The Bank of Valletta Group has signed up as the lead sponsor of the conference being held on 30 November on the theme Success and Evolution: Development and Prospects of Malta’s Financial Services Industry.

The conference, which is being organised by EMCS Ltd, will be held at the Hilton, St Julian’s.

Mr Depasquale said that BOV is a leading provider of financial services and is keen to contribute to the development of Malta as a financial centre.

“It is in this context that the BOV Group is pleased to support this conference on the development and prospects of Malta’s financial services industry,” he said.

“In recent months we have set up a new fund administration company, Valletta Fund Services Ltd, to focus on consolidating the capabilities of the BOV Group, effectively positioning it to service the full spectrum of funds domiciling in Malta. We have also established a fully dedicated business unit focusing on the provision of Trustee Services”, said Mr Depasquale.

He added that these developments underline BOV’s determination to take up the new opportunities that are becoming available as Malta continues to develop into a competitive and reputable financial services centre.

Mr Depasquale announced that the BOV Group will be having two keynote speakers at the conference. Valletta Fund Services Ltd general manager Kenneth Farrugia will be speaking about the challenges and opportunities for investment services operations and Dr Andrew Chetcuti Ganado will be delivering a presentation on trusts as an

effective means of estate and financial planning.

Thanking Bank of Valletta for the sponsorship, Dr Grech said that the objective of the conference is to assess and evaluate the performance of the financial

services industry and take bearings as to the basis for its success and the direction it should take in the future.

“Consolidation of the capability and turning the

current experience and

performance into a strength and a feature for further development will be important elements of discussion during this full-day conference that has already attracted the interest of a good number of operators in this sector,” he said.

“We look forward to providing a forum for the industry to engage in a strategic debate that will also serve as a platform for improved understanding,” he added.

“We have put together a

programme with the participation of operators who have been attracted to Malta as a jurisdiction and a business location and are confident that the conference should ensure a very comprehensive view of the industry’s current state and future trends,”he added.

Parliamentary Secretary at the Finance Ministry Tonio Fenech will be delivering the opening address at the conference and will also

participate in the final debate.

Other distinguished speakers include Malta Financial Services Authority chairman Prof. Joseph V. Bannister and Malta Stock Exchange chairman Joseph Zammit Tabona.

An electronic version of the conference brochure is available from the EMCS website on www.emcs. com.mt