Malta participates in Decentralized 2019 Conference in Athens

‘Malta managed to find the elusive balance between regulation, innovation, competitiveness, and consumer protection, enabling the relevant stakeholders to operate within a robust legal framework’ – Parliamentary Secretary Silvio Schembri during the Decentralized 2019 Conference in Athens, Greece

Parliamentary Secretary Silvio Schembri was invited to participate in the Decentralized 2019 Conference in Athens Greece; a conference which brings together the world’s leading business executives and academic experts to debate current trends and future developments.

During his keynote speech, Parliamentary Secretary Schembri focused on Malta’s Innovative Technology Balance: Fostering Innovation, Legal Certainty and Consumer Protection. Silvio Schembri explained in detail the regulatory framework Malta has adopted in order to regulate a new emergent industry and allow it to flourish into our ecosystem. Parliamentary Secretary Schembri explained the roles of the VFA Agents and System Auditors identified by the MFSA and MDIA respectively, which are acting as gatekeepers, guiding investors throughout the applications, and licensing process.

“We believe that as a country we have managed to find the elusive balance between regulation, innovation, competitiveness and consumer protection enabling the relevant stakeholders to operate within a robust legal framework, offering significant protection for users, as well as creating the ideal environment that will help drive the technology forward”. Parliamentary Secretary Schembri reiterated that Malta placed itself as one of the first countries in the EU to embrace this new emerging technology, it sought to provide a sound and a robust legal regime for the blockchain industry while providing the end consumer with the relevant protection and peace of mind.

Parliamentary Secretary Schembri participated in a panel discussion with Demetra Kalogrerou, Chairwoman, Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission, Vasiliki Lazarakou, Chair, Hellenic Capital Markets Commission moderated by Kyriacos Kokkinos, National Chief Scientist for Research & Innovation, Republic of Cyprus.

The focus of the panel discussion shifted on how Malta’s regulatory framework can serve as a blueprint for other EU countries’ still yet to regulate this sector. Parliamentary Secretary Schembri emphasised on the legal certainty Malta sought to provide for operators in this space whilst adding that the Malta Digital Innovation Authority certification instils trust amongst the users and can increase user adoption.

In Greece, Parliamentary Secretary Silvio Schembri met with the Greek Deputy Minister for Digital Governance and discussed the digitisation of the public sector as well as means to strengthen the skills for today’s and tomorrow’s workforce.

Ambassador of Malta to the Hellenic Republic Joseph Cuschieri accompanied Parliamentary Secretary Silvio Schembri during the visit.

Source: PRESS RELEASE BY THE PARLIAMENTARY SECRETARIAT FOR FINANCIAL SERVICES, DIGITAL ECONOMY AND INNOVATION