An audience of over 120 leading figures from the City of London crowded into The London Stock Exchange on Tuesday 4th April, to hear about the country’s growing strength as an international finance centre. The event, which was organised by the business publishing division of The Financial Times, was chaired by the Editor-inChief of The Banker magazine, Stephen Timewell.

The Malta Financial Services Authority, Bank of Valletta and HSBC Malta were the principle sponsors of the conference, which was titled “Opportunities and Challenges for Inward Investment”. Much of the focus of the day was on how the finance industry has progressed since the country’s accession to the EU.

Delegates from numerous branches of London’s finance industry and from top advisory firms heard first from Parliamentary Secretary Tonio Fenech, who outlined the key factors that have driven Malta’s recent development as a finance jurisdiction, including political and economic stability, cross party political consensus and long term investment in education.

Other speakers included Central Bank Governor, Michael Bonello,  MFSA Chairman, Joe Bannister, Bank of Valletta Chairman, Roderick Chalmers, HSBC Malta Chief Executive, Shaun Wallace, Mediterranean Bank Plc Chief Executive, Frederic Villa, Dr Max Ganado of legal firm J M Ganado & Associates and Peter Astelford from the international law firm Dechert LLP.

Speaking after the conference, Mr Fenech said, “This was a very valuable event in terms of spreading the word about Malta to very influential decision makers and growing our network of contacts. We met people who are seriously considering opening for business in Malta or working with local companies. What was clear is that Malta is now firmly in many minds as a wholly viable financial services centre with its own unique advantages, and that’s exactly how we want to be positioned.”