FinanceMalta held a virtual meeting with its members to provide them with an overview of its plans for 2021 and explain ways how they can take maximum advantage of their membership. The event, named "Catching up with members" was addressed by Rudolph Psaila, Chairman of FinanceMalta.

Mr Psaila outlined the purpose of FinanceMalta, namely promoting Malta as an international financial services centre, creating business and networking opportunities, as well as coordinating with relevant industry players the overall promotion of the jurisdiction. He said the Foundation brings together all the stakeholders in the financial services industry, from the private and public sectors.

Referring to 2020, Mr Psaila said that this was an unprecedented year due to the ongoing pandemic, which changed completely the way FinanceMalta used to operate: "Despite these challenges, we sought to implement our strategy, based on five pillars, namely innovation, value creation, inclusiveness, internationalisation and being digital."

Mr Psaila gave an overview of the activities and initiatives that FinanceMalta carried out last year: virtual conferences, webinars, increased social media presence, a new membership mechanism and a brand new website, with an eye to continuing to provide value to its members while also addressing some of the challenges that the industry is facing.

Mr Psaila explained that some of the main objectives for 2021 include seeking opportunities on emerging and innovative sectors such as Sustainable Finance, Fintech and the Digital Economy, and increasing FinanceMalta's collaboration in the international financial services arena.

With regards to upcoming initiatives, Mr Psaila announced the launch of a new series of podcasts and video podcasts, which will take place in the coming weeks and months, in conjunction with key stakeholders and members. Moreover, he outlined a number of events and webinars which will provide members more value in terms of knowledge, networking and business opportunities, whilst promoting the island as an innovative financial services centre. Mr Psaila also invited members to proactively submit their ideas for joint initiatives, underlining that FinanceMalta is open to cooperation proposals from its members to further promote the jurisdiction internationally. Cooperation with members will also be highlighted through a revamped social media strategy focused on inclusiveness.

The Q/A session that closed the meeting was moderated by Ivan Grech, Chief Operations Officer, and addressed various topics brought up by members.