“In Malta, we currently have 120,000 customers signed up to Revolut, which means that around one in four residents is a Revolut customer,” Ms Lavezzi says. The Maltese population is estimated to be around 460,000.

“We are very proud of this achievement since it shows that our product is appreciated by the local community and recognised as reliable and effective for their needs,” Ms Lavezzi adds.

Due to the small size of the island and tight-knit communities, the power of word of mouth in Malta is especially strong, which characteristic appears to be one of the main drivers of Revolut. Despite the growth, the fintech is considering establishing partnerships with local players to fuel expansion further.

“The exponential growth in the island is largely due to the word of mouth, however, we want to grow further in Malta and are already evaluating collaborations with local players to strengthen our presence and improve Maltese people’s everyday life from a financial perspective,” Ms Lavezzi concludes.

The post Revolut signs up 120,000 customers in Malta and counting first appeared on The Malta Business Weekly.

Mr Kemper was the Resident Manager of the Hôtel du Cap-Eden-Roc in Cap D’Antibes on the French Riviera. He has decades of experience in the hospitality sector, having worked in high-end hotels across the globe.

He started his career in the late 1990s, working for The Lodge at Vail in Vail Valley, Colorado, before moving to New York where he spent two years at the five-star The Peninsula, on 5th Avenue, as Front Office Manager. Moving to France, Mr Kemper held managerial positions at the Four Seasons Grand Hotel du Cap Ferrat, and the Vista Palace Hôtel, both on the Côte D’Azur.

The company expects the appointment to strengthen the group’s commitment in order to retain its current position as a leading luxury five-star hotel in the local hospitality sector, the announcement says.

Terminating management

Having taken immediate effect on 25 March, the company terminated the hotel management agreement in respect of the Phoenicia Hotel, the announcement says.

However, the termination is not expected to have any material impact on the guarantor’s operations, the company says in the announcement. It has reverted to trading as an independent hotel for the foreseeable future, with continuous investment in operational excellence.

In addition, the Phoenicia Hotel’s membership in “The Leading Hotels of the World”, governed by a hotel membership agreement entered into between the Guarantor and Leading Hotels of the World (LHW) Services on 1 December 2015.

The company announcement is available for public view on the official website of the Malta Stock Exchange (MSE).

The post Phoenicia Hotel names new GM, terminates old management first appeared on The Malta Business Weekly.

“With Michel, Joyce and Gerard’s appointments we are clearly signalling that following completion of our successful risk management programme, HSBC is now increasing focus on growth. I am also proud that in line with our merit-based commitment to diversity and inclusion, two of HSBC’s three business divisions are led by talented female executives,” said Andrew Beane, HSBC Malta’s Chief Executive Officer.

Appointed Chief Risk Officer in April 2013, Ms Grech has worked with HSBC for 22 years. During her career, she has undertaken a number of roles, principally in Malta. She started her career in trade finance and commercial banking before moving to the bank’s credit department where she spent over five years, the last three of which as Deputy Head of Credit. Before taking up her role as Chief Risk Officer she worked in the bank’s retail banking and wealth management division where she headed the customer value management department.

In her new capacity, Ms Grech will lead the commercial banking business to deliver products and services to the bank’s diverse business customers, supporting them locally and internationally.

“I am very excited at this opportunity to support our business customers directly, helping them to achieve their aspirations. My intention is to work more closely with our customers and to employ our resources in ways which help us better understand their needs and, using the HSBC Group’s international reach and capabilities, deliver products and services to them to meet those needs,” Ms Grech said.

Mr Walsh is originally from South Africa and served previously as Chief Risk Officer for HSBC Mauritius before joining HSBC in Malta as Head of Risk Governance and Lending Services in 2018. He has been with HSBC since January 2007 and during his tenure as Chief Risk Officer, in the Mauritius office, covering both the domestic and offshore operations. Mr Walsh is a certified anti-money laundering specialist. He will build on strong risk management practices already in place, ensuring that growth is achieved in a safe and sustainable manner.

“I am delighted to join the Bank’s executive management team and look forward to working with the retail and commercial businesses in partnering for growth, to support Maltese corporates and individuals in achieving their aspirations,” Mr Walsh said.

Mr Cordina started his banking career in 1981 with Mid-Med Bank Limited and HSBC in 1999. He has worked in various areas of banking in both personal banking and commercial banking business units. He has also led a number of operational and support functions of the bank. Mr Cordina has occupied various executive roles within HSBC Malta including, Deputy Head of Operations and Head of Business Transformation. He was also the programme manager responsible for bringing the HSBC UK Contact Centre to Malta. In 2010, he was seconded to HSBC Commercial Banking in London where he performed the role of Head of Sales Performance.

He will work to develop the bank’s business with its primary clients and external stakeholders as it focuses on a balanced return to growth. Facilitating growth in HSBC’s corporate business will be a particular priority.

“I am honoured and privileged to be appointed as a Director on the bank’s Board and very excited to take on this new executive role in my more than 37-year-long association with the bank. I am fortunate to be part of the HSBC Group and I look forward to strengthening our business in Malta and connecting our customers to opportunities, both locally and internationally, enabling them to thrive and supporting the Maltese economy to prosper,” Mr Cordina said.

HSBC Malta appointed Michel Cordina as Executive Director and as the bank’s first Executive Head of Business Development in May. Michel Cordina was Head of Commercial Business for the past eight years, prior to moving his current position.

The post HSBC Malta names new commercial head, new risk chief first appeared on The Malta Business Weekly.

The guidance supports and aims safeguarding the integrity of the financial market, the MFSA says.

The document intendeds to assist institutions that want to acquire a better understanding of the risks of any prospective customers, active in technology reliant areas, prior to servicing them.

Nevertheless, the MFSA warns it is not intended to be binding and neither does it provide any derogation from any obligations that a subject person has to fulfil in terms of the Prevention of Money Laundering and Funding of Terrorism Regulations (PMLFTR), according to the press release. 

On the contrary, it seeks to provide additional assistance as to how adherence thereto can be achieved when a prospective customer carries out particular activities.

Therefore, according to the MFSA, it is crucial that the guidance document is read together with the implementing procedures and any other relevant guidance document issued by the FIAU, as well as within the more general context provided by the Prevention of Money Laundering and Funding of Terrorism Regulations (PMLFTR). 

The authorities, in fact, encourage affected institutions to take this document into consideration when formulating their risk assessment measures, controls, policies and procedures.

“The MFSA is well aware of the need to strike a delicate balance in this area. We cannot attract new business in financial technology if such companies do not find the required banking services,” said Christopher P. Buttigieg, Chief Officer Strategy, Policy and Innovation at MFSA. “At the same time, we understand that banks operate on risk-based priorities and need to follow strict regulatory standards. Whilst it is not our role to set banks’ risk appetite, we can facilitate business as much as possible by clarifying our expectations to all operators in these emergent sectors,” he added.

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Digital payment has come a long way since Edward Bellamy first conceptualised a card used for payment instead of cash in his utopian novel entitled Looking Backward, published in 1887. When the first bank cards were introduced by the end of the 1960s, people appeared to be reluctant to shift habits and pay with a piece of plastic instead of hard cash. Nowadays, producing, updating and using cash — in some cases — can be costlier than card payments. With the spreading use of non-cash payments, hacking the online systems of banks started pacing out movie-like robberies of brick and mortar branches. Security is of elevated importance today in online finances. The blockchain and crypto world strive to disrupt this space; time will tell if hype can solidify.

Transactions in blockchain systems and the storage of tokens — let them be cryptocurrencies or any data — happen in wallets. The access for these wallets — for enhanced security purposes — is through a long private key of haphazard words or symbols. NGRAVE CEO Ruben Merre believes that, while this is a crucial part of the inherent strength of blockchain technology it also is the Achilles heel of the whole ecosystem, at least for the time being.

“The problem lies in how well private keys are managed and protected. Blockchain is an incredible technology and provides a lot of previously unseen security points. It has at least one big Achilles heel though: the private key(s).”

While private keys are part of the inherent strength of the technology, they are often seen as the single-point-of-failure when we look closer at blockchain wallets. A party that gets its hands on the private key can immediately assume full ownership of the wallet’s contents. Moreover, if one loses the private key to their wallet, they lose access to their funds forever, because of the inherent asymmetric (statistically unbreakable) cryptographic relationship between private key (password) and public key (address).

“Hence, security can be improved by optimising the way private keys are managed and protected. First of all, they should be created offline. That way, no third party can know what the key actually is. After that, the associated addresses — which themselves contain no sensitive data that can be tied back to the private key(s) — can be communicated to an online source,” Mr Merre describes. “It is crucial to be able to sign transactions with the private key, but without exposing the private key to an online connection. If you can do all of this offline, you have a very secure solution.”

Another aspect that needs extra thought is improving the backup procedure of one’s private key. “In today’s crypto space, over 90% of people keep their private key on a piece of paper. Completely paradoxical, considering this new and hot technology called blockchain. It almost feels like going back to the stone age. Yet it is a vast reality,” Mr Merre says. He proposes that the solutions offered by his company might be able to bring peace of mind to this space.

Blockchain hurdles

Whether blockchain and crypto can move beyond its hype is truly in the future yet, hopes are high. Nevertheless, the online space must ante up in general in terms of security, whether we talk about finances or the handling of personal data. Today, regardless of trying to offer greater security, the crypto world is still loud of investment scams and compromised funds. Therefore, distributed ledger technology-based solutions still need to live up to their potential.

“In my opinion, one of the most crucial hurdles today is security. With several million stolen each day from crypto wallets, it is a very real barrier for new investors to join the market and existing players to increase their investment exposure. If we can make investing in crypto more secure, potential new market participants will be less wary of joining in,” Mr Merre weighs in on the troubles the distributed ledger technology-based solutions face.

“If we can make investing in crypto more secure, potential new market participants will be less wary of joining in.”

NGRAVE CEO Ruben Merre

“Another scalability hurdle is the off-chain to on-chain translation. We also know this subject as ‘oracles’. Ultimately, blockchain often translates off-chain events to an online version,” Mr Merre adds. “For example, if you are insured against earthquakes and the smart contract of your insurance determines that as soon as there is a quake of six on the Richter scale you automatically get money on your account. In such a case, where does the consensus come from that actually defines what six on the scale of Richter means? Oracles, or dedicated offline parties oriented towards reaching a consensus on such rules, play an important role. As one can imagine, there is significant complexity in doing this right,” the CEO explains.

At the same time, blockchain evangelists, enthusiasts and experts are all concerned about scalability, i.e. the more people use a blockchain-based system and the more transactions they initiate, the longer the execution of the transaction would take. “This is a scalability challenge, yet many players are having a look at it as we speak. Then there is cross-chain compatibility/interoperability: How do you make two different blockchain infrastructures interact? Another point is the energy consumed by the network to reach consensus / to mine blocks. Here as well, solutions are investigated including Proof of Stake, Proof of Ownership, etc. moving away somewhat from the traditional energy-heavy proof of work consensus algorithm(s). Overall maturity on the developer side is another facet. We are still in the early days of this technology, which also means that we still have to develop a lot of code to make specific applications work. All of this needs to grow, evolve, mature, in order to make it easier and faster to scale. Finally, standardisation is one of the aspects that would likely benefit the overall crypto space greatly,” Mr Merre says.

Eyes on Malta

NGRAVE aspires to offer a breakthrough in cryptosecurity, by enabling users to do every single step of the user journey without ever exposing the private keys. The company says that their solution has been developed in close collaboration with the end user to ensure seamless ease of use.

NGRAVE has recently entered the second phase of their product development and expects to have a fully-functional version soon. “We will then perfect that version up to the very details and make it ready for industrialisation. People will be able to pre-order starting in September 2019. Expanding towards Malta is something that would make the most sense for 2020,” Mr Merre tells BM about their plans.

After stating the obvious attraction points of Malta — the breathtaking culture, beaches and weather — Mr Merre looks deeper into the ecosystem of the island nation, underscoring the supportive and innovative attitude of the tech and blockchain community in here.

“Malta is looking at crypto with a long-term perspective, and therefore set up three major regulatory bills last October to attract more cryptocurrency companies. This by itself shows that Malta is pioneering important frameworks to further foster blockchain adoption,” Mr Merre says.

He backs up his view with companies such as  Binance, Bitbay, OKex having set up a base in Malta. He also takes time to praise the Malta Blockchain & AI Summit for its support. “In short, Malta is an ideal tech and entrepreneurial hub and we are committed to being a part of and developing the ecosystem on this small, but a powerhouse of an island,” the CEO concludes.

The post Managing private keys better can foster more security in crypto first appeared on The Malta Business Weekly.

Malta believes that the Europan Union budget should include measures that address gender inequalities in all spheres, as the EU budget is an excellent tool that has contributed to social and economic development across Europe, the DOI press statement underscores.

The Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) can also play a crucial role in contributing to achieving this aim. Minister Dalli also reiterated her calls about the need to protect the EU’s cohesion policy, in order to address regional disparities, the DOI press release says.

This was the last in a series of debates on the MFF 2021-2027 held under the Romanian Presidency. The General Affairs Council will then continue discussions with a view of reaching an agreement before the end of 2019, as agreed to by leaders in the December 2018 European Council Conclusions. In this context, Minister Dalli focussed on the need for further progress and compromise, n order to ensure that there are no delays.

In addition, discussions on the Conclusions on Enlargement and Stabilisation and Association Process focused on the European Commission’s positive recommendation for the opening of accession negotiations with Albania and The Republic of North Macedonia.

In the absence of an agreement between member states on this matter, Minister Dalli stressed the importance of proceeding on a merits-based approach and sending a strong message to these countries, also as a matter of credibility for the European Union.

Minister Dalli also made reference to the Valletta Declaration adopted last Friday in which the Southern Mediterranean EU member states expressed solidarity with Cyprus in the context of the current challenges with Turkey.

Ms Dalli also highlighted the importance of keeping a channel of communication with Turkey, noting that continued engagement can play a vital role.

The General Affairs Council finalised its preparations for the European Council scheduled for this Thursday and Friday in Brussels, which is expected to focus on institutional appointments, MFF, climate change, and external relations.

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“Selecting the best AML solution plays a huge part in eliminating risks and protecting your business from being associated with illegal financial activity,” according to the Computime Software.

Using artificial intelligence (AI), AML software works to identify what deviates from the norm as defined by the programmed rules. As such, Computime software urges that the rules must be set up well, in order to filter out suspicious transactions.

Furthermore, the company says that if there are too few or too many alerts of possible suspicious activity based on the number of transactions, it might be a sign that the transaction monitoring system does not work as intended. Therefore, testing and tweaking the software is needed.

Nevertheless, Computime software notes that using the right technology solutions is useless on its own; the hiring of compliance officers with previous investigative and forensic accounting training, along with knowledge of the business line is crucial. It also must be accompanied by proper training to help them what to look for and how to correctly handle generated alerts.

“It is also vital to have a solid controls process, which involves superiors analysing and verifying the results of AML alerts,” the company’s blog entry underscores.

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“Traditionally, a recession results from a hit on exports, that is already being witnessed while we luckily are not yet experiencing tightened domestic financial conditions,” said Christopher Dembik, Head of Macroeconomic Analysis at Saxo Bank. “A possible trade war with the United States, and current political uncertainties, particularly the looming Brexit, are all contributors to a potential bleak economic environment,” Mr Dembik said according to the press statement.

After the introductive speech Steve Ellul, Head BOV Asset Management and Giovanni Cachia, Head Portfolio Management Services within BOV’s Wealth Management Arm, held presentations, respectively, according to the BOV press release.

“The size of our economy allows us to be nimble and flexible in the face of external economic shocks and this has been proven in the past,” Mr Ellul said. He noted that Malta has a resilient economy, which has always fared well in times of crisis. “We have to promote and highlight the value proposition offered by Malta as a jurisdiction which is at the forefront in the financial sector, e-gaming and other innovation-oriented sectors,” he added.

“High-quality bonds have traditionally performed well in a low-interest environment and we should seek investments that historically have been more resilient during an economic slowdown or a recession,” said Mr Cachia.

“Sector rotation is critical during these times; discretionary spending, such as leisure, cars and luxury products are the first to experience decreased spending in troubled times so investment should be channelled more towards essential items such as food and beverages, and hygiene products that traditionally have performed relatively better, with gold being a good consideration as a safe haven asset,” Mr Cachia added.

The post BOV and Saxo Bank meeting discusses risks of a possible European recession first appeared on The Malta Business Weekly.

The €100 and €200 banknotes of the first series, like all the other denominations, will remain legal tender, which means that they will continue to circulate alongside the new notes and will be gradually withdrawn from circulation — so that their numbers will decrease over time.

“The periodic upgrade of security features is a normal development in the product lifecycle of the banknotes. Any central bank issuing banknotes replaces them with new or upgraded notes in regular time spans to safeguard their integrity,” the ECB says in a statement sent to Business Malta when asked to elaborate on the rationale behind the revamp.

The new banknotes use innovative security features and are easy to check using the “feel, look and tilt” method, the ECB says. Thanks to a satellite hologram and an enhanced emerald number, the banknotes are more resistant to counterfeiting.

“The ECB and the national central banks of the Eurosystem need to stay technologically ahead of counterfeiters. That is why they decided to introduce the Europa series of the euro — i.e. the second series that is now completed with the entry into circulation oft he 100 and 200 notes —, so they fulfil their duty to safeguard the integrity of the banknotes by regularly upgrading and improving the design and security features,” the ECB statement sent to BM says.

Because the €100 is the third-most-widely used euro note, the demand for €100 and €200 banknotes is increasing at an annual rate of 7.6% for the €100 and 8.6% for the €200, according to figures by the ECB.

Staying up to date

The ECB expects the Europa series to allow the institution and national central banks in Eurosystem to keep pace with technological developments and maintain a high level of protection against counterfeiting. ECB underscores that this is the first time the €100 and €200 banknotes are upgraded since the euro banknotes were introduced in 2002. The lower denominations have been upgraded in the last six years, the first one being the €5 banknote in 2013.

The new €100 and €200 notes, in addition, will be easier to handle and processed by machines, the ECB expects. Additionally, the new notes are smaller, so they should also fit better in people’s wallets and last longer, as they will be subject to less damage.

Nevertheless, the changing of all the older euro notes to the new ones should be a lengthy process as the introduction of a new series depends on several factors — such as the counterfeiting threat and the availability of new technologies. At this point, the ECB cannot tell what the exact schedule for entirely updating to the new series will be.

“The production of euro banknotes is a combined effort by the national central banks and the ECB. It begins with calculations for the number of banknotes required each year. Forecasts of the demand for euro banknotes for the year ahead are provided by the national central banks and a central forecast is made by the ECB,” the statement by ECB clarifies the process.

“In order to produce the banknotes efficiently, printing is shared among the different national central banks. The ECB allocates production volumes to a number of national central banks, which then supply a specific proportion of the total annual production of one or more denominations. The respective bank bears the production costs for the share allocated. There are 11 high-security printing works in Europe where banknotes are produced. The notes are subsequently distributed among the different national central banks,” the ECB adds.

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The event was conceptualised by the Department of Accounting and Business Studies within the Directorate for Learning and Assessment Programmes (DLAP) at the Ministry for Education and Employment (MEDE) and supported by HSBC Malta Foundation as part of its Future Skills programme.

Malta ranks in the lower end among the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) countries in terms of adults making money decisions in their household by themselves or together with others in the household, the press statement says.

The school quiz was designed to distinguish between needs and wants, budgeting, earning, spending and saving money, investments, insurance, banking services, and even donations.

“Considering that this was a first-of-its-kind quiz in Malta and Gozo, the enthusiasm shown by schools was remarkable and encourages us to continue creating more financial literacy-related events in future. The high participation also demonstrated that financial literacy needs to be more prominently discussed in the imagination of the public,” said Joanne Zammit, Education Officer for Accounting and Business Studies at DLAP.

More questions focused on students’ responsibility, awareness and knowledge when buying online, fixed and variable costs, and debt. The quiz was online, allowing students to use tablets and their mobile phones to answer the questions, aimed at increasing digital literacy as well. The Directorate for Digital Literacy and Transversal Skills provided the tablets and guided students on how to use the quiz app.

During the event, officials from the government’s financial capability strategy (2017-2019), Ġemma, and from HSBC also held presentations. MEDE Permanent Secretary Dr Frank Fabri handed the prizes and certificates.

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