledgement is a key motivating factor. 

It costs nothing but it gives incredible payback. 

So, be it the simple pat on the back 

and well done after talking with whoever, I 

firmly believe that "acknowledgement" can 

be a work changer. I definitely support such 

initiatives now and will do so also in the 

future. MBR 



17


ONE-ON-ONE 

Blockchain Summit Interview 

Martin Vella interviews Manuela Sedvartaite founder of SociumTrade. Manuela comes 

across as a key game changer and innovator; a trail blazing woman entrepreneur driver. 

Her enterprising person gave birth to a thriving blockchain company, making significant 

differences in the business community. 

Manuela Sedvartaite 

MBR: What can you tell us about 

Socium Trade and the role you play in 

it? 

MS: Socium Trade is a decentralised 

empowering financing platform, 

enabling to connect traders and 

investors, to engage in trade without 

intermediaries. This means we have 

created a place where you could 

invest your money with complete 

transparency and trust, a place where 

all the data on your investments is 

100% verifiable and accessible and a 

trustee may take informed decisions 

and engaged in market activities. This is 

where an accurate, constantly updated 

ranking system incentivizes traders to 

maximise their performance in a way 

that benefits all. Where, whatever 

your level of knowledge, you have 

the tools and community available to 

help you learn more as you go. Here, 

the big institutions are no longer the 

gatekeepers. Everyone can interact 

directly with one another. Socium Trade 

is a place where investors and traders 

have the independence and freedom to 

grow and earn. And blockchain is at the 

heart of this vision, because it enables 

us to build a community where trust is 

no longer a question, it is a way of life. 

We act as a brokerage for traditional 

investors, as well as cryptocurrrencies. 

We see security and transparency 

becoming the cornerstones of ever 

transaction, and individuals taking 

control of their financial futures. I 

founded Socium Trade with the goal 

of making finance and trading easy 

for everyone. It is the cross-section 

between trading platform and social 

network. It brings together traders 

and investors, enabling traders to 

procure capital for their portfolios, 

while giving investors the ability to fund 

professionals without involving a third 

party. My role is to oversee all aspects 

of management and development, 

managing over 40 employees working 

on the project. 

MBR: What motivated you to realise 

this vision and embark on this 

journey? 

MS: I used to work with artificial 

intelligence, biotechnology and my 

background came from management 

consulting and slowly moved into 

emerging technologies, where I began 

to love what I was doing. When I was 

working with one of the big Forex 

I thought the operational and risk 

management systems were actually 

very poorly built and that is where I saw 

the potential of blockchain technology, 

hence all my motivation that drove me 

towards this objective. 

MBR: How is SociumTrade looking to 

change the game through its trading 

and investment platform? 

MS: For traders and investors, 

remaining profitable and growing 

portfolios in an extended bear trend is 

hard. Doing it by yourself, without the 

help of trading and investing networks, 

is even harder, but existing communities 

can be insecure, illegitimate, and 

expensive. 

SociumTrade is looking to change 

the game through its trading and 

investment platform that is accessible, 

secure, and transparent to all its 

participants. Akin to a niche social 

network, users on the platform can 

communicate and collaborate to share 

strategies, resources, and research 

findings with one another. For the 

average individual beginning their 

trek into crypto or traditional markets, 

connecting themselves with private 

trading groups, investment pools, and 

even intuitive trading interfaces is 

often impossible for those unwilling to 

sacrifice huge amounts to subscription 

fees or jeopardize their assets to 

covertly malicious entities. 

SociumTrade is shifting the paradigm 

of a tokenized-economy with its 

comprehensive ecosystem that will 

connect its worldwide users to the 

products and tools most commonly 

sought after among traders and 

investors alike. Moreover, the platform 

prioritizes transparency and security 

so that funds and profits are never 

put in danger. The core features of the 

platform are as follows: 

Peer-To-Peer Transactions: Traders 

can participate in over-the-counter 

transactions with one another in a 

trustless, secure manner. For coins 

with low liquidity or little support from 

exchanges, this means traders are never 

subject to paying massive premiums 

or having their funds lost on shoddy 

exchanges. 

"And blockchain is at 

the heart of this vision, 

because it enables us 

to build a community 

where trust is no longer 

a question, it is a way of 

life. 

Decentralized P2P Lending: 

SociumTrade users can cooperate 

in peer-to-peer lending operations. 

Investors can lease their holdings for 

whatever interest rate they offer, and 

traders can take advantage of available 

funds to maximize their exposure or 

take advantage of trading opportunities 

without jeopardizing their current 

holdings. 

Follow Traders: Users on the platform 

broadcast their trades to the ecosystem 

and other traders can take note of the 

strategies used by their peers. 

18

ONE-ON-ONE 


Investment Consortiums and Pools: 

Users can combine their assets in order 

to cooperate to build larger funds. 

While investment consortiums allow 

for effective capital management 24/7, 

investment pools enable participants to 

earn passive income with minimal risk. 

Intuitive Trading Interface: A key focus 

of SociumTrade is user experience. 

The trading interface is straightforward 

and powerful. Users build their own 

terminal design, have a custom layout 

and choose tools to be visible. From 

the charting interface, users can draw 

and highlight graphs, input trends, 

study candles, and more. When they 

are ready to trade, any amount of 

market or limit orders can be made 

simultaneously. 

Data-Intelligence: SociumTrade 

has a built-in AI driven analytical 

engine to watch and predict market 

trends, indicate the potential market 

opportunities, analyze traders 

behaviour and ratios, rank traders or 

funds based on performance data. 

As a result, SociumTrade provides a 

decentralized, intuitive, accessible, and 

highly powerful financial ecosystem. 

KYC/AML compliance ensures all users 

remain honest and regulations are 

followed. Rating metrics can be applied 

to different assets, strategies, and 

traders to further share knowledge and 

opinions. 

Manuela Sedvartaite 

Socium Trade Inc. 

Co Founder and CMO 

Dedicated to applying emerging 

technologies to transform the financial 

landscape, Manuela is the founder 

of SociumTrade, a platform offering 

a combination of multi-asset trading 

and investment with the flexibility and 

openness of a social network. Her vision 

is to create an ecosystem for secure 

investments worldwide using blockchain 

technology. Currently, she works 

amongst startups, regulators, investors 

and incumbent financial institutions 

to develop a collaborative approach to 

rethinking financial services. Manuela 

holds a business degree from the 

Hong Kong University of Science and 

Technology and has a diverse set of 

experience ranging from robotic process 

automation to Big 4 auditing. MBR 


Photo credit: Getty Images 


19


TRANSPORTS & LOGISTICS 

Express Trailers broadens 

ShipLowCost.com Horizons 

Express Trailers has not only revamped its 

ShipLowCost online platform with a new 

look but more importantly, it has extended 

its offering to now allow customers to send 

anything they want to anywhere in the world 

through an online platform in just a few 

clicks. 

“Since the genesis of ShipLowCost, it was 

always part of our strategic plan to also serve 

the local retailer in gaining access to the 

global market. Retailers are moving towards 

omni-channel by adding e-commerce to their 

brick-and-mortar outlets. One of the bigger 

challenges being in an island, is the efficiency 

and effectiveness of the delivery of e-sales 

to their customer around the world. By 

providing local online sellers with a platform 

that enables them to sell to anywhere in the 

world, we are actually enabling everyone 

to become a global retailer,” said Franco 

Azzopardi, Chairman and CEO of Express 

Trailers. 

“To date, ShipLowCost.com was geared 

mainly towards online shoppers who 

redirected their online purchases to one 

of our depots spread around Europe and 

"This project, to which 

we have been affording 

a lot of energy over 

the past three years, 

contributes further to 

strengthening Express 

Trailers’ leading position 

in Malta’s logistics 

sector. 

from there, we had them shipped directly to 

Malta through our extensive road network. 

The strength in this offering is that we own 

our fleet and we have thousands of trips 

to and from Malta to make this offering 

efficient. Now, the service is being extended 

to anyone, business or individual, who wants 

to sell and ship to anywhere in the world.” 

“In fact, we have launched the service now, 

at this particular time of the year for those 

many customers who might also wish to 

send presents to their loved ones abroad 

over the Christmas season,” added Franco 

Azzopardi. “Being strongly entrenched in 

total logistics, we can support our exporting 

client through a few clicks, with a collection 

service, right-sizing of packing boxes and also 

for the bigger retailer, managed warehousing 

with a pick-pack-deliver option.” 

“This project, to which we have been 

affording a lot of energy over the past three 

years, contributes further to strengthening 

Express Trailers’ leading position in Malta’s 

logistics sector,” added Franco Azzopardi. 

ShipLowCost.com is going to remain one of 

the main priorities and goals for 2019 for 

Express Trailers. 

“From a commercial aspect, we are going to 

enhance ShipLowCost.com’s B2B capability 

to include an export service for online sales 

done by Malta-based retailers. With this 

new enabling service, one does not need to 

be a huge exporter to sell abroad. Indeed, 

one will be able to sell even small quantities 

and rely on the best of breed logistics for 

export and final delivery,” concluded Franco 

Azzopardi. MBR 

Ship Low Cost Warehouse 

Creditline: Express Trailers 

20


MBR 


21


ICT 

When it comes to Digital Transformation, 

there’s more than one way to skin a cat 

(but only a few ways to get quick ROI) 

Last week in San Francisco, I met with a major automotive manufacturer. We’ve been working with one of their divisions for 

many years, so this meeting was about taking the learnings from that division and applying them to another. 

The challenge they outlined: “It’s not that I don’t 

know where to start. We’ve already started. I need 

to know where to focus!” 

Sound familiar? If you’re in a large or mid-sized 

manufacturing company, chances are you’re 

already trialling new technologies for a range of 

niche use cases. As productivity pressure piles up 

and new solutions become available, it can be hard 

to know where to focus your digital transformation 

efforts. 

I’m excited to be at the Manufacturing Leaders’ 

Summit next week, discussing this very problem 

and how our diverse range of customers are 

approaching it. For a preview of my presentation, 

read on… 

Productivity Pressures vs New Technologies 

Since the dawn of the industrial revolution, 

manufacturers have been looking for ways to boost 

productivity. Whether through Taylor’s Time & 

Motion studies, Toyota’s Total Quality Management 

system, or GE’s Six Sigma programme, the most 

successful companies do more with less. With 

today’s new technologies, we have opportunities 

to drive productivity further. 

Is it really needed? Well, to give some context, 

in North America unplanned downtime costs 

process industry businesses $20bn annually, 80% 

of which is preventable. Conversely, our own 

estimates suggest that adoption of Industrial 

Internet technologies could add between £200bn 

and £320bn to the UK's GDP by 2030. Industrial 

Internet solutions could bring greater efficiency 

to key UK sectors, translating into real growth. 

New technologies offer a way out of this stagnant 

growth – but as my customer said last week it 

can be hard to know where to focus. Today, new 

technologies enable greater productivity, but not 

all tech is created equal; some are more mature 

than you might think. 

There are a host of tech buzzwords out there, from 

drones to digital twins, additive manufacturing to 

augmented reality, blockchain to big data, edge 

to the cloud, predictive maintenance to machine 

learning. Many companies dabble in these but find 

themselves bogged down in proofs of concept or 

pilots that never take off. 

Avoiding Pilot Purgatory: Why Build if You 

can Buy? 

Many IT departments invest in local solutions 

tackling specific problems. To release value from 

these initiatives, business leaders need to focus 

on projects that can scale across multiple sites 

and use cases. It wouldn’t make sense for your IT 

team to build a new version of Microsoft Office, so 

why should they build software for your industrial 

assets and processes? 

The key is understanding how to get from where 

you are to where you want to be, tying investments 

in digital technologies back to business strategy. 

Opportunities to experiment are greater than ever, 

but while it’s great having so many options, it also 

means making more decisions – which solution to 

choose, who is best aligned with your business, 

what you can afford and what will bring the best 

return. 

Examples Worth Following 

Many companies are already making great 

progress. Here are some use cases from our 

customers: 

Gerdau, the largest producer of long steel in the 

Americas, had a focus on ROI and reducing costs 

from the beginning. They knew the importance of 

a clear, outcome-focused ROI strategy – saving $4.5 

billion annually. By connecting their digitalisation 

activity to their business strategy they pioneered 

the definition of productivity in the global steel 

industry. 

Intel proved the importance of scalability after we 

ran a successful pilot with them installing APM on 

fan filter units. Now, we’re partnering with them 

to sell the solution across the semiconductor 

industry. The model demonstrates the benefits of 

greater processing power – from edge to cloud. 

SIG, Swiss German food & beverage packaging 

manufacturer, have a long history of data collection 

and analysis on their machines. Their in-house IT 

team had started over 150 digital transformation 

projects, so they identified six priorities and 

channelled their efforts there – focussing on our 

unique Asset Performance Management and Field 

Service Management solutions. A full analysis of 

the upfront and hidden costs will help you make an 

informed decision for the success of your business. 

SIG knew that for them, buy was better than build. 

Deborah Sherry is the Senior Vice President and 

Chief Commercial Officer at GE Digital Europe, 

Russia & CIS MBR 

Creditline: GE Gigittal Europe 

22


EUROPEAN UNION 

European Elections 2019: 

What Europe does for me 

By Jaume Duch Guillot & Neil Corlett 

• Short, easily readable notes on how the 

EU has improved peoples’ lives; 

• Quick and simple navigation by region, 

profession, leisure activity; 

A ground-breaking new website 

demonstrating the EU’s positive impact 

on individual citizens was unveiled by 

President Tajani today. 

The most recent Eurobarometer survey, 

published last month, found that 68% of 

respondents agreed that their country 

has benefitted from EU membership. But 

there have been very few attempts to list 

the concrete benefits of EU membership to 

ordinary people across the EU. Ahead of 

the European elections in May next year, it is 

hoped that this website will illustrate to what 

extent the EU makes a difference. 

them and this new European Parliament 

website provides clear, jargon-free answers. 

It will be a valuable tool in bringing Europe 

closer to its citizens”. 

Around 1 800 one-page notes are available 

to read, share or reuse as on-line pages or 

as PDF files. They are organised in two main 

categories on the website. The first section, 

‘In my region’, allows users to select the place 

where they and their family live or work. How 

is Europe present in our towns, cities and 

regions? This section of the website covers 

over 1 400 localities in every part of the 

European Union. 

The second section of the site, ‘In my life’, 

lets each user select from 400 ‘one-pagers’ 

to find things that are important to her or 

to him personally. How does the EU affect, 

onward links to further information - rather 

than trying to list everything the EU has ever 

done. 

They will be complemented, in a third section 

"Europeans ask what the 

EU has done for them 

and this new European 

Parliament website 

provides clear, jargonfree 

answers. It will be a 

valuable tool in bringing 

Europe closer to its 

citizens. 

The interactive, multilingual, ‘What Europe 

Does For Me’ online website, put together 

by the European Parliamentary Research 

Service, presents hundreds of easy-to-read, 

one-page notes giving examples of the 

positive difference that the EU makes to 

people's lives. Users can easily find specific 

information about what Europe does for their 

region, their profession or their favourite 

pastime. 

Launching the site in Strasbourg today, 

European Parliament President Tajani said: 

“Europeans ask what the EU has done for 

for example, families, health care, hobbies, 

travel, security, consumer choices and social 

rights? How does the EU support people in 

their professional lives in dozens of jobs - from 

beekeepers to bus drivers to brewers? What 

has the EU done for people who enjoy leisure 

activities such as sport, music or watching 

television? A series of podcasts in a growing 

number of languages is also available for this 

section. 

The notes provide a snapshot of EU action for 

citizens - based on interesting examples, with 

of the site, with longer briefing papers on EU 

policies ‘in focus’, which outline some of the 

achievements of the current parliamentary 

term, and the outlook for the future, with a 

special focus on public opinion and citizens’ 

concerns and expectations of EU action. 

This website has been put together by 

the European Parliamentary Research 

Service (EPRS), in conjunction with the 

Communications and Translations services of 

the European Parliament. 

Jaume DUCH GUILLOT is the EP 

Spokesperson and Director General for 

Communication 

Neil CORLETT is the Head of the Press Unit 

Credit: EU Press/EPO Valletta 


24




25


SPECIAL FEATURE: THE SRB IN THE BANKING UNION 

The SRB: the single resolution authority for the Banking Union 

The SRM is one of the pillars of the Banking Union, alongside the SSM (see Figure 2). As of November 2014, the SSM is the 

new system of banking supervision in the Banking Union, comprising the European Central Bank (ECB) and national supervisory 

authorities of the participating Member States (National Competent Authorities). Under the SRM, centralised decision-making 

power in respect of resolution has been entrusted to the SRB, which derives its powers from both the BRRD and the SRMR. 

In force from January 2015, the Single Resolution 

Mechanism (SRM) is the new system of bank resolution 

comprising the Single Resolution Board (SRB) and 

National Resolution Authorities of the participating 

Member States of the Banking Union (NRAs) (see 

Figure 1). The SRM constitutes one of the pillars of the 

Banking Union. It complements the Single Supervisory 

Mechanism (SSM), the unified system of banking 

supervision in the Banking Union. The SSM and the 

SRM aim to ensure the banking system in the Banking 

Union is safer. 

The SRM's mission is to ensure an orderly resolution of 

failing banks and banking groups (hereafter ’banks’), 

with minimum impact on the real economy and public 

finances of the participating Member States of the 

Banking Union. Responsibilities are allocated among 

the SRB and the NRAs, as set out in the SRM Regulation 

(SRMR). The role of the SRB and the NRAs is not limited 

to crisis situations, but is primarily focused on planning 

and preparatory measures, such as drawing up 

resolution plans, setting appropriate levels of Minimum 

Requirements for own funds and Eligible Liabilities 

(MREL), and addressing impediments to resolvability. 

A resolution plan comprises a comprehensive 

description of credible and feasible resolution actions 

which the SRM may implement if a bank meets the 

conditions for resolution. 

Preparing and adopting resolution schemes 

Upon the determination by the ‘extended’ Executive 

Session of the SRB that a bank meets the conditions 

for resolution, the SRB will adopt a resolution scheme, 

determining the application of the relevant resolution 

tools and, if necessary, the use of the SRF. Where the 

resolution action involves the use of the SRF or the 

granting of State aid, the resolution scheme can only 

be adopted after the EC has adopted a positive or 

conditional decision concerning the compatibility of 

such aid with the internal market. Relevant NRAs are 

closely involved in the preparation and adoption of 

a resolution scheme. The IRTs prepare the resolution 

schemes. 

In general, the ‘extended’ Executive Session of the 

SRB adopts a resolution scheme and places a bank 

under resolution. However, if over €5 billion of the 

SRF (or €10 billion of liquidity support) is to be used, 

the resolution scheme prepared by the ‘extended’ 

Executive Session is deemed to be adopted, unless, 

within three hours after submission of the draft resolution 

scheme, at least one member of the Plenary Session 

calls a meeting of the Plenary Session. In the latter 

case, the Plenary Session will decide on the resolution 

scheme. If more than €5 billion of the SRF is used in any 

rolling 12-month period, the Plenary Session evaluates 

the application of the resolution tools and provides 

guidance which the Executive Session must follow in 

subsequent resolution decisions. 

• Consultation of the Resolution College members 

and joint decision process with the relevant 

resolution authorities of EU subsidiaries 

• Draft resolution plan 

• Submit resolution plan, including MREL, to ECB/ 

NCAs for consultation 

• Submit resolution plan and MREL to ‘extended’ 

Executive Session for preliminary endorsement 

• Submit resolution plan and MREL to ‘extended’ 

Executive Session for final approval 

• Communicate outcome resolution planning 

process and MREL to bank 

• Resolution plans: preparation and adoption 

process where a Resolution College is required 

THE SINGLE RESOLUTION MECHANISM 

Once the SRB has adopted a resolution scheme, it 

sends the scheme to the EC. The scheme may only 

enter into force if no objection is expressed by the EC 

or the Council of the European Union within a period 

of 24 hours. If the EC endorses the scheme, it enters into 

force. However, if the EC objects to certain aspects of 

the scheme, the SRB shall modify it accordingly, after 

which is approved and enters into force. Alternatively, 

the EC can propose to the Council of the European 

Union that it objects to the scheme either because 

there is no public interest, or to require a material 

modification to the use of the SRF. If the Council of the 

European Union objects to the scheme because it is 

not in the public interest, the bank will be wound up in 

an orderly manner in accordance with the applicable 

national law. If the Council of the European Union 

approves the modification to the use of the SRF, the 

SRB modifies the scheme accordingly, after which it is 

approved and enters into force. If the Council of the 

European Union rejects the EC’s proposal, the scheme 

enters into force in its original form. 

All this is foreseen to take place within very tight 

deadlines in order to allow resolution of a failing bank 

over a weekend (see below). 

Cooperation with resolution authorities of nonparticipating 

Member States 

For banks headquartered in the Banking Union and 

with one or more subsidiaries or significant branches 

in one or more non-participating Member States, 

or vice-versa, Resolution Colleges bring the SRB 

and the relevant resolution authorities together to 

discuss and agree on resolution planning and other 

resolution matters. Depending on where the bank is 

headquartered, the SRB or the resolution authority of 

a non-participating Member State is the so-called 

Group-Level Resolution Authority (GLRA). The way in 

which Resolution Colleges are expected to work and 

the interaction among the members of the Resolution 

Colleges is defined in the Commission Delegated 

Regulation 2016/1075. 

The SRB works in close cooperation with NRAs to 

accomplish its tasks. One of its key tasks is to draft 

resolution plans for the banks. The purpose of resolution 

planning is to gain a comprehensive understanding of 

the banks, to identify and address any impediments 

to their resolvability, and to be prepared for their 

resolution, if needed. Resolution planning requires a 

considerable amount of information and analysis, also 

from the banks, as they are best placed to provide 

information on their own structure and functioning. This 

publication describes, in general terms, the information 

required for resolution planning and the structure and 

process to draft a resolution plan. Resolution planning 

is an ongoing process. Over time, resolution plans will 

become more detailed and sophisticated. This also 

implies that in the period to come, the requirement for 

banks to address impediments to their resolvability and 

to meet their MREL (quantity, quality, and location) will 

become more concrete. 

In case of questions, comments, or suggestions 

regarding this publication, please contact the SRB 

through SRB-INFO@srb.europa.eu. MBR 

Credits: Single Resolution Board 


26




27


SPECIAL FEATURE: SRB INTERVIEW 

Single Resolution Board 

(SRB) Chair, Elke König Interview with the Malta Business Review - By Martin Vella 

Dr Elke König is Chair of the SRB, being 

responsible for the management of the 

organisation, the work of the Board, the 

budget, all staff, and the Executive and 

Plenary sessions of the Board. The General 

Counsel, the Policy Coordination and International 

Relations Unit, the Communications 

office and the Internal Audit function 

report directly to her. 

She was President of the German Federal 

Financial Supervisory Authority (Bundesanstalt 

für Finanzdienstleistungsaufsicht 

(BaFin) from 2012 until 2015. After 

qualifying in business administration and 

obtaining a doctorate, Dr König spent 

many years working for companies in the 

financial and insurance sector. From 1980 

to 1990, she worked for KPMG Deutsche 

Treuhandgesellschaft in Cologne, auditing 

and advising insurance undertakings, from 

1986 as a holder of a special statutory 

authority (Prokuristin) and from 1988 as a 

director and partner. From 1990 to 2002, 

Dr König was a member of the senior management 

of the Munich Re Group (Head of 

Accounting); she then moved to Hannover 

Rückversicherung AG as Chief Financial 

Officer. From 2010 to the end of 2011, Dr 

König was a member of the International 

Accounting Standards Board (IASB) in 

London. Dr König was also a representative 

of the Supervisory Board of the Single 

Supervisory Mechanism. 

MBR: Ten (10) years after the crisis: have 

banks become truly resolvable and has the 

regulatory reaction been sufficient? 

EK: Casting our minds back just ten years, 

the insufficiency of pre-crisis regulation is 

clear. The lack of an effective resolution 

regime meant that authorities were not able 

to manage the failures of systemics banks 

effectively. In particular, the existence of 

banks deemed ‘too big to fail’ meant that 

ordinary people, through their governments, 

were left to foot the bill when things 

went wrong. 

The EU now has a bank resolution regime. 

This regime was implemented in the Bank 

Recovery and Resolution Directive and the 

Single Resolution Mechanism Regulation 

(SRMR). The SRMR created a new agency in 

charge of resolution, the SRB. 

Our day-to-day work is to proactively ensure 

that banks are resolvable, in line with the 

objectives set out in European legislation. 

But bank resolution is a journey, and there is 

much to be done before we reach our final 

goal. The reforms – those that took place 

and those that are still in the legislative process 

taken together - are probably sufficient 

and will be effective; but implementation of 

these reforms is not yet complete. 

Moreover, it is not only up to the authorities 

to enhance the system. Banks themselves 

must adjust their procedures and perhaps 

even their business models to align to the 

new regulatory framework. Only working together, 

can banks and the authorities make 

resolvability a reality, and deliver financial 

stability to Europe. 

I think we should also start perceiving the 

concept of “resolution”, at some point, as a 

common good or in the interest of everyone 

– that is for the taxpayers but as well 

as contributing to financial stability instead 

of being “just” an additional burden to the 

industry. After all, the public, and more 

particularly the markets, should respect and 

reflect that the banks which are resolvable 

should be better priced compared to the 

ones which are not. 

MBR: What has really changed, what have 

we learnt and where will the world go? 

EK: Avoiding the mistakes that led to the 

Banking Crisis is central to our work. One 

lesson we have learned from the 2008 crisis 

is that banks are often global in life and 

national in death. In Europe, the high level 

of interdependence across Member States’ 

banking systems meant that a coordinated 

solution was needed to manage bank failure. 

In effect, the aim of the Banking Union 

is to enable the authorities to manage the 

failure of banks, so that even in death banks 

are dealt with from a European perspective. 

A core element of the regulatory response 

has been the establishment of the Single 

Resolution Fund, which today stands at 

€24.9 billion and will be built up to 1% of 

covered deposits. The taxpayer has contributed 

- and will contribute - nothing to this 

fund. Instead, it is entirely funded by banks. 

Implementing the agreed upon Common 

Backstop for the Fund is also critical. This 

will give markets the confidence that resolution 

will work even for large, complex banks, 

and reduce stress on the financial system in 

the event of a bank failure. 

Beyond the backstop, it remains fundamental 

to press ahead and complete the Banking 

Union’s third and final pillar through the 

development of the European Deposit Insurance 

Scheme. For the proper functioning of 

a Banking Union, there should be no difference 

in the strength of protection available 

to depositors in each individual Member 

State, and a failure should not fall on the 

national public coffers. 

MBR: Within five years of the advent of 

the Crisis, the policy debate across Europe 

on tackling it focused on demand management 

and monetary policy. Despite 

German reluctance, public investment was 

an important and undeniable policy goal. 

But given that different countries needed 

different treatments, how difficult is it to 

agree on one common policy and have a 

sound legislation in place? 

EK: This is a question for the Co-legislators 

to answer. 

From the SRB’s perspective, it is worth mentioning 

that the Banking Union has created a 

European authority for supervision and resolution 

and – of course – a single rulebook. 

The direct application of the SRMR as a 

regulation is an important first step. The 

agreement on a Harmonised Creditor 

Hierarchy will help because an aligned 

creditor hierarchy across Member States 

will improve market transparency, help with 

the pricing of instruments and enhance the 

implementation of resolution tools. 

However, the SRM framework for resolution 

is faced with 19 or more different insolvency 

procedures. In some Member States, 

insolvency proceedings are well established, 

28

SPECIAL FEATURE: SRB INTERVIEW 


while in others, the procedures are unclear 

and have long, uncertain timeframes. A 

clear and transparent process is absolutely 

essential for markets to help creditors to 

understand the potential risks and to inform 

the price-setting and funding to the banks. 

MBR: How has the banking system been 

made stronger and more resilient to avoid 

cases like these and similar crisis of unassailable 

debt, when problems of insufficient 

public investment – and problems 

with the Stability and Growth Pact – have 

persisted? 

EK: Since the crisis the regulatory framework 

has strengthened significantly. All SRB 

banking groups will be covered by a resolution 

plan in 2019. Our tasks will increasingly 

focus on tailoring resolution strategies to a 

bank’s structure and business model, and 

identifying and addressing impediments to 

resolvability – such as lack of proper management 

into systems. 

"From a resolution 

perspective, 

blockchain plays 

no important role 

at the moment. 

Thanks to the EU reforms, the SRB is now 

equipped with a number of tools that help 

us enhance the stability of the banking sector. 

A key tool to achieve resolvability is, and 

will continue to be, MREL. Through setting 

MREL targets, the SRB ensures that banks 

have a healthy amount of loss absorbing 

capacity, so that resources are available to 

enable the effective application of resolution 

tools when banks fail. In this way, the 

SRB makes sure that banks have appropriate 

buffers to deal with shocks and are thus 

more secure. 

In 2018, we have set binding MREL targets 

at consolidated level for the most important 

banking groups, while informative targets 

have been communicated to the remaining 

banks. 2019 will see sizeable progress in the 

definition of MREL requirements, including 

the location of MREL. 

MBR: Ten years from the crisis, we are 

now talking of new technology, such as 

Blockchain, cryptocurrency and Bitcoin, 

with the Maltese PM stating recently that: 

“Blockchain is the technology of trust”. 

Does the SRB share this view, what are 

your comments and how will the SRB 

recommend to set up a regulatory function 

within the EU to monitor countries who 

are harnessing this technology, within an 

EU legal operational framework? 

EK: Our objective is to create a safe and 

stable financial market. New technologies 

can play a role in this, but risks and opportunities 

should be appropriately assessed 

by the industry and by regulators. From a 

resolution perspective, blockchain plays no 

important role at the moment. 

MBR: What stage of development has 

the European Deposit Guarantee Scheme 

reached? 

EK: Although we have unfortunately seen 

limited progress in the last year, the SRB 

strongly believes that EDIS as the third 

pillar of the Banking Union must become a 

reality as soon as possible. Having unified 

supervision and resolution, harmonising 

the protection of depositors is a logical step 

with obvious benefits to financial stability. 

The Commission communication last year 

offered new approaches to unlock progress 

on EDIS. Following that communication, we 

would strongly welcome a more pragmatic 

attitude towards finding an agreement on 

EDIS, so that the deadlock in the discussion 

can be broken. We hope that the Commission’s 

suggestion of a targeted AQR to assess 

NPLs and Level III assets as a precondition 

to sharing credit risk in EDIS will address the 

concerns of stakeholders. 

MBR: No part of the financial sector will 

remain unregulated! Governments and 

parliaments declared the end of “light 

touch” regulation… they promised that 

complex financial products will not be 

traded anymore in the shadows. And last 

but not least, no more bank bail outs! 

Now in 2018, the implemented financial 

regulation have hardly changed the way 

banks, investors, or speculators operate. 

Worse, new financial risks and financial 

market instability have created new crises. 

Under these circumstances, how should 

we modify our approach, as well as have 

a robust regulatory agenda and financial 

guidelines/legislation? 

EK: I am not sure I follow your line of 

argument. Financial stability has tangibly 

increased since the last crisis and regulation 

has moved in a sensible direction. 

Now it is paramount to avoid weakening 

the standards already agreed. The last few 

years have seen a material enhancement of 

regulation in response to the crisis. 

Yet when memories fade, there is a distinct 

threat that we forget the significance of the 

regulatory systems put in place. That means 

that at this point the authorities should take 

advantage of positive market conditions to 

push forward with finalising reforms. This 

will further strengthen the Banking Union 

through both risk-reduction and risk-sharing 

measures, ensuring the authorities are able 

to manage future bank failures without the 

use of taxpayer funds. 

This holds true for the industry too: They 

know the topics that need to be addressed 

from “capital” to “NPL” to “obstacles to 

resolvability”, thus they too should push 

forward in these areas. There is no reason to 

wait. After all, ‘Let’s make hay while the sun 

is shining’. And if the industry does not take 

the necessary steps of its own accord, we 

will have to make them. 

In regards to new risks, it is important for 

the authorities to monitor developments 

in the market and adapt the framework, 

where necessary, to account for these risks. 

An important area for future development 

are Central Counterparties, which have 

grown ever more important since the crisis. 

The SRB has an interest in the development 

of an effective CCP resolution framework 

because many of the banks under our remit 

are clearing members of these CCPs and 

are therefore exposed to their tail-risk. CCPs 

should be robust with appropriate recovery 

and resolution regimes, and we welcome 

the ongoing work on the Commission in this 

area. MBR 




29


30



31


SPECIAL FEATURE: SINGLE RESOLUTION BOARD 

SINGLE RESOLUTION BOARD 

The SRB was established by Regulation (EU) No 806/2014 (the Single Resolution 

Mechanism Regulation (SRMR)), and began operating as an independent EU 

agency on 1 January 2015. It assumed its full legal mandate for resolution planning 

and adopting all decisions relating to resolution on 1 January 2016. 

The SRB’s mission is to ensure an 

orderly resolution of failing banks 

with minimum impact on the real 

economy, the financial system, 

and the public finances of the 

participating Member States and 

beyond. 

The SRB is the central resolution authority 

within the Banking Union. Together with the 

NRAs of participating Member States, it forms 

the Single Resolution Mechanism (SRM). The 

SRB works in close cooperation with 19 NRAs, 

the European Commission, the European 

Central Bank (ECB) and the EBA, as well as 

national competent authorities (NCAs). 

The role of the SRB is proactive: rather 

than waiting for resolution cases to manage, 

the SRB focuses on resolution planning and 

enhancing resolvability in close cooperation 

with NRAs. The SRB drafts and adopts 

resolution plans for the banks under its remit 

and regularly updates these plans. In this 

context, the SRB determines the preferred 

resolution strategy for a bank; this strategy 

sets out the resolution tools and powers to 

be applied in the event of resolution and sets 

the MREL. Should a bank within the SRB’s 

remit be failing or likely to fail, and also fulfil 

the other criteria for resolution, the SRB will 

draft and adopt a resolution scheme and the 

relevant NRAs will implement the resolution 

accordingly. In addition to resolution planning 

and decisions for significant institutions 

through a so-called, the SRB also performs 

an oversight function with regard to LSIs. 

The SRB is also in charge of the industryfunded 

SRF, which was established to provide 

ancillary financing to ensure the effective 

application of resolution schemes. 

The SRB’s values: the SRB strives to be a 

trusted and respected resolution authority 

with a strong resolution capacity in the 

SRM, thus avoiding future bail-outs. The 

SRB aims to be a centre of expertise in bank 

resolution. Its three values are (i) Excellence 

in Resolution, (ii) Integrity and (iii) EU spirit. 

EXCELLENCE IN RESOLUTION } Reference 

Authority } Skilled workforce } Resilience EU. 

THE SRB’S MAIN MEDIUM-TERM 

OBJECTIVES 

The SRB’s priority is to achieve resolvability 

in the Banking Union and to strengthen its 

resolution readiness, that is, its ability to draft 

and adopt a resolution decision at any point 

in time should an SRB bank be failing or likely 

to fail, and to meet the other conditions for 

resolution. To achieve this, the SRB, together 

with national resolution authorities (NRAs), 

drafts resolution plans and prepares, within 

a given timeframe, a resolution strategy 

designed to best meet resolution objectives. 

Taking a three-year perspective, the SRB 

will continue to implement its mission to 

ensure an orderly resolution of failing banks 

with minimum impact on the real economy, 

the financial system and public finances. 

To achieve this, the SRB has defined the 

following five strategic areas of operation in 

which progress is to be accomplished: 

> Strengthening resolvability for SRB entities 

and less significant institutions (LSIs); 

> Fostering a robust resolution framework; 

> Preparing and carrying out effective crisis 

management; 

> Operationalising the Single Resolution 

Fund (SRF); 

> Establishing a lean and efficient 

organisation. MBR 

Source: SRB/Replanning 


32

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Small from Gorton Consultancy, Scotland, 

have teamed up to offer specialist ORM 

services to the marine industry. By joining 

forces and utilising Malta as a hub location, 

SHIELD Marine is able to reach out into 

extended markets within Europe, across 

MENA and even beyond. 

Today’s maritime industry is acutely aware 

of the risks their operations can pose to 

society, the economy and the environment. 

We aim to extend SHIELD’s expertise and 

systems into the marine world in order 

to manage and control theses risks in an 

efficient and cost-effective manner. These 

systems are applicable to national authorities, 

shipping companies and ports and 

include risk assessment and management, 

contingency planning and the coordination 

of response activities. MBR 

Joe Gabriele, John Schembri and Joe Small 


33



The Common Backstop: 

how it will strengthen 

the Single Resolution 

Fund 

Single Resolution Board Article 

by SRB Vice Chair, Timo Löyttyniemi 

The Common Backstop to the 

Single Resolution Fund was 

agreed in principle by Member 

States in 2013 and will enhance 

the credibility of the resolution 

framework in the Banking Union. 

The ESM was agreed as the 

provider of the Common Backstop 

by the Euro Summit in June 2018. 

The Common Backstop would be 

available only as a last resort and, 

in case of use, it would be repaid 

by the Banking Sector. 

It is important that the Common 

Backstop’s design provides for 

rapid and effect decision-making 

by the ESM and aligns to the 

resolution objectives. Overcomplexity 

should be avoided. 

Introduction 

One of the biggest changes demanded by 

policy makers and politicians in the wake 

of the financial crisis ten years ago was to 

address the moral hazard of “too-big-tofail” 

banks and find a way to deal with failing 

systemic banks without widespread spill-over 

effects to the financial system, the economy 

and public finances, and without the taxpayer 

having to foot the bill. In Europe, there was 

clear agreement that the bail-outs of the last 

decade, with the use of public funds, had to 

be consigned to history. Thus, the principle 

of “resolving” systemically important banks 

with a “bail-in” instead of a “bail-out” was 

put into legislation and can now be applied in 

practice[1]. This term covers the way we deal 

with failing banks today. 

Creation of the Banking Union 

In the EU, new rules on the recovery and 

resolution of banks were agreed. For the 

Banking Union, the Single Supervisory 

Mechanism (SSM) and the Single Resolution 

Mechanism (SRM) have been established, 

with the Single Resolution Board (SRB) 

created as the supranational resolution 

34



authority in the Banking Union. The Banking 

Union currently covers the 19 Eurozone 

countries, but it is also open to other Member 

States of the EU. 

Importantly, different resolution tools 

were created to address bank failures, 

and the Single Resolution Fund (SRF) was 

created to ensure the effective application 

of resolution actions by the SRB, where 

necessary and subject to strict criteria. The 

SRF is funded through ex-ante contributions 

(i.e. contributions collected annually in 

advance) from the banking sector, ensuring 

that the cost of failures will be borne by 

existing creditors and the banking sector. 

The SRF now holds 24.9bn euro and it is 

being built up over a period of 8 years to 

1% of covered deposits (an amount close to 

60bn euro based on recent projections)[2]. 

To further strengthen the Banking Union, 

Member States agreed in 2013, and further 

in 2016 to develop a Common Backstop (the 

“Backstop”) to the SRF which should become 

operational by the latest at the end of the 

transitional period, i.e. end 2023. 

Why is the Backstop so important? 

Market confidence in a time of crisis 

is key. For credibility, the existence 

of a Backstop to the SRF is crucial, 

in particular for situations where 

the SRF might not be able to provide 

sufficient funds or those financial 

means are not readily available. It is 

to be used only as a last resort and 

it will ensure the SRB will always 

have access to sufficient funds to 

address even a severe systemic crisis 

and thereby secure financial stability 

when this is most needed. Indeed, 

the Backstop’s very existence would 

boost confidence in markets in a 

time of crisis, and therefore the need 

to actually use such a Backstop could 

be greatly reduced. The Backstop 

also ensures a level playing field with 

other jurisdictions that already have 

put in place a similar mechanism. 

Recently, the Euro Area Member 

States agreed that the Backstop 

would be provided by the European 

Stability Mechanism (‘ESM’), for 

which the size would be aligned to 

the target level of the SRF. 

Fiscally-neutral for the taxpayer 

The Backstop will be provided by the ESM in 

form of a credit line and its design will ensure 

that last resort funding will be available for 

the SRF. The Backstop will not be a burden 

on the public purse, because in the medium 

term the banking sector will cover the cost of 

any Backstop use, via contributions collected 

afterwards (via ex-post contributions) 

ensuring fiscal neutrality. 

How should the Backstop function? 

"Backstop’s 

very existence 

would boost 

confidence in 

markets in a 

time of crisis 

and therefore 

the need 

to actually 

use such a 

Backstop could 

be greatly 

reduced. 

Access to the Backstop should be aligned 

with the rules for the use of the SRF to take 

full advantage of synergies with the existing 

framework. The SRM Regulation already sets 

out a series of conditions, which materially 

limit the risk to which the SRF and thereby the 

Backstop could be exposed. A contribution 

from the SRF to recapitalisation may only 

be made under two key conditions: the bailin 

of at least 8% of total liabilities including 

own funds (TLOF), and a contribution of 

a maximum of 5% of TLOF. Furthermore, 

the use of the SRF would be assessed by 

the Commission to ensure it complies with 

State aid rules. Additional conditions are 

not needed to protect taxpayers. To meet 

these objectives, the SRB, as an independent 

European Union Agency, works closely with 

the National Resolution Authorities (NRAs), 

the Commission and the SSM. 

Before the SRB adopts a resolution scheme 

involving use of the Backstop, it needs 

confirmation from the ESM that funds from 

the Backstop would be provided. The use of 

the SRF and thus also the Backstop by the 

SRB would always have to be included in 

the resolution scheme. Clarity around the 

framework is therefore necessary for the SRB 

to ensure that it will have an understanding of 

whether it will be able to access the Backstop 

for a given resolution case. Furthermore, 

particularly in a crisis situation, the possibility 

for conflicts between the SRB and the ESM on 

questions related to the resolution scheme 

have to be reduced to a minimum, not only 

in view of time constraints, but also to allow 

the SRB to perform its tasks as the resolution 

authority in the Banking Union, ensuring an 

orderly resolution in the interest of financial 

stability and managing a mutualised fund 

provided for by all banks of the Banking 

Union. 

State of Play 

Discussions are ongoing on the end state 

of the Backstop, but consideration has 

also been given to an early introduction 

of the Backstop before 2023. For the SRB, 

it is important that any early introduction 

avoids an over-complicated interaction with 

the current non-mutualised arrangements. 

Therefore, if Member States wish to press 

ahead and implement the Backstop early, 

then it might be considered to bring forward 

the full mutualisation of the SRF once the 

vast majority of funds are mutualised. 

Conclusions 

Implementing the Backstop and moving 

towards completion of the Banking Union 

will further enhance the credibility of the 

SRB as the resolution authority in the 

Banking Union. The Backstop will further 

strengthen the SRB’s resolution actions to 

ensure financial stability, and minimise the 

damage that a failing bank could cause to the 

financial system and the economy overall. It 

is important that we push ahead and make 

progress on the Backstop, ensuring it is welldesigned, 

credible and ready to be called into 

action as a last resort should the need arise. 

[1] In a bail-out the bank would receive support 

from external parties, whereas in a bail-in the 

bank’s creditors would be written down and 

converted into capital in order to recapitalise the 

bank. 

[2] In order to provide sufficient firepower already 

from the start of the SRF, the participating Member 

States of the Banking Union have signed bilateral 

bridge financing agreements in form of national 

credit lines with the SRB, covering the respective 

national compartment within the SRF during the 

transitional period, until the SRF is fully mutualised 

by 1 January 2024. MBR 




35


FOCUS: SHIELD CONSULTANTS LTD 

EMPOWERING PEOPLE TO 

POWER THEIR GOALS 

The group 1-2-1 interview is a different breed in the interviewing profession. It’s kind of like 

a real-life version of that reality show “The Apprentice” (without Donald Trump). The reality 

of going through such a non-traditional interviewing format is unnerving for many executives. 

But despite the fact that group 1-2-1 interviews rattle many candidates, SHIELD Consultants 

employers found them appealing. To embrace the group 1-2-1 interview process, we discover 

how SHIELD Consultants Ltd really differentiate itself and stands out from the rest, giving us an 

insight as to what’s unique about their Company. 

Frangelica Schembri – Personal 

Assistant to the CEO 

You are the first PA to the CEO 

at SHIELD. What excites you 

about this position and what 

improvements do you plan to 

bring to SHIELD? 

Every high-performing Executive needs a 

strong and committed Personal Assistant. Being 

a Personal Assistant requires competence, 

high organisational skills and sound common 

sense. It is also a highly multi-tasking role 

which, for me personally, offers the flexibility 

to plan my own workload, effectively enabling 

me to manage work duties nicely with my 

family commitments. At SHIELD, as long as 

the job gets done and I am helping both the 

CEO and the team to be more effective and 

Frangelica Schembri 

efficient in their roles – well, that is my 

objective. Besides the position entails working 

closely with SHIELD’s decision makers, meeting 

a wide variety of people in the process, which 

is highly rewarding in itself. 

SHIELD Consultants enjoys a great reputation 

in the industry and I believe that there is 

always room for improvement. Therefore, by 

helping the Management Team to keep upto- 

date with the day-to-day running of the 

Company, whilst also improving our abilities 

to be more efficient, to meet deadlines and 

to keep client satisfaction at its best – that is 

the sort of challenge I like to take on. Working 

together as a team towards SHIELD’s success. 

John Cutajar – Superintendent 

of Operations 

SHIELD has appointed you 

as its first Superintendent of 

Operations. What exactly does 

this role involve and what 



This is a new role within SHIELD, in which my 

responsibility is to manage the operations 

assigned to all our consultants to ensure that 

they meet contractual quality and performance 

criteria. SHIELD is very committed to meet 

customer expectations by driving value and 

my role involves diverse aspects. 

I shall, for instance, ensure that all Assignment 

Programs are executed properly, efficiently, 

safely and in accordance with the SHIELD 

Quality Management System, internal 

Guidelines, specific client needs and National 

Health & Safety regulations as applicable. In 

practice, I will ensure that all SHIELD work sites 

John Cutajar 

are managed by our consultants in accordance 

with the industry standards and that all 

mandatory Certifications are maintained up 

to date. I intend to work hard to the team’s 

optimize operational performance, leading by 

example and lending my extensive experiences 

towards practical and timely completion of 

assignments, at a high quality. 

Christopher Lightfoot – Head of 

Operational Planning 

SHIELD has appointed you as 

its first Head of Operational 

Planning. What exactly does 

this role involve and what 



This new role showcases a real determination 

towards the improvement of all SHIELD 

36

FOCUS: SHIELD CONSULTANTS LTD 


catered for in order to be able to either 

prevent or respond to an emergency. 

SHIELD has now established itself in the fire 

safety and emergency management fields 

and has been providing related services such 

as fire risk assessments, strategy reports, 

refining and consulting on proposed building 

plans, as well as providing specialist training 

courses to clients. My main focus now, will 

be to develop these services further and to 

improve outputs, particularly on STORM, 

SHIELD’s unique online risk management 

platform which is enabling us to reach out to 

businesses beyond Malta and even beyond 

Europe. 

Christopher Lightfoot 

services. The role itself demands a full 

understanding of SHIELD’s commitments, 

both current and future, enabling us as a 

company to grow in an efficient manner, whilst 

ensuring we have the internal capabilities and 

resources to do so. Project tracking, business 

development, sustainability and accurate 

utilisation are vital elements of any business, 

and as part of my role, I intend on developing 

the required systems and functions within 

SHIELD that will allow our expansion in a 

controlled and sustainable manner. 

Kimberly Cachia – STORM 

Programmer 

You have recently joined SHIELD 

as a programmer on its unique 

software solutions. Why did you 

choose to join SHIELD and tell 

us what excites you about your 

new job. 

Since I started my new venture at SHIELD, I 

have had the opportunity to look at software 

development from a different perspective. 

Rather than creating applications for normal 

daily tasks, we create software that helps 

assess and calculate risks for various instances 

depending on the clients needs and threats. 

Throughout 2019 and beyond, it is my mission 

to make all SHIELD activities completely 

traceable. In order to be a successful business 

today, we must have a complete and accurate 

picture of where we are at any point in time, 

so, SHIELD will continue to develop the 

procedures and systems that will enable us 

to provide the best service possible to our 

expanding client base. 

Andre Muscat – Head of Fire 

Safety and Emergency Response 

SHIELD has appointed you as 

its first Head of Fire Safety and 

Emergency Response. What 

exactly does this role involve 

and what improvements do you 

plan to bring to SHIELD? 

SHIELD is a well renowned company in the 

security consultancy sector. In Malta, SHIELD 

caters for significantly big local companies 

and although their needs vary quite radically, 

when it comes to risk assessment, the team 

is highly skilled in giving the best consultancy. 

Kimberly Cachia 

Working with SHIELD will surely be a huge 

step in my career as they have clients from 

different countries around the world with 

different ideas and points of view which will 

surely broaden my knowledge in this industry. 


The new role involves complete oversight 

over fire prevention or other related hazards 

that could result in a major incident, whether 

within a building or facility, causing imminent 

danger to the lives of people within and 

extensive property damage or destruction. It 

also involves making sure that the required 

procedures, equipment and training are 

Andre Muscat 



37


INVEST 

3DZ - Toly Group: Case Study 

How Toly Group 

uses 3D printing 

The main advantage of 3D technology is the 

flexibility to test new product variants at a 

relatively low cost and at the high speed required 

by current market standards. 

Toly uses 3D printing during the research and 

development phase , where current designs and 

mechanisms are tested. Then, 3D printers are used 

in the innovation and conceptualisation phases to 

The collaboration between the company and 

3DZ has been very positive. It is said that the 

experience was excellent, from shipment to 

installation, calibration and training. The technical 

and logistical staff was very helpful and patiently 

answered all questions. 

When asked if the machine fleet will be expanded, 

the company replied that it would consider a 

machine with alternative possibilities for printing 

material such as the Projet 3600 or higher. This 

would help for example to further develop the 

moulding of their inserts. 

The company 

Toly Group was founded in the early 1970s by Dr. 

Zoly Gatesy in the UK, shortly afterwards moved to 

Malta with 40 employees and in 1975 specialised 

in the cosmetics industry. 

Toly still remains in Malta with its Corporate Offices 

and Innovation Centre that serve the entire group 

worldwide. The group has production plants 

in Malta, China and Korea, as well as sales and 

marketing offices in the UK, USA, France, Belgium, 

Italy, Hong Kong, Korea and Brazil, with over 1,000 

employees. 

Over the years the company has successfully 

diversified into providing high-quality packaging 

solutions for the make-up, skin care and fragrance 

sectors. 

In recent years, it has adopted 3D printing 

technology, achieving significant advantages in 

terms of time and cost. MBR 

From the words of the testimony of Engineer David 

James Sciberras, we discover that the company 

uses 3D printing to create prototypes of different 

variants of its products in order to determine 

the shape and operation with its customers, plus 

models are made to present the new designs. 

Toly has a variety of small desktop FDM machines 

used for fast prototypes. The last one purchased 

was the Projet 2500 Plus by 3D Systems. Engineer 

explains that printers are constantly in operation in 

the company. 

improve new concepts. And the company also 

uses 3D printing during the design phase to ensure 

that any changes do not adversely affect the final 

assembly of production. Finally, technology is also 

used to demonstrate new concepts to potential 

customers. 

3D printing is evolving at a surprising pace, with 

new technologies and concepts announced weekly 

to improve speed and quality. Toly is anxious to 

capitalise on actual production technology to 

further improve market speed. 

38

BRANDING 


Meeting Customer Needs and Wants 

By George Carol 

Daniele Ramella Pollone, Digital Marketing Manager, 3DZ Franchising Limited 

MBR: When you assumed the leadership role at 

3dz during its turnaround, what opportunities 

were you able to take advantage of in leading its 

evolution? 

DRP: 3DZ was born as a startup and spent two 

years structured as a startup. 2015 is a turning 

point year and has begun to take a leading role 

in the 3D printing market. The technologies in 

continuous evolution and high technical skills and 

sales, have allowed 3DZ to grow very quickly. We 

specialise mainly in the sale of 3D printers, but 

also 3D scanners and 3D software. In addition to 

providing consulting and 3D printing services and 

training courses. 

MBR: What value does 3dz provide to investors? 

DRP: A very strong marketing presence (website, 

social media, events, DEM) in several European 

countries, mainly focused in Italy, Spain and Frena 

and an extremely competent and structured sales 

channel. Today, selling 3d printers is extremely 

complicated and not affordable for everyone, both 

in terms of specific skills, financial, but especially in 

terms of focused sales network. 

MBR: What have been the keys to 3dz’s product 

innovation and consistent growth? 

DRP: An in-depth knowledge of the territory and 

of the real applications on additive manufacturing. 

We are focusing heavily on growth sectors such as: 

jewellery, dental, mechanical and automation. 

MBR: How has technology impacted the industry 

and will advances in technology change the 

workforce for the future? 

DRP: Additive manufacturing technologies are 

changing different production processes and 

are rapidly moving companies from "analog" to 

"digital" and on-demand production. Today's 

market demands more and more customized 

products, and lower production numbers. The 

key to surviving and remaining competitive in the 

market is 3D printing. 

MBR: How is 3dz continuing to foster innovation 

within the firm and for clients? 

DRP: Through the development of new production 

solutions that will reduce production times, 

production costs and offer the flexibility to innovate 

the products of the end customers. The 3D 

printers we resell as HP, 3D Systems or Markforged 

are revolutionizing every manufacturing company 

in the world. This process takes place only through 

partners such as 3DZ, a company that brings the 

technology directly into the company ensuring 

expertise in the sales phase, more especially in 

the after-sales phase, with certified technicians, 

present on the territory and ready to meet the 

needs of customers. MBR 

"The key to surviving 

and remaining 

competitive in the 

market is 3D printing. 

All righrs reserved - copyright 2018 


39


ICT 

Microsoft and BMIT Reach New Strategic 

Partnership To Further Support Local 

Business 

By James Vella Clark 

Microsoft Azure products will become more 

accessible to local businesses following a 

strategic partnership between Microsoft and 

BMIT Technologies, which incorporates BMIT 

Limited and Kinetix Solutions Limited. This 

partnership will enable a host of new services 

to customers, including the possibility to 

purchase Microsoft’s Azure services directly 

from BMIT. 

The formal announcement of the strategic 

partnership was made yesterday, Monday 

26th November, during a workshop event 

organised by Microsoft for several gaming 

companies in collaboration with the Malta 

Gaming Authority and EY. 

“The strategic partnership is the positive 

outcome of our discussions between 

Microsoft and BMIT, always with the scope of 

bringing together Microsoft as a worldwide 

leader in Cloud Services and BMIT, whom 

we consider as one of Malta’s leading IT and 

Cloud Managed Services Provider, perfectly 

able and equipped to drive cloud-based 

innovation amongst Maltese businesses,” 

said Peggy Antonakou, Microsoft’s CEO for 

Greece, Cyprus and Malta. 

Expressing his satisfaction at this important 

development, Christian Sammut, CEO of 

BMIT added that this strategic partnership 

will create additional synergies between BMIT 

Technologies and Microsoft. “We already 

enable a good number of organisations 

"Our agreement with 

BMIT forms part of 

this commitment to 

work and collaborate 

closely with trusted and 

responsible partners so 

that they can apply the 

right technologies that 

help the community 

achieve economic and 

social prosperity. 

by leveraging our local infrastructure and 

our expertise to deliver a variety of cloudbased 

scenarios including Public, Private and 

Hybrid Cloud infrastructure and productivity 

solutions. This closer collaboration will 

take such efforts to a new level, allowing 

us to deliver a broader range of emerging 

technologies based on Microsoft Azure and 

Microsoft Office 365 to both our Maltabased 

and international customers”. 

“Our agreement with BMIT forms part of this 

commitment to work and collaborate closely 

with trusted and responsible partners so that 

they can apply the right technologies that 

help the community achieve economic and 

social prosperity,” added Peggy Antonakou. 


Creditline: Corporate Identities 


40

David Attenborough: 

'The collapse of our civilizations is on the horizon' 

Renowned nature broadcaster David 

Attenborough has told world leaders that 

climate change could lead to collapse of 

civilizations, and much of the natural world. 

Speaking at the opening ceremony of the 

COP24 UN climate conference, in Katowice, 

Poland, Attenborough called climate change 

"our greatest threat in thousands of years." 

CLIMATE CHANGE 


By Mark Tutton 

In the weeks leading up to the event, the 

UN asked people to send their thoughts on 

climate change. Attenborough was there to 

represent the public, by taking the "People's 

Seat" at the conference. 

He said: "The world's people have spoken. 

Their message is clear. Time is running out. 

They want you -- the decision makers -- to 

act now. 

"Leaders of the world you must lead," he 

added. "The continuation of our civilizations 

and the natural world on which we depend 

is in your hands." 

Sir David Attenborough at #COP24: 

"If we don’t take #ClimateAction, the 

collapse of our civilisations and the 

extinction of much of the natural world is on 

the horizon." #TakeYourSeat 

Twitter Ads info and privacy 

In an interview from the conference with 

CNN's Christiane Amanpour, Attenborough 

spoke about the damage humans have 

inflicted on the planet. 

"We have overrun it in a way that is 

unprecedented," he said. "No other creature 

in the world has had the effect on the planet 

that the human species has, and so we 

ought to be aware of what we've done and 

recognize the responsibility that we now 

Attenborough's dire warning on climate change 

have in our hands." 

Asked about the United States, which 

President Trump has said will leave the Paris 

Agreement, Attenborough pleaded for the 

US to remain committed to fighting climate 

change. 

"Please join the rest of the world," he 

implored. "The entire rest of the world is 

united in trying to take action on this. The 

United States is a very, very powerful voice. 

Please, please, join us." MBR 

Creditline: Mark Tutton, CNN; UN Climate 

Change@UNFCCC 


41


CREDIT RATING 

PUBLIC FINANCE 

Scope assigns Malta first-time credit rating of A+ with Stable Outlook 

Euro area membership, high economic growth, prudent fiscal management and strong external position are 

credit strengths. Elevated contingent liabilities, unfavourable demographics, external vulnerabilities and 

regulatory shortcomings remain challenges. 

Scope Ratings GmbH has today assigned 

the Republic of Malta a first-time A+ longterm 

issuer and senior unsecured local- and 

foreign-currency rating, along with a shortterm 

issuer rating of S-1+ in both local and 

foreign currency. All Outlooks are Stable. 

Rating drivers 

Scope’s first-time assignment of Malta’s 

A+ rating reflects the country’s euro area 

membership, high economic growth, 

prudent fiscal management and strong 

external position. The rating is challenged 

by contingent liabilities, unfavourable 

demographics, external vulnerabilities, and 

regulatory shortcomings of the financial 

sector. 

Malta has shown buoyant growth rates 

during the recent decade with an Malta 

has shown buoyant growth rates during the 

recent decade with an average expansion 

of 4.3% since 2007, outperforming the 

EU average behind only Ireland. The main 

drivers of Malta’s growing economy are 

high service exports (tourism, transport and 

gaming), and robust private consumption. 

For 2018 and 2019, Scope anticipates annual 

growth to reach 5.4% and 5% respectively 

on the back of record-low unemployment 

of 4%, strong employment growth due 

to migration and recovering investment, 

especially on the housing market. Growth 

is expected to continue to be driven by 

private consumption and higher investment, 

whereas the external sector provides less 

support compared to previous years. 

"Growth is expected to 

continue to be driven 

by private consumption 

and higher investment, 

whereas the external 

sector provides less 

support compared to 

previous years. 

The A+ rating is further underpinned by 

Malta’s strengthened fiscal framework, 

together with a combination of faster fiscal 

consolidation, low interest payments and 

stronger GDP growth. The government 

has achieved consistent fiscal surpluses, 

supported by a broadening tax base, 

reflecting better monitoring compliance 

and increasing female labour participation. 

Expenditures are below the euro area 

average but have picked up recently. Capital 

expenditures have increased strongly due 

to the acquisition of landing rights from 

Air Malta. Going forward, the Maltese 

government targets a general fiscal surplus 

of 1.3% of GDP for 2019, net of revenues 

from the Individual Investment Program (IIP) 

and including gross fixed capital formation of 

3.5% of GDP. Fiscal expenditures in 2019 are 

expected to decline slightly from 38.4% to 

37.8% of GDP, based on the one-time capital 

transfer to Air Malta in 2018 (EUR 57mn). 

Malta’s strong fiscal performance has led 

to a steady decline in its debt to GDP ratio 

from 2012 onwards, falling below the 60% 

Maastricht threshold in 2015. The last two 

years brought a further decline by almost 8 

percentage points, thanks to exceptionally 

strong growth and a slightly positive fiscal 

balance. For 2018, government projections 

foresee a decline of the debt to GDP ratio to 

46.9%, equal to 4 percentage points. Going 

forward, the government expects another 

3 percentage points decline towards 2019 

by assuming that the primary surplus of 

2.7% exceeds interest rate expenditure 

(1.5%) and stock-flow adjustment (1.6% of 

GDP). Our baseline scenario, in line with the 

IMF forecast, foresees a continued, albeit 

less pronounced decline in debt over the 

projection horizon to around 30% of GDP, 

supported by positive primary balances and 

high growth. 

Malta’s A+ rating is further supported by 

the economy’s robust external sector. 

Continuous current account surpluses led 

to a net international investment position of 

62.6% at year-end 2017. This development 

is dominated by a boost in services exports, 

comprising transport, tourism and gaming. 

Although the country shows a negative 

balance on goods exports, the quality of 

exported manufacturing goods is above the 

EU average with 40% of the export value 

related to top quality. Going forward, we 

expect Malta to retain its current account 

surplus, albeit with lower surpluses towards 

2019 but supported by rising import shares 

and its role as a financial centre. 

42

CREDIT RATING 


Despite the relative strengths of Malta’s 

rating, challenges remain. Malta’s rapidly 

declining public debt ratio is still facing 

additional burden from elevated contingent 

liabilities of 9.6% of GDP (in 2017), 

resulting from financially weak stateowned 

enterprises (SOEs). These risks 

have decreased in line with higher growth 

but remain a credit risk over the forecast 

horizon. 

Over the medium-term term, the country 

also faces supply side constraints, induced 

by the tighter labour market. Although the 

government initiated reforms of the labour 

market to reduce low skill attainment among 

young people and low tertiary education, 

the economy still faces a large gender 

employment gap and educational outcomes 

remain closely linked to socio-economic 

background. Infrastructure investment is 

projected to increase strongly with higher 

absorption of EU funds and expected 

investment in health-related projects. 

With only 0.5m inhabitants, Malta’s small 

open economy remains especially vulnerable 

to external shocks, in particular with its 

reliance on the export of business-cycle 

relevant services. Also, Malta is vulnerable 

to policy harmonisation risks and changes in 

EU corporate tax law. Finally, infrastructure 

bottlenecks and skills shortages are expected 

to weigh on the country's long-term growth 

potential. 

Malta’s economic strength is partly related 

to a booming gaming sector and large 

revenues from the IIP, which attracts 

foreigners who seek European citizenship. 

Financial inflows are more than tenfold 

the country’s GDP, thereby remaining a 

source of uncertainty despite being mostly 

decoupled from domestic economic 

activity. Despite the implementation of 

several Anti-Money Laundering Directives 

to improve due diligence and transparency, 

the European Commission asked the 

government to take a stand on anti-money 

laundering measures following allegations 

related to Pilatus Bank whose banking 

license was revoked in November 2018 

by the European Central Bank. In July, 

the European Banking Authority (EBA) 

pointed out that the measures taken by the 

Maltese Financial Intelligence Analysis Unit 

were not sufficient to satisfy the identified 

shortcomings, requesting further action to 

comply with the Anti-Money Laundering 

(AML) and Countering Terrorism Financing 

Directive (CFT). The Maltese authorities 

have responded by launching the AML/CFT 

Strategy, which includes an improvement 

of the supervisory framework and an 

increase of resources to strengthen legal 

enforcement. Scope recognizes that the 

"The Stable Outlook 

reflects Scope's 

assessment that the risks 

faced by Malta remain 

balanced at this stage. 

recent events have no likely impact on public 

finances but may affect Malta’s reputation 

of an emerging financial centre. 

Core Variable Scorecard 

(CVS) and Qualitative 

Scorecard (QS) 

Scope’s Core Variable Scorecard (CVS), 

which is based on the relative rankings of 

key sovereign credit fundamentals, provides 

an indicative ‘AA’ (‘aa’) rating range for the 

Republic of Malta. This indicative rating 

range can be adjusted by the Qualitative 

Scorecard (QS) by up to three notches 

depending on the size of relative credit 

strengths or weaknesses versus peers based 

on qualitative analysis. 

For the Republic of Malta, the QS signalled 

credit weaknesses for the following analytical 

categories: i) economic policy framework; ii) 

macro-economic stability and sustainability; 

iii) market access and funding sources; iv) 

external debt sustainability; v) vulnerability 

to short-term external shocks; vi) recent 

events and policy decisions; vii) banking 

sector oversight and governance; viii) 

financial imbalances and financial fragility. 

The combined relative credit strengths and 

weaknesses generate a 2-notch negative 

adjustment and signal a sovereign rating 

of A+ for Malta. A rating committee has 

discussed and confirmed these results. 

Factoring of Environment, 

Social an Governance (ESP) 

wScope considers ESG sustainability issues 

during the rating process as reflected in its 

sovereign methodology. Governance-related 

factors are explicitly captured in Scope’s 

assessment of ‘Institutional and Political 

Risk’, for which Malta scores high according 

to the World Bank’s Worldwide Governance 

Indicators. Qualitative governance-related 

assessments in Scope’s ‘geo-political risk’ 

category of its QS are assessed as ‘neutral’ 

compared with Malta’s sovereign peers. 

Socially related factors are captured in 

Scope’s CVS in Malta’s rapidly growing GDP 

per capita (USD 27,326 in 2017) and recordlow 

level of unemployment but increasing 

old-age dependency ratio. Qualitative 

assessments of social factors are reflected 

in Scope’s ‘macroeconomic stability and 

sustainability’, for which Scope assesses 

Malta as ‘weak’. Finally, environmental 

factors are considered during the rating 

process but did not have an impact on this 

rating action. 

Outlook and rating - change 

drivers 

The Stable Outlook reflects Scope’s 

assessment that the risks faced by Malta 

remain balanced at this stage. The rating 

could be downgraded in the event of: i) 

a significant slowing of growth; and/or ii) 

failure to increase investment spending. 

The rating could be upgraded if i) the 

government implements structural reforms, 

which raise the growth potential; ii) if there 

is continued fiscal consolidation; and/or iii) 

reforms to strengthen financial supervision 

are effectively completed. 

Rating committee 

The main points discussed were: i) growth 

potential; ii) economic policy framework; iii) 

macroeconomic stability and sustainability; 

iv) fiscal policy framework; v) public debt 

sustainability, debt structure and market 

access; vi) external debt sustainability and 

vulnerabilities; vii) banking sector oversight 

and governance; viii) political developments; 

and ix) peers. 

About Scope Ratings GmbH 

Scope Ratings GmbH is part of the Scope Group 

with headquarters in Berlin and offices in Frankfurt, 

London, Madrid, Milan, Oslo and Paris. As the 

leading European credit rating agency, the company 

specialises in the analysis and ratings of financial 

institutions, corporates, structured finance, project 

finance and public finance. Scope Ratings offers a 

credit risk analysis that is opinion-driven, forwardlooking 

and non-mechanistic, an approach which 

adds to a greater diversity of opinions for institutional 

investors. Scope Ratings is a credit rating agency 

registered in accordance with the EU rating regulation 

and operating in the European Union with ECAI status. 


Credits: Bernhard Bartels / Giacomo Barisone 


43


EUROPEAN CITIZEN'S PRIZE 

Bjorn Formosa & the ALS Foundation 

win the 2018 European Citizen's Prize 

Mr Bjorn Formosa, founder of ALS Foundation Malta is this year's Laureate of the European Citizen's Prize Malta 2018. Mr 

Formosa was nominated by MEP Marlene MIZZI (S&D, MT) and MEP Miriam DALLI (S&D, MT), and received the joint backing 

of MEP David CASA, MEP Roberta METSOLA, and MEP Francis ZAMMIT DIMECH (EPP, MT). He was awarded the prize by MPE 

Roberta Metsola (EPP, MT) u l-ko-nominaturi tiegħu għal dan il-Premju l-MPE Marlene Mizzi u l-MPE Miriam Dalli (S&D, MT). 

"Bjorn has shown what true selflessness, civic 

sense, generosity and altruism really mean. 

He is an inspiration to us all and is turning 

his pain and suffering into an opportunity to 

help others. Bjorn definitely deserves to be 

honoured with the European Citizen’s Prize." 

– MEP Marlene MIZZI (S&D, MT) 

"Bjorn Formosa is an example of the values 

that all European citizens should have – 

altruism, solidarity and determination to 

leave a positive mark. Despite his difficulties, 

Bjorn managed to turn these difficulties into 

something positive. Through funds dedicated 

for more research on ALS and funds dedicated 

to a residential home for ALS patients, Bjorn 

has managed to make a difference in the 

lives of ALS sufferers and their relatives. This 

is why Bjorn Formosa deserves to receive 

the European Citizen’s Prize. I wish Bjorn all 

the strength and determination to keep on 

working and being the ray of light into ALS 

patients’ lives." – MEP Miriam DALLI (S&D, 

MT) 

"It is our duty - as members of the European 

Parliament - to promote invaluable work 

done by thousands of Maltese and Gozitan 

volunteers. We are delighted that Bjorn won 

this award as his hard work in the past years, 

even whilst struggling with such a difficult 

illness, is an example to us all and we will 

continue to do whatever we can to give him 

full support in his fundraising and awareness 

campaigns." – MEP David CASA, MEP 

Roberta METSOLA, MEP Francis ZAMMIT 

DIMECH (EPP, MT) 

Background: 

The European Parliament has been awarding 

the European Citizen’s Prize every year since 

2008 to projects and initiatives that facilitate 

cross-border cooperation or promote mutual 

understanding within the EU. The prize, 

which has symbolic value, is also intended to 

acknowledge the work of those who through 

their day-to-day activities promote European 

values. 

Every Parliament member has the right to 

nominate one person or organisation for the 

prize and national juries made up of MEPs 

rank nominees from their country in order 

of preference. The final decision on laureates 

is taken by a central jury headed by Vice 

wPresident Guillaume. 

A central ceremony is held every year in 

Brussels for winners of the prize from around 

the European Union, at which this year Bjorn 

Formosa could not be present due to his 

serious health condition. We are proud to 

honour him with this award at Europe House 

Valletta. MBR 

Credit: EU Press/EPO Valletta 

Family photo of the European Citizen's Prize 2018 with Vice-President Sylvie Guillaume and President Antonio Tajani 

44

SHIREBURN SOFTWARE - 35 

YEARS OF TECH INNOVATION 

LOTTERIES & GAMING 


Shireburn Software’s Director Franco Galea 

and Managing Director John de Giorgio. 

Founded in 1983, as one of the first 

local IT training companies in Malta, 

Shireburn Software has gradually became 

one of the leading software providers 

for local businesses. This year marks the 

35th anniversary of Shireburn and their 

endeavours along the years make them the 

success story they are today. 

Set up by an aspiring and young John de 

Giorgio, the company began to develop its 

own software solutions in 1985, providing 

software products for freight and accounting, 

retail, inventory, payroll and HR. Over the 

years Shireburn has strategically researched 

unsupported niche business needs and 

developed applications aimed at servicing 

these needs to facilitate their processes. 

In 2001, Shireburn’s Integra for Notes 

software went global, earning several 

international awards. In 2005 the Shireburn 

Business Suite was launched as a multichannel 

solution for retail, wholesale, 

distribution and payroll, all integrated into 

Shireburn’s own accounting and inventory 

systems. 

As the years went by, their software solutions 

became more specific, integrated and 

complex. One of their major achievements 

is Concessionaire Analyzer+ (CA+), designed 

specifically for airports and shopping 

malls to strategically manage and increase 

concession-based revenue. Last year, CA+ 

was awarded the Revenue Generation Award 

from International Airport Review magazine 

and CA Plus Ltd was partly acquired by global 

giant Gentrack Group – Veovo. 

Over the years, Shireburn took its core 

solutions through 4 major technology waves; 

the more recent of which was the leap forward 

to multi-tenanted, cloud technologies based 

principally on Microsoft Azure as a platform. 

Moving forward to 2015 the cloud-based 

Shireburn Indigo platform was launched, 

marking Shireburn’s next generation 

of software products. The first product 

was Indigo Payroll, winner of the MCA 

eBusiness Best B2B Application award, 

offering easier and more flexible payroll and 

leave administration combining improved 

capabilities with lower costs of ownership. 

To date, over 41,000 employees are being 

managed through the system. The second 

addition to the suite is the recently announced 

Shireburn Indigo Time & Attendance module, 

designed to facilitate rosters, shift-based 

schedules and attendance management. 

35 years on, Shireburn has grown steadily to 

a team of over 60 employees, servicing more 

than 1,100 local and international clients. 

Learn more about how Shireburn Software 

can help your business. Visit www.shireburn. 

com/35 MBR 

Credits: Shireburn Software Ltd 


45


EIT 

INNOVATE AND GROW! 

MALTA’S INNOVATORS INVITED TO 

JOIN THE EIT COMMUNITY 

To help power Malta’s innovators, the European Institute of Innovation and 

Technology (EIT) is showcasing its innovation cooperation opportunities during 

an Awareness Day in Kalkara. This event is being organised together with the 

Maltese Council for Science and Technology. 

Europe’s future is connected to its power 

to innovate. A competitive edge has never 

been more important, especially for smaller 

Member States. Malta has great potential 

to expand its innovation capacity (Malta 

Factsheet – European Innovation Scoreboard), 

and the EIT stands ready to support 

Maltese innovators. That’s the role of the 

EIT – to support students, researchers and 

entrepreneurs to help them grow their 

entrepreneurial skills and their businesses, 

creating jobs, and improving the lives of citizens 

across Europe. As a global player, the 

European Union, through the EIT, is focused 

on powering innovators to turn their best 

ideas into products, services and jobs for 

Europe. 

Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando, Executive 

Chairman, Malta Council for Science and 

Technology remarked: ‘Malta is a resourceful, 

determined and ambitious country. 

As a small nation continually adapting our 

economy to modern challenges, we have 

the advantage of being able to change 

quickly, to collaborate effectively and to 

advance our economy in new directions as 

global markets shift. Working closely with 

the EIT, Malta’s innovators, and our great 

researchers, now have a strong partner to 

accelerate new ideas, products and services. 

We see this Awareness Day as a stepping 

stone to create jobs, growth and a stronger 

global reputation.’ 

Martin Kern, EIT Interim Director, added: 

‘The EIT offers a one-stop shop for innovators, 

and we want to increase access to 

our unique resources and opportunities 

in Malta. The EIT focuses on solutions to 

global challenges through our six Innovation 

Communities that bring together more than 

1000 partners from business, education and 

research. Our unique innovation model creates 

sustainable innovations and accelerates 

innovative ideas, which ultimately leads to 

job creation and economic growth. Today, 

we invite Malta’s innovators to connect and 

benefit from access to the EIT, Europe’s 

largest innovation community.’ 

The EIT Awareness Day in Kalkara will showcase 

the EIT’s unique innovation model that 

sets up dynamic pan-European partnerships 

between leading companies, universities 

and research labs (programme of the day). 

These are called Innovation Communities 

and they support entrepreneurs and innovators 

in bringing ideas to market, turning 

students into entrepreneurs and, most importantly, 

stimulating innovation. The EIT’s 

six Innovation Communities tackle some 

of the most pressing challenges facing our 

societies from climate change to sustainable 

energy to healthy living and active ageing. 

They will present how organisations and innovators 

in Malta can join their wide range 

of activities to drive innovation. 

46

EIT 


The event will be opened by Jeffrey Pullicino 

Orlando, Executive Chairman, Malta Council 

for Science and Technology followed by 

a video message from Silvio Schembri, 

Parliamentary Secretary for Financial 

Services, Digital Economy and Innovation. 

Members of the EIT Community, together 

with innovators that work with the EIT, will 

then present their wide range of innovation 

support activities. 

EIT BACKGROUND: Europe's future is 

connected to its power to innovate! 

What is the European Institute of 

Innovation and Technology (EIT)? 

The EIT was created in 2008 to strengthen 

Europe’s ability to innovate. The EIT is a 

unique EU initiative, the only one to fully 

integrate business, education and research. 

The Institute supports the development 

of dynamic pan-European partnerships 

between leading universities, research labs 

and companies. These are called Innovation 

Communities and each focuses on a specific 

global challenge. 

More information: EIT in a nutshell 

Infographic 

What challenges do the EIT’s Innovation 

Communities focus on? 

The first six Innovation Communities work 

to mitigate and adapt to climate change (EIT 

Climate-KIC), create sustainable sources of 

energy and increase its supply (EIT InnoEnergy), 

accelerate the digital transformation 

(EIT Digital), support healthier and longer 

living (EIT Health), provide sustainable and 

healthier food (EIT Food), and manage our 

planet’s raw materials in an efficient, secure 

and sustainable way (EIT RawMaterials). Together 

with their leading partners, they offer 

a wide range of innovation and entrepreneurship 

activities. This includes education 

courses that combine technical skills with 

entrepreneurial ones, business creation and 

acceleration services, run innovation driven 

research projects. 

In December 2018, the EIT will select new 

Innovation Communities in the areas of 

urban mobility and added value manufacturing. 

What has the EIT Community 

achieved? 

More information: EIT Community 

Success Stories 

For more information visit eit.europa.eu & 

follow the EIT on Twitter @EITeu #EIT- 

Community #EUinnovation 

For photos from the event: https://www. 

flickr.com/photos/eiteu/albums. 

Contact: 

Caroline Vandenplas - E: caroline.vandenplas@eit.europa.eu 

T: +36 1 481 9371 

Giselle Calleja | Senior Public Relations 

Executive | T: +356 23602173 | E: giselle. 

calleja@gov.mt 

The EIT – Making Innovation Happen! 

Credit: MCST 



47

Malta Business Review EDITOR'S CHOICE 

“Someday…everything will make perfect 

sense” Campaign Spotlight on 

Organised by MBR Publications Ltd 

Mr John Ripard 

Award-winning sportsman, John Ripard is a force 

to be reckoned with. Taking the Ripard Group 

which was founded in 1901 to the next level by 

marrying it with his passion for the sea, it is for 

his success at all things aquatic that John Ripard 

became so renowned in his own right. 

Without a doubt one of the most prominent 

yachtsmen in Malta, Mr Ripard sailed for Malta in 

the Snipe Class Category in the 1955 Mediterranean 

Games in Barcelona, represented Malta at the 

World Underwater Fishing Championship in 

Portugal in 1959. In the 1960 Olympic Games John 

and his brother Paul represented Malta sailing in 

the Star Class. 

In early 1968 the idea of creating a true offshore 

race was born resulting in the now famous Middle 

Sea Race. The first Middle Sea Race started with 

8 entries on the 30th November 1968 and 8 days 

later JOSIAN with skipper John Ripard and his crew 

Mr John Ripard and Mr Malcom R Lowell 

crossing the finish line to win inaugural Middle Sea 

Race, repeating his second win in 1970 on TIKKA 

11. 

In 1973, he took part in the ‘Giraglia’ and later 

the ‘Campionato d’Inverno’ in Genova winning his 

class in both these regattas with ‘Tikka 11’ again. 

In 1980, he was elected international judge by 

the International Yacht Racing Union. After the 

United States of America lost the America’s Cup 

to Australia, Mr Ripard was appointed Chairman of 

the Race Committee whose responsibility it was to 

conduct the over 200 races required to determine 

who would race against ‘the Defender’ by winning 

the Louis Vuitton Trophy, the preamble to the 

1987 America’s Cup for which he was appointed 

alternate judge. After this first involvement in the 

America’s Cup, Mr Ripard was appointed a member 

of the International Juries for the 1988, 1992, and 

1995 Cups held in San Diego. Soon to follow was 

an appointment to the International Jury of the 

sailing events of the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, held 

in Savannah. These unforgettable experiences 

took him all over the globe and in 1992 he was 

honoured by receiving Ġieħ ir-Repubblika, the 

medal for contributions to the republic. 

Following several years as Commodore, today, 

he is the president of the Royal Malta Yacht 

Club. John Ripard is extremely representative of 

all the values which underpin Edwards Lowell's 

'Someday’ campaign: he is a man who has 

persevered and succeeded. He has capitalised on 

the opportunities that have presented themselves 

to him thought-out his career. The link between 

John Ripard and Edwards Lowell was made even 

stronger thanks to the Middle Sea Race which 

has become synonymous with the Rolex brand. 

Conceived in 1968, the Middle Sea Race was 

brought to life thanks to the intrepid spirit of John 

Ripard, his brother Paul, Jimmy White and Alan 

Green. Their daring spirit has continued to live on 

for the last fifty years and it is because of it that the 

Rolex Middle Sea Race attracts hundreds of sailors 

each year from all parts of the world. His passion 

and vision have forged a road for all those who 

dare to be bold and think big. MBR 

Mr John Ripard 

Mr John Ripard and Mr Malcom R Lowell in conversation 

Creditline: Edwards Lowell 

48

PUBLIC AUDIT 


JOINT SEMINAR ORGANISED BY THE NATIONAL AUDIT OFFICE AND THE EUROPEAN 

COURT OF AUDITORS ON THE THEME ‘PUBLIC AUDIT IN THE DIGITAL AGE’ 

The National Audit Office (NAO), in 

collaboration with the European Court of 

Auditors (ECA), organised another joint 

seminar with the theme ‘Public Audit in 

the Digital Age’. In his opening address, 

Auditor General Charles Deguara highlighted 

the fact that due to rapid considerable 

technological changes, particularly in such 

areas as blockchain and artificial intelligence, 

auditors simply have no other option but to 

adapt, experiment in all sorts of areas, and 

constantly innovate. In his keynote speech, 

‘Technology is Driving Change in Audit’, 

Leo Brincat, the Maltese Member within 

the ECA, said that technology – including 

blockchain – is expected to be amongst the 

main catalysts of change in the sphere of 

auditing. He emphasised that innovative 

auditing will necessitate new tools; in this 

context, he referred, amongst others, to 

the benefits that big data and analytics can 

offer even to public entities. Whilst wishing 

all participants the best of luck in their 

professional assignments, he emphasised 

that auditing has no option but to adapt to 

the digital era, because ultimately the future 

of auditing, as well as that of the auditors 

themselves, is at stake. 

This was followed by a presentation by 

Spyridon Pilos, Principal Manager in the 

Directorate of Information, Workplace and 

Innovation within the ECA, with the title 

‘Preparing for Data-driven Auditing’. It was 

then the turn of Noel Camilleri, Deputy 

Auditor General, to give an extensive 

overview of the new initiative taken up by 

the NAO, namely ‘Integrating Data Analytics 

in Auditing’. He highlighted the various 

measures undertaken so far to eventually 

introduce this new methodology. Mark 

Rogerson, Spokesperson for the ECA, 

then gave a presentation on ‘Media in the 

Digital Age’. The seminar was concluded 

by a presentation made by Joyce Dimech, 

Permanent Secretary (Strategy and 

Implementation) within the Office of the 

Prime Minister regarding ‘A digital Public 

Administration for a Service of Excellence’. 

She was representing the Principal 

Permanent Secretary who could not attend 

due to another unavoidable commitment. 

This seminar was attended by various 

Members of the Public Accounts Committee, 

Permanent Secretaries and Chief Information 

Officers across the public service, and staff 

from the National Audit Office as well as 

senior officials from the Internal Audit and 

Investigations Department. Considering 

the theme chosen for this year’s seminar, 

the CEO and other senior officials of the 

Malta Information Technology Agency also 

participated in this event. MBR 

Credits/Photos: DOI/NAO 


49


GENDER PAY GAP 

GENDER PAY GAP 

“The existence of a gender pay gap stops 

us from having an inclusive economy, and 

creates another barrier to the fair distribution 

of wealth” – President Coleiro Preca 

President of Malta Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca 

presided over the launch of an awareness 

video about the gender pay gap, coordinated 

and produced by the President’s Foundation 

for the Wellbeing of Society. This video is 

the direct result of a conference which the 

foundation organised earlier this year. 

Having brought the issue of the gender 

pay gap to the fore during her speech on 

Republic Day in 2016, the President noted 

that both major political parties represented 

in Parliament have committed themselves, 

through their electoral manifestos, to address 

this important concern. 

“I hope that this video will further explain our 

concern about the gender pay gap, as up till 

now, there is still some confusion between 

the issue of equal pay and the gender pay 

gap” 

the Icelandic Parliament, who legislated the 

very first gender pay gap law. 

“The gender pay gap does not only create 

gender inequality during working age, but it 

also directly affects the pensions of retired 

women” 

According to data from the World Economic 

Forum, the gender pay gap is one of the 

factors that is making one third of women 

poorer, when compared to men, when they 

reach the age of retirement. On a national 

level, the President said that indicators are 

telling us that the gender pay gap in Malta 

currently stands at 11%. 

"The gender pay gap does not 

only create gender inequality 

during working age, but 

it also directly affects the 

pensions of retired women. 


from the Department of Labour Studies, we 

know that women, in comparison to men, 

are employed less often and are engaged in 

lower-paid sectors”, the President stated. This 

same research tells us that women work, on 

average, 6 hours longer per week than men, 

but they are paid for fewer hours, and they 

face more difficulties to achieve promotions. 

The President said that in order to make 

a long-term and sustainable change, she 

believes that we must follow the United 

Nations’ Agenda 2030 and its seventeen 

Sustainable Development Goals – a mandate 

that our country is ascribed to, and must 

achieve. In particular, SDG 5 specifically 

targets the need for gender equality, and for 

the empowerment of women and girls, as 

part of Malta’s commitment to a future of 

equality, equity and justice for all. 

President Coleiro Preca stated that equal 

pay is already covered by legislation, while 

the gender pay gap is not. She said that 

the conference which was organised by the 

Foundation earlier this year had received 

the support of diverse stakeholders, many 

of whom were also present for the launch 

of the video. These included the Centre for 

Labour Studies at the University of Malta; the 

National Statistics Office; the National Trade 

Union Forum; EMPOWER – the Platform of 

Organisations for Women; Ernst and Young 

Malta; and the former Minister for Equality in 

“However, this does not account for variation 

by industry” 

President Coleiro Preca said that the gap 

between women and men working in the 

financial and insurance sector is a staggering 

28.3%, and the gap between women and 

men involved in professional, scientific, and 

technical activities is 23.1%. 

“We must acknowledge the fact that the 

gender pay gap in Malta has almost tripled 

over four years, from 4.5% in 2014 to 11% 

in 2018. Furthermore, according to research 

“I am convinced that all of us believe that the 

socio-economic empowerment of women 

will not only benefit women as an intrinsic 

part to achieve our rightful dignity” 

The President said that the socio-economic 

empowerment of women will contribute 

to the holistic wellbeing of our families, our 

communities and our societies as a whole, 

and further stated that “our efforts to 

achieve full gender equality and equity in the 

economic sectors of our country will reflect 

our underlying commitment to promote 

universal human rights and fundamental 

freedoms, as women’s rights are human 

rights.” 

President Coleiro Preca encouraged 

Parliament to take up the issue of the 

gender pay gap to ensure that it is effectively 

addressed, and urged our authorities, private 

sector, and civil society to go to the next 

level of achieving full gender equality, by 

working to close the gender pay gap through 

awareness and legislations, for the benefit 

of all women but also in the best interest of 

the girls and young women who will join the 

Maltese workforce in the future. MBR 

Credits/Photos: Office of the President 

50

CSR: Business, 

Journalism and 

Society 

“The media has a valuable contribution to 

make to share information about CSR endeavours” 

CSR 



delivered the opening speech at a conference 

organised by Fundazzjoni Tumas Fenech together 

with the President’s Foundation for the 

Wellbeing of Society, entitled ‘CSR: Business, 

Journalism and Society’, at San Anton Palace. 

The President said that during sessions of consultation 

held by the Foundation with diverse 

NGOs, many of these organisation expressed 

concerns that their activities were not being 

given sufficient media coverage, and that they 

could not afford to employ public relations 

specialists as part of their team, further 

stating her belief that “we must do more to 

motivate media representatives to respond to 

these concerns.” 

President Coleiro Preca said that the media 

has “the important role to be a catalyst for 

education, information, and an objective and 

inclusive voice, especially on delicate and sensitive 

matters,” adding that the media, “as the 

fourth estate of democracy must maintain an 

ethical perspective which respects the dignity 

of all the members of society, at all times.” 

The President said that, in this way, the media 

will be strengthening it own professional standards. 

“Corporate social responsibility has the 

ability to create constructive links between 

the private sector and society.” President 

Coleiro Preca stated that the role of the media 

is necessary, to give visibility to this important 

two-way communication process. The President 

said that it is for this reason that corporations, 

civil society, and the media have a duty 

to collaborate with one another, and stated 

that this collaboration will inspire others to 

follow their example of social responsibility. 

The media, the President said, can also act as 

a social conscience, by reminding corporations 

about the need to give back to society and 

to look beyond profits, by incorporating the 

principles of social justice in their work. 

President Coleiro Preca said that CSR Strategies 

will be even more effective when they 

are linked with the mandate of the United 

Nations’ Agenda 2030 and its seventeen 


Sustainable Development Goals. The President 

urged the private sector to continue taking up 

CSR initiatives which are inspired by Agenda 

2030, by adopting the SDGs as part of their 

proactive approach to development and 

sustainability. “I am equally convinced that 

the Maltese media has an equally powerful 

contribution to make, by working alongside 

businesses and civil society organisations, 

to give the SDGs the necessary visibility,” 

President Coleiro Preca said. On concluding, 

the President stated that this united effort will 

empower the Maltese Islands to achieve our 

global responsibility: to effectively address 

inequalities and ot end all forms of discrimination; 

to stop the degradation of our environment; 

and to safeguard the full inclusion and 

the active participation of each and every 

member of our society. MBR 

CREDITS/Photos: OPR 


51


EEA 

European Accessibility Act: 

Parliament and Council negotiators strike a deal 

By Isabel Teixeira Nadkarni 

· Smartphones, ticketing 

machines, banking and 

transport services to be 

more accessible 

· Infrastructure surrounding 

those services is also 

expected to become 

progressively more 

accessible (ramps, 

staircases, etc) 

· 80 million people in the EU 

are affected by a disability 

Key products and services, 

like smartphones, ticketing 

machines and banking 

services, will have to be 

made more accessible to 

people with disabilities. 

The new directive, provisionally agreed 

by Parliament and Council negotiators on 

Thursday, aims to improve the daily lives of 

people with disabilities and to encourage 

businesses to innovate with more accessible 

products and services. 

Around 80 million people in the EU live with a 

disability to some degree. Due to the ageing 

of the population, this figure is expected to 

increase to 120 million by 2020. 

Morten Løkkegaard (ALDE, 

DK), Internal Market Committee 

rapporteur who led the talks, said: “These 

long-awaited rules will make a big difference 

not only to the millions of citizens with 

disabilities, but also to lot more people, such 

as elderly persons. Now a disabled person 

will be able to use self-service machines 

and everyday products such as computers, 

phones and e-books. 

“For European businesses, the European 

Accessibility Act will present more 

opportunities, since we were able to 

include public procurement in the Act and 

to introduce provisions that will unburden 

microenterprises. We have struck the right 

balance! Consumers with disabilities now will 

have greater access to the digital economy, 

and innovation will still be possible”. 

More accessible products 

and services 

The “European Accessibility Act” (EAA) sets 

out requirements to make a number of 

products and services more accessible. The 

list includes, amongst others: 

· ticketing and check-in 

machines, 

· ATMs and other payment 

terminals, 

· PCs and operating systems, 

· smartphones, tablets and 

TV equipment, 

· consumer banking 

services, 

· e-books and dedicated 

software, 

· e-commerce, 

· air, bus, rail and 

waterborne passenger 

transport services, 

including real-time travel 

information. 

The EAA will outline what needs to be 

accessible, but will not impose detailed 

technical solutions as to how to make it 

accessible, thus allowing for innovation. 

All goods and services complying with the 

accessibility requirements would benefit 

from free circulation on the internal market. 

“Built environment” where 

the service is provided 

Accessibility requirements, for example with 

regard to ramps, doors, public toilets and 

staircases, currently vary across EU countries. 

In order to make the built environment 

“continuously and progressively more 

accessible” to disabled persons, member 

states are encouraged to align their diverging 

requirements as much as possible. The 

co-legislators introduced a review clause 

requiring the Commission to assess the 

situation five years after the application of 

the directive. 

Special provisions for 

micro-enterprises 

Micro-enterprises that provide services 

are exempted from the directive and those 

providing products will be exempted from 

some obligations to avoid imposing a 

“disproportionate burden” on them. Member 

states will have to provide guidelines and tools 

to micro-enterprises in order to facilitate the 

implementation of this legislation. 

Next steps 

The provisional agreement now needs to 

be confirmed by the EU member states’ 

ambassadors (COREPER) and by Parliament’s 

Internal Market Committee. The draft 

directive will then be put to a final vote by 

the full Parliament in an upcoming plenary 

session and submitted for approval to the EU 

Council of Ministers. MBR 

Credit: John Schranz, Press Office/EP 

52

GAMING 


Betsoft Gaming Joins Stategic Content 

Partnership with Scandinavian Powerhouse 

Equinox Dynamic 

Solidifying its presence in Scandinavian and 

German markets, Betsoft Gaming has signed 

a strategic content agreement with Equinox 

Dynamic, specific to its Nordicasino operation. 

As with many recent Betsoft partnerships, 

Equinox Dynamic (hereafter “Equinox”) 

will integrate every title from the content 

provider’s high-profile Slots3TM series. This 

includes established player favourites, and 

new innovations such as the revolutionary Max 

Quest: Wrath of Ra. 

Equinox owns six casino brands: Nordicasino, 

and its sister operations Reeltastic, OrientXpress, 

Superlines, Spintropolis and La Fiesta Casino. As 

one of the newest entrants to the Scandinavian 

powerhouse’s stable of brands, Nordicasino 

has recently celebrated its first birthday, and its 

parent company is proud of the considerable 

success the casino has seen – becoming firmly 

established in its core markets in record time. 

“Across all of its brands, Equinox pursues 

excellence in customer service, support, and 

the selection of high-quality games available 

to its players,” explains Annamaria Anastasi, 

marketing Director for Betsoft. “As a firmly 

established presence in Scandinavia and 

throughout Europe, Betsoft was in a strong 

position to be able to provide precisely what 

Nordicasino needed: a comprehensive library 

of cinematic content, available in the right 

regulated markets.” 

The agreement also establishes a pipeline for 

the integration of further Betsoft content over 

time, with Nordicasino predicting an enduring 

partnership between the two companies. 

“When we canvassed for the best content the 

international iGaming market had to offer, we 

kept coming back to Betsoft,” says Arik Weiss, 

"Betsoft Gaming 

develops innovative 

casino games for 

desktop and mobile. 

It's portfolio of more 

than 190 RNG titles 

reaches players 

through partnerships 

with many of the 

iGaming industry's 

leading operators. 

Equinox’s Chief Marketing Officer. “The blend 

of quality and quantity they offer is unmatched 

anywhere else, and we expect our partnership 

to remain fruitful for many years to come. 

About Betsoft Gaming: 

Betsoft Gaming develops innovative casino 

games for desktop and mobile. Its portfolio 

of more than 190 RNG titles reaches players 

through partnerships with many of the 

iGaming industry’s leading operators. Under 

the SLOTS3TM banner, Betsoft is elevating 

players’ expectations; these cinematic slots 

blend rapid, gratifying gameplay with an audiovisual 

excellence more typical of movies and 

videogames. 

An early entrant to mobile gaming, Betsoft 

launched the ToGoTM collection in 2012. 

More recently, Betsoft revealed the ShiftTM 

environment, which supports truly crossplatform 

development at the same time as 

increasing performance, drastically reducing file 

size and streamlining integration. 

Casino Manager, Betsoft’s comprehensive backoffice 

platform, rolls reporting, management, 

marketing, promotion, and administration into 

a single compelling package. 

Betsoft has held a Class 4 license with the Malta 

Gaming Authority since 2014. The company’s 

games and RNG are both independently 

certified in more than 15 different regulated 

markets, including Italy, Germany, and Romania. 

Contact sales@betsoft.com or visit www. 

betsoft.com for general information and 

enquiries. For press and marketing enquiries, 

email press@betsoft.com. MBR 

Creditline: Betsoft 


53


BUILDING & CONSTRUCTION 

Walking In The Rain 

By Antoine Bonello 

Some people walk in the rain others just get 

wet, this famous phrase describes precisely 

the difference between a good and a bad 

roofer. 

Just recently we heard on the news of an 

unqualified roofer who was sentenced to 

pay damages and a hefty fine by the Judge 

for bad waterproofing works. This person 

is not a member of this association and 

we also condemn his unethical behaviour. 

Unfortunately it is a sad reality linked to lack 

of knowledge, cheap labour and products. 

Almost all roofs in Malta are nowadays 

constructed with iron and poured concrete, 

hopefully a proper waterproofing system 

is implemented on top of it together with 

some form of insulation. Afterwards a 10cm 

thick concrete slab with power float finish 

is made to seal it completely. Concrete 

requires a great deal of maintenance to 

keep it from leaking. The root problem is 

that concrete is porous and retains moisture. 

Water dampness flows from top bottom and 

through openings and cracks which are the 

result of expansions due to hot temperatures. 

It is often observed that small plants grow 

inside the joints and other openings. This 

is a clear indication of water intake that is 

surely affecting the strength of the concrete 

slab. Without any form of waterproofing 

beneath the slab, moisture and polluted 

atmosphere containing sulphate and 

carbon reaches the concrete roof structure, 

resulting in corrosion of steel. The Volume 

of corroded steel increases by more than 

three times its original volume resulting in 

spalling concrete. This can be very dangerous 

if it happens in your bedroom while you are 

sleeping. 

To avoid the ingress of rain water, moisture 

and aggressive environment in concrete 

surface it is imperative to make the outer 

surface impervious by coating with suitable 

resin membrane preferably with thermal 

properties which could seal all the pores, 

crevices, hair cracks etc. The waterproofing 

compound should be resistant to 

atmospheric temperature, aggressive 

environment, and to the effect of ultra violet 

rays. It should also be flexible enough to 

withstand the expansion and contraction 

of structures and resistant to normal 

abrasion. But before we implement any type 

of waterproofing we must make sure that an 

elastic triangular fillet made of polymer resin 

is applied around the perimeter of the roof 

and in all the corners, thus facilitating water 

exit and better seal the areas which are more 

sensible to structural movements. Next is 

the sealing of joints, there are two types of 

joints, static and active joints. The first is one 

is manmade and is meant to avoid cracks 

during concrete shrinkage while the second 

is the result of two separate concrete screeds 

adjacent to each other. Both of them must 

be treated with elastic materials, do not fill 

or seal with ridged materials like cements 

as they are not meant to stand stress and 

will crack soon after. The implementation 

of a polymer resin inside the openings is 

also recommend in this case due to its UV 

resistance and elasticity. 

wThe Primer is what we take for granted and 

think that we can do without. Many even 

think it is a waste of money, well…wrong. 

The primer prevents the flaking and peeling 

of membrane. A good primer bonds cement 

dust and provides a strong surface over 

which the membrane is applied. The latest 

generation of primers now have biocide. 

This helps to kill microspores and other 

microorganisms that can regrow beneath the 

membrane and detach it. 

In industrial point of view, there are many 

commercially available waterproofing 

materials used for different purposes. 

However, the suitability and the 

performance of each and every product 

are yet doubtful. Many products imported 

in Malta are not made to withstand our harsh 

hot climate. They simply fail after a year or 

two. Avoid plastics, acrylic, latex and cement 

based, they are either too rigid or lack UV 

resistance. Bitumen carpet membranes are 

out of the question. It is now considered old 

school that creates heat intake and open 

from seams when subject to movements. 

A very interesting waterproofing product 

is NAICI THERMAL REFLEX. It is a resin 

membrane with micro fibres able to reduce 

90% of heat intake inside buildings. It also 

increases the efficiency of solar panels and 

provides an effective solution all year round. 

Very soon we will be celebrating Christmas, 

it is considered the most beautiful time of 

the year. It is worth to be spent with family 

and friends and definitely not repairing any 

water leakages. Therefore make sure that 

any waterproofing works are carried out 

by skilful people affiliated with the Malta 

Professional Waterproofing and Resin 

Flooring Association and in possession of 

the INSTALLERS Card. Improper works by 

unaccountable or unethical persons can 

lead to a serious of unwanted damages that 

will ruin your Christmas spirit. Resulting in 

endless court cases that can take years and 

prove fruitless. 

54

BUILDING & CONSTRUCTION 


Professional Waterproofing and Resin 

Flooring Association visit our website on 

www.maltawaterproofing.com or call on 

27477647 MBR 

Creditline: The Resin & Membrane Centre 

The Malta Waterproofing and Resin Flooring 

Association provide technical knowledge and 

professional formation to all Maltese installers 

who wish to improve their workmanship or 

start a carrier in the waterproofing business. 

The Association also assists its members 

by providing the services of a profession 

advisor when facing challenging situations 

or other difficulties during their works. 

The Association also provides its qualified 

members the Certified Installers Card. This 

is done to reassure the general public that 

the person is able to carry out the requested 

job at its best. All this is being made possible 

thanks to the Resin and Membrane Centre 

and NAICI International Academy. For 

further information with regards the Malta 


55


EU: BREXIT 

BREXIT: ENSURING A SMOOTH 

TRANSITION FOR CAR PRODUCERS AND 

SAFETY ON THE ROADS 

· Car producers that have obtained a UK type 

approval will require a new EU one 

· EU safety and quality standards to be maintained 

· Application for new approvals should be made 

before the UK leaves the EU 

Manufacturers who 

obtained a UK type 

approval for their cars will 

be able to apply for new 

EU 27 approvals to retain 

access to the European 

Union’s market. 

The draft law voted on in the Internal Market and 

Consumer Protection Committee on Monday 

addresses the legal uncertainty for automotive 

producers with UK type-approvals. 

By Isabel Teixeira Nadkarni 

EU rules on vehicle type-approval, which 

establish safety, environmental and production 

requirements, require that manufacturers 

obtain type approval from one of the national 

authorising bodies. These EU type-approval rules 

will cease to apply in the UK when the country 

leaves the European Union. This means that all 

manufacturers that have obtained a UK typeapproval 

for their cars will now require a new 

one granted by an approval authority in one of 

the EU27 member states, including for types 

already in production. This will affect producers 

established within the EU member states other 

than the UK, if they hold a UK approval. 

The draft regulation covers motor vehicles, 

as well as systems, components and separate 

technical units intended for those vehicles. It 

sets out the conditions for obtaining an EU typeapproval 

and its effects on the placing on the 

market, registration or entry into service of such 

products. 

The proposal would allow recognition of tests 

previously carried out by a UK type-approval 

authority, whilst also providing EU type-approval 

authorities with the possibility to request new 

testing. One of the objectives is to maintain 

the safety and quality standards of the EU, 

with particular attention to the safety and 

environmental performance of vehicles. 

The committee’s amendments clarify when 

and what powers and obligations the EU typeapproval 

authority will take on from the UK one. 

The changes proposed also ensure that there 

will be a market surveillance authority covering 

those vehicles. 

The role attributed to type-approval authorities 

does not end when a vehicle is placed on the 

market, but extends to in-service conformity 

checks, repair and maintenance information and 

potential recalls. 

Quote 

Marlene Mizzi (S&D, MT), Internal Market 

Committee rapporteur, said: “Given the current 

political scenario concerning the withdrawal 

of the UK from the EU, manufacturers and 

consumers need certainty where type 

approvals for vehicles are concerned, to avoid 

unnecessarily disrupting this important industry. 

Manufacturers shall now be provided with the 

required period and legal framework to continue 

trading within the EU”. 

“In our parliamentary text, we have sought to 

protect the industry, the consumer and the 

European standards. It provides for proactivity 

and a smooth transition. We look forward to 

what can be achieved and to implement this 

regulation in a timely manner, considering the 

time sensitivity of this file." 

Next steps 

This vote gives Parliament’s team, led by Ms Mizzi, 

a mandate to start negotiations with Council to 

reach an agreement on the final regulation. The 

mandate, approved in committee by 29 votes 

in favour, none against and one abstention, still 

needs to be given a green light in November’s 

plenary session before negotiations can formally 

start. 

The application for the EU type-approval should 

be made before the UK leaves the EU. The 

withdrawal date is set for the 30 March 2019. 

It can only be changed if a ratified withdrawal 

agreement specifies otherwise. MBR 


56

CORPORATE 


MEDIA RELEASE 

FIMBank Supports Pink October Campaign 

FIMBank has supported breast cancer awareness 

through Pink October donation initiatives. Over 

the past weeks, employees of the Bank have 

been encouraged to purchase Pink October 

ribbons and trolley coin keychains. The money 

collected will be used to aid the Action for Breast 

Cancer Foundation, a voluntary organisation 

that is campaigning for a quality assured service 

in order to diagnose and treat breast cancer in 

Malta. 

“As a Malta-based financial institution, we are 

determined to contribute to the wellbeing of 

the local community by providing our input 

to this initiative. Awareness and appropriate 

action are critical for the survival of diagnosed 

breast cancer patients. We are pleased to do 

our part alongside other organisations who 

are donating. Such activities dovetail with the 

Bank’s mission and values. As breast cancer is 

the most common form of cancer and accounts 

for the largest number of cancer-related deaths 

in women in Europe, FIMBank continues to 

emphasise the importance of awareness and 

regular check-ups. Such screening has also been 

included in our employees’ health benefits.” said 

Christine Coleiro, Group Chief Human Resources 

Officer at FIMBank. 

Such donations allow the Foundation to continue 

building on the remarkable work undertaken 

thus far. The Foundation uses such donations 

to organise awareness programmes for both 

individuals and health care professionals, 

to strengthen everyone's awareness on the 

dangers of cancer and its repercussions. 

For more information about FIMBank plc, please 

visit www.fimbank.com. 

For further information please contact: 

Jason Zammit, Head of Marketing & 

Administration, FIMBank plc MBR 

Creditline: FIMBank 

The MGA publishes a survey to better understand 

existing skills gap in the gaming industry 

The Malta Gaming Authority (MGA), through its 

Information Unit, has conducted a survey among 

its licensed remote gaming operators in order 

to obtain a better understanding of the existing 

skills gap in the gaming industry. The survey was 

conducted during the first quarter of 2018, and its 

analysis was carried out for each job category, level 

and firm size. 

The following are the key highlights from this 

survey: 

• A total of 781 unfilled positions have been 

reported by the remote gaming companies in 

Malta as at the end of 2017; 

• Unfilled job vacancies are primarily in the 

game operation and development category 

at the operational level, presenting significant 

potential for the local educational system to 

contribute in addressing the issues of job 

vacancies in skills that are specific to the 

gaming industry in Malta; 

• According to the survey results, 57% of 

respondents consider the lack of appropriate 

skills, in terms of either work experience or 

qualifications, as the main cause of unfilled 

vacancies; 

• The sourcing of experienced talent from 

other firms in Malta is practised by over 60% 

of surveyed firms; the majority of operators 

recruited workers already employed by other 

firms in the online sector (37%) or in other 

industries (24%); 

• The recruitment of workers immediately after 

the completion of their formal education 

was reported by 15% of firms, confirming 

the potentially stronger role which could be 

played by educational institutions; and; 

• Various initiatives are undertaken by the 

gaming companies to address the skill 

shortage in the industry with majority of 

firms (55%) organising in-house training for 

their employees or investing in overseas 

training (21%). 

Over the past months, several policy efforts have 

been made to address this skills gap. In fact, in 

November 2017, the European Gaming Institute 

of Malta (EGIM) was launched following an 

agreement signed between the MGA and MCAST. 

This strategic initiative aims to increase the talent 

pool in the gaming industry and create more long 

term careers for both local and foreign students. 

Educational programmes through EGIM started 

being offered as from October 2018. 

A full copy of the survey can be downloaded from: 

https://www.mga.org.mt/wp-content/ 

uploads/Skills-gap-affecting-the-remotegaming-industry-in-Malta.pdf 

Credit: Malta Gaming Authority 



57


NEWSMAKERS 

Malta ratifies the EU-Japan 

Strategic Partnership Agreement 

The relationship between the European 

Union and Japan is based upon longstanding 

cooperation and shared fundamental values 

and principles such as democracy, the rule 

of law, human rights, good governance and a 

market-based economy – benefits to citizens 

in both Europe and Japan. As an EU member 

state, Malta also shares this sentiment and 

these values. 

As the first ever bilateral framework 

agreement between the EU and Japan, the 

Strategic Partnership Agreement greatly 

strengthens the overall partnership by 

promoting political and sectoral cooperation 

and joint actions on issues of common 

interest—including on regional and global 

challenges—notably cybercrime, disaster 

management, energy security, climate 

change and ageing populations, amongst 

others. 

On 31st October 2018, Minister for Foreign 

Affairs and Trade Promotion Carmelo Abela, 

on behalf of Malta, signed the ratification 

agreement of the EU-Japan Strategic 

Partnership Agreement which had been 

signed in Tokyo on 17 July 2018 between the 

High Representative of the European Union 

for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and 

Vice-President of the European Commission 

Federica Mogherini and the Minister of 

Foreign Affairs of Japan Tarō Kōno. 

sources, and, in the interim, fossil fuels with 

a lower carbon footprint. Of course, the 

chosen energy mix is very much country 

specific, and reflects access to indigenous 

resources, security of supply considerations 

and cost implications,” he added. “One could 

be tempted to state that today’s citizens are 

victims of their own success. The industrial 


9th International Forum on Energy for Sustainable Development 

Microsoft Appoints New 

Enterprise Commercial Director 

for Greece, Cyprus and Malta 

Microsoft Hellas: Aiming to the 

optimization of customers’ experience 

The agreement concerns remits which 

cover the EU’s and member states’ shared 

competence and therefore, it requires the 

ratification of all EU member states before 

it enters into force. The agreement will 

enter into force after the General Secretariat 

of the Council of the European Union is 

notified through diplomatic channels of the 

completion of the internal procedures by 

member states. MBR 

Source: DOI 

Malta actively supporting the 

development of cost effective 

renewable energy sources 

Minister for Energy and Water Management 

Joe Mizzi said that Malta is actively supporting 

the development of cost effective renewable 

energy sources, but has also invested heavily 

to switch power generation from oil to 

natural gas. “This approach will ensure that 

new, cost effective technologies come on the 

market in time to meet emission reduction 

targets whilst sustaining growth and 

modernization,” he said whilst addressing 

the 9th International Forum on Energy for 

Sustainable Development, in Kiev, Ukraine. 

Minister Mizzi explained that following the 

ratification of this international commitment, 

there has been a strong sense of engagement 

from the EU Member States cementing the 

need to increase integration of renewable 

energy into the system, improve energy 

efficiency whilst at the same time supporting 

research and innovation in low-carbon and 

clean energy technologies. “I firmly believe 

that the modernization of our economies can 

go hand in hand with the climate agenda. An 

effective energy transition can be sustainable, 

whereby fossil fuels are gradually replaced 

by a mix of renewable and nuclear energy 

revolution would not have happened without 

access to fossil fuels and the technologies 

which developed around their extraction, 

processing, transportation and conversion. 

For the past two hundred years, we saw the 

standard of living of several areas around the 

globe improve – driven by fossil energy. But 

this has left significant side effects, which 

could jeopardise all that we have strived for, 

and even put at risk entire communities. 

This we need to face together. We also 

have the unique opportunity to assist those 

communities who were at the fringes of the 

industrial revolution to also improve their 

quality of life without having to resort to fossil 

fuels, but rather move directly to alternative 

energy sources.” 

Minister Mizzi concluded his intervention 

during the Ministerial conference by stating 

that we must keep the global citizen at the 

centre of our actions. “This is not just about 

the depletion of fossil fuel resources, but 

rather our commitment towards future 

generations and our obligation to leave a 

better place to live in.” MBR 

Credit: DOI 

Oriented to serving the highest-potential 

businesses, but also the Public Sector, 

Microsoft Hellas proceeds to organizational 

changes. The teams of the Public Sector 

and of Enterprise Commercial join forces, 

under the leadership of Mr. Theodosis 

Michalopoulos, who until recently held the 

position of Enterprise Commercial Director 

of Microsoft for Greece, Cyprus and Malta. 

From his new role, as the Enterprise 

Commercial and Public Sector Director in 

Microsoft for Greece, Cyprus and Malta, 

Theodosis Michalopoulos is expected to 

contribute to the more efficient operation of 

the company and to the digital transformation 

of its customers. MBR 

Credit: Corporate Identites 

Theodosis Michalopoulos 

58

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