Trust & Transparency

FinanceMalta

November 17, 2020

In June 2019, when Bloomberg asked Wirecard’s CEO, Markus Braun about the controversy surrounding the company, Braun said they don’t much look at controversy and instead focus on growth and innovation. ESG* ranking platforms using sentiment analysis saw a dip in the G (governance) element. No action was taken. Fast forward to 2020, Wirecard became the first Dax-listed company to fail amid a €1.9bn accounting scandal.Deflection and avoidance it seems are not the answer to tackling controversy. What does this mean for Malta? What opportunities does this create? What, and how significant, are the downside risks for Malta if we continue with ‘business as usual’?This is the discussion for this month’s webinar, where our panellists, who come from diverse backgrounds and viewpoints will take us through the issues and interesting ways forward.This session will be hosted by Deborah Webster, with key panellists, Rudolph Psaila (Chairman of FinanceMalta), Juanita Bencini (Financial Services Consultant & Professional Non-Executive Director) and Olivier Khatib (CTO & Chief Data Scientist at Sensefolio).*environmental, social and governance

Overview

Why Attend?

Agenda Highlights:

Confirmed Speakers

Deborah Webster (Moderator) - Co-founder & CEO, AMANIcircle - Deborah Webster is a trusted advisor and sparring partner to founders, investors and business leaders building better companies for a better future. Spotting a pattern between leadership and outcomes, Deborah developed the AMANI™ protocol to spot trends, potential futures, and the decisions we need to make today to course correct. One of the methodology’s most notable successes was the identification of Theranos as a red-flag investment a year before the scandal. She has worked with a variety of companies, including PE firms and their investee companies, family businesses and family offices.
Rudolph Psaila - Chairman of FinanceMalta - Rudolph Psaila is the Chairman of FinanceMalta, a non-profit public-private initiative that was set up to promote Malta as an international business and financial centre within, as well as outside of, Malta. He has occupied this role since November 2019 and since then FinanceMalta has launched its new strategy and vision for the growth and strengthening of the financial services industry in Malta. Prior to his current role, Rudolph occupied the role of Chairman of Malta Industrial Parks.Rudolph is also the CEO of AlleyBe Group, an independently owned and multi-disciplinary organisation providing an array of corporate and Fintech related services to international clients operating within different industry sectors.Rudolph started his career in 1999 working for PwC in Malta and in Jersey, Channel Islands. During his ten-year period with PwC, he had the opportunity to work on various international and high profile assignments. In 2010, Rudolph moved to an international financial services group where he was appointed Global Head of Commercial Operations and was primarily responsible for setting up and developing the Corporate, Fiduciary and the Fund Administration businesses of its various offices across the globe including its office in Malta.He is a fellow member of the Malta Institute of Accountants and a member of the Institute of Financial Services Practitioners, of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners and of the International Fiscal Association. Rudolph is a visiting lecturer at the University of Malta and acts as an examiner and tutor for dissertations related to financial services.
Juanita Bencini - Financial Services Consultant & Professional Non-Executive Director - Juanita Bencini is a certified public accountant with a masters degree in financial services. She is an ex-KPMG Malta partner where for 17 years she headed the Risk Consulting Advisory practice and was also Head of Risk Advisory Services of the sub-region of which the Malta practice formed part. Today, she holds senior and board-level positions on various companies including a local bank and insurance companies. Her areas of expertise include risk management, regulation, compliance arrangements, corporate governance and AML. She is the immediate past President of the Institute of Financial Services Practitioners, Chair of the IFSP’s AML Committee and a visiting lecturer at the University of Malta.
Olivier Khatib - CTO & Chief Data Scientist at Sensefolio - Olivier Khatib is the Chief Data Scientist and CTO at Sensefolio, a company rating over 30,000 companies according to ESG criteria using AI and Machine Learning. Sensefolio retrieves all available information from companies’ reports, employees’ company reviews, social media, financial news, among others. Olivier holds an MSc Computer Science, MSc Business Management from Imperial College London, with Quantitative Research experience at AllianceBernstein and AXA Investment Managers.