Anthony Buttigieg fills the position of Chief Banking Officer in his new role. He joined APS Bank as Head of Banking in 2016 after working for Mid-Med Bank and HSBC Bank Malta in successively senior and executive positions, including that of regional director. Over a career of 41 years, he has headed teams and projects in commercial, retail and direct banking, contact centre and risk. 

Aaron Mifsud has been appointed as Head of Retail. He joined APS Bank in 2000 and over the years held positions as a commercial relationship manager and branch manager. He held the position of senior manager retail in 2017 with overall responsibility for the retail branch network and sits on the Bank’s Management Credit Committee. Mr Mifsud has a Bachelor of Science (Hons) in Financial Services and is also a member of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA).

Mario Gauci is now the Head of Commercial. He joined APS Bank in 2014 and was appointed Senior Manager Commercial in 2017. He started his career with Mid-Med Bank in 1981 and spent a period of secondment with Investment Finance Bank. Since 1994 and over a 20-year span he held senior positions including with HSBC Bank Malta, as deputy head of credit, area commercial manager and deputy head of corporate banking. Mario is an associate of the Chartered Institute of Financial Services.

“These appointments reflect the scaling up of responsibilities in line with the growth and transformation of the bank. We congratulate Anthony, Aaron and Mario, professionals of many years’ experience, as they take over their new roles,” said CEO Marcel Cassar.

The post APS Bank names three new senior managers first appeared on The Malta Business Weekly.

The course started in October 2018 and has involved a series of talks on water conservation, energy consumption, waste management and reduction, and sustainable development. 

It has been designed by Dr Alexandra Mifsud from the Centre of Environmental Education Research (CEER) at the University of Malta and Amanda Zahra from the Water and Energy Agency.

Funded by the HSBC Water Programme, this event was directed at businesses, where members of staff were trained on the change of behaviour they can make related to the safeguarding of the environment and leading a more sustainable lifestyle both at home and at the workplace, as the press release says. 

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), a main focus of the “Together for Sustainability” course, are in line with what CSR is all about and that is the reason why the CORE Platform was given an opportunity to speak on the subject during the last session, the press statement underscores.

CSR awareness raising

The aim of the European CSR day is to raise awareness on what CSR is, the importance of having it incorporated within a business strategy and framework, and the benefits that it yields, both to the company and its employees, as well as to the community and environment it operates in.

Helga Ellul, President of CORE Platform, explained that CSR must always start internally. From here one can then start engaging in CSR activities outside of the company. Nowadays, consumers and customers are becoming more aware of responsible corporations, in fact, many are those that choose the services of a company that engages in CSR instead of one that does not, Ms Ellul added.

Thus, CSR helps to improve the reputation of the business as well and it must also never be done solely to gain a better image as that will not work in the long-run. 

Finally, Ms Ellul focused on the misconception of CSR being charity is still an issue and that this is something that one needs to work on to overcome.

Developing sustainable economies

“At HSBC, we are proud to be playing a leading role in developing sustainable economies internationally and locally. Today, our sustainability approach focuses on three main areas: sustainable finance; sustainable supply chains; and employability and financial capability. In each of these areas, we have begun to take genuine strides forward,” said HSBC Bank Malta CEO Andy Beane.

“We have set out a series of commitments to contribute to the global transition to a low-carbon economy. We have also pledged long-term support to help people access education and training, so they can acquire the skills they need to succeed in today’s workplace,” Mr Beane added. “And through our partnerships with customers, NGOs and other key stakeholders, we are encouraging responsible business in global supply chains. Bringing together more than 500 people from over 60 organisations across Malta to learn about sustainability is core to this strategy as we need to work together to accelerate the country’s transition to a low carbon, sustainable future that we can feel proud to pass on to the next generation,” the HSBC Malta chief concluded.

The post Malta CSR Institute holds last session of sustainability course first appeared on The Malta Business Weekly.