MONEY NOV 2018 ISSUE 51

BUSINESS

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THE BUSINESS EDITION

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ISSUE 51

Eman Pulis on SiGMA’s ever-growing popularity as it extends its reach far outside Europe. cover: SiGMA 2018 squad · story on page 18

W E LC O M E

Was the Budget as good as the Labour Party said or as bad as the Nationalist Party said?

The Budget speech ran to almost 100 pages, with dozens upon dozens of measures, many of them targeting very specific categories of people. It is the sort of vote-catching Budget – reaching out all those with a gripe or a wish – you would expect in the year before an election, not the first year of a legislature.

It was not, however, a surprise. The finance ministry has had a very firm hand on the rein for some years, giving minor tweaks to achieve very specific aims, and then only after careful modelling to assess the unintended consequences that might arise. Its assessments had shown where money could be used to rectify injustices, incentivise better behaviour and offer opportunities.

This was the third year that Malta is forecasting a Budget surplus and the worst possible thing would have been for the ministry to succumb to irrational exuberance, handing out benefits like an ice-cream seller in August. The reality is that the munificence was not as rampant as one might think. A bit to him, a bit to her, and a bit to them did not tip the scales.

façade to make it look more attractive, do you?

The worst thing the government could have done would be to add to the pain of dramatic growth rates by encouraging even more. Better to take a deep breath and allow the housing, schooling and human resources pressures to ease a bit, to give market forces time to work out the mismatches between supply and demand.

So far, so good, but that does not mean that there should be no long-term vision.

For example, the economy may be doing well but that is precisely when the wise will start to put money away for a rainy day, reversing the accumulated neglect of decades of deficits.

In this case, the government has not started to bring down the debt and will not do so until 2020, according to the forecasts. On paper, it all looks good as the Gross Domestic Product is going up so the ratio is going down, making Malta the envy of many other EU member states. But what if GDP were to come down again, not imminently but in the years to come?

Wouldn’t it be great if the next generation were not saddled with a debt of over €5.6 billion, and all the interest payments that entails?

In economic terms, it would not make sense to pour all the surplus into reducing the debt, but since the money is not needed to generate value-added activity, surely this would be the perfect time to indulge in a bit of debt-reduction?

Let’s face it: Malta cannot keep printing and printing more passports to solve the problems of the future. Even if Malta thinks it can, there are others out there who might have a say. With Malta in international news all too often for all the wrong reasons, it might be a good time to keep below the radar.

So managing to restrain yourself and keep to a surplus is good.

CREDITS

Is the money being used with a long-term vision? Well, that is another question.

The first thing to bear in mind is that the economy is doing so well that the government is consciously holding back from offering too many incentives. If you have people knocking at your door asking to come in, you don’t need to paint the

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THE BUSINESS EDITION

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CONTENTS

10

12

16

INTERVIEW

INTERVIEW

INTERVIEW

CHAIN REACTION

TWO SIDES OF THE SAME COIN

MINDING THE SKILLS GAP

Giselle Borg Olivier speaks to Silvio Schembri, Parliamentary Secretary for Financial Services, Digital Economy and Innovation about Malta’s ambitions to thrive in the blockchain, DLT and crypto race as it did with financial services in the past.

Giselle Borg Olivier speaks to Christopher P. Buttigieg, director of securities, Malta Financial Services Authority, on the pros and cons of the crypto boom and other technological innovations reshaping the financial services sector.

There is currently a huge shortage of skills across all sectors of the economy and industry is suffering as a result. How can Malta deal with this problem to avoid a huge dent in the economy? JobsPlus executive chairperson Clyde Caruana offers some insight to Veronica Stivala.

18 COVER STORY

EXTENDED AUDIENCE MONEY spoke to SiGMA’s chief executive officer Eman Pulis, chief operations officer Oliver De Bono, and chief financial officer Chris Grech on SiGMA’s ever-growing popularity as it extends its reach internationally.

22 INTERVIEW

UNBLOCKING THE CHAIN Duncan Barry interviews Paul Brody — principal and global innovation leader, blockchain technology at EY — on blockchain-based crowd funding, the rise of classical fiat currency tokens, like dollars and euros, and the much-awaited regulatory compliance and standardisation in this area.

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28 EMPLOYMENT

PROMO

KNOCK-ON EFFECT

REVOLUT(IONARY)

The rising rental market prices are having a knock-on effect on employers. Malta Employers’ Association Director-General Joe Farrugia spoke to MONEY about the impact.

Dayna Clarke catches up with Malta, Cyprus and Greece’s country manager Dimitris Litsikakis, who was in Malta for the DELTA summit, on all things Revolut.

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40

SURVEY

OPINION

14th EDITION OF EY MALTA'S ATTRACTIVENESS SURVEY

GET YOUR FREE REVOLUT VISA DEBIT CARD!

Simon Barberi, director and EU advisory services leader at EY Malta, gives a breakdown and analysis of EY Malta’s Attractiveness Survey, which once again found that Malta is attractive for foreign direct investment.

46 BRANDING

THE CAPITAL IN CULTURE

55 LAST WORD

NO MAN'S LAND

Company culture is an important part of your brand.

Richard Muscat Azzopardi explains why.

The Bluesman analyses some big sexual harassment cases which involved powerful men and the inclination of certain men who seek to overpower women.

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THE BUSINESS EDITION

VESTED INTEREST Manuel Delia gives an in-depth account of Malta’s psyche where thriving in business means overstepping fair boundaries and sustaining the political party in government in turn for backing.

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I N T E RV I E W

ChaiN reaction Giselle Borg Olivier speaks to Silvio Schembri, Parliamentary Secretary for Financial Services, Digital Economy and Innovation about Malta’s ambitions to thrive in the blockchain, DLT and crypto race as it did with financial services in the past.

Malta has been pushing the #blockchainisland hashtag over the past few months to be at the forefront in the regulation of DLTs, and much attention has been given to the island over this issue. Is Malta prepared for the influx of business that it’s purportedly going to receive?

There has been significant interest in what we are doing. Primarily this interest was underpinned by the fact that Malta will be offering legal certainty, and this is considered very important. We have also managed to offer a holistic approach to regulate this space: looking at the product but also at the underlying technology; leaving enough flexibility to include other technologies in the future; and putting in place the necessary structures to protect investors and consumers without overregulating.

The application processes will be handed by the relevant competent authorities – MFSA, MGA or/and the MDIA – depending on the type of application and product/ service involved. These authorities already have experience in handling applications and processes and we are confident that

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we will be able to manage this interest.

One area that required extensive work was the issuing of the rules and procedures, and, during the summer months, various documents were published to receive feedback. At this stage, all is in place for the relevant authorities to start receiving applications by November.

From a regulatory point of view, is the MFSA ready to service the requirements of these companies? Does it have enough resources to provide an efficient service?

As mentioned, the rules and procedures have already been published by the MFSA. A specialised unit has also been set up at the MFSA to handle these applications and to carry out all the necessary regulatory oversight – which will be rather significant. Let’s also keep in view that the MFSA is currently undergoing a major recruitment drive to be able to continue operating efficiently on the traditional financial segments as well as in this new segment.

How will the Malta Digital Innovation Authority and the MFSA work together? The

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THE BUSINESS EDITION

MDIA was promoted as the regulator of the sector, so is there going to be an overlap of roles?

The role of MDIA is different from that of the MFSA. The MFSA is the financial regulator and will be licensing applications in terms of the VFA Act. The MDIA will be looking at technological arrangements and will be issuing recognition for this arrangement. Most products related to financial digital assets will need interaction between the two authorities: as part of the process, the MFSA – which will be the competent authority – will be asking for recognition of the technology by the MDIA. Is there a main person, and if so, who is it, responsible for overseeing the introduction of cryptocurrency organisations and DLT businesses to Malta, and ensuring that all regulations are adhered to?

The relevant authorities will take up this role.

Apart from the financial injection that these companies will bring to Malta, what positive influence will they have?

I N T E RV I E W

Our economy is based on services.

Financial services and igaming are two such sectors. Technology based on DLT will not only complement igaming and financial services but will enhance them. Fintech and Regtech are just two examples of the application of technology to the financial services.

DLT and other technology will also bring with them skills and talent: two very important components to increase the productive capacity of our economy. Let’s not forget that the people employed in this new industry will consume part of their income here in Malta, hence having a multiplier effect on our economy in terms of expenditure on consumer and durable products.

And on the other side of the coin, what negative impact will they have? And what hurdles are they likely to encounter e.g. lack of school spaces for their children?

Success brings with it some costs. I don’t think anyone in the world has managed to eliminate opportunity cost, for example. Thus, there will surely be some challenges – as you mentioned schools for people that relocate their families to Malta – but also our infrastructure in terms of accommodation and transport.

Unfortunately, in the past we used to plan only short term, as can be seen from our roads, for example; however, we must now start planning for 20 or 30 years ahead.

This will be necessary in order to have a sustainable economy.

What is Malta's plan to avoid reputational risk, when the DLT and cryptocurrency platform is targeted and exploited by cybercriminals?

Without the proper regulations, the risk would have been much higher. With the three Acts and subsequent subsidiary legislation, the right structures will be put in place to combat such risks. For example, our proposed subsidiary legislation will go

beyond the fifth Anti-Money Laundering Directive, which was published by the European Parliament and the Council only a few months ago. This shows our determination to be at the fore end in the fight against such elements.

Do you think that this is a long-term plan that Malta will continue to benefit from in the years to come or are we simply early adopters who will be overtaken by other jurisdictions in the near future?

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One of Malta’s great advantages is the ability to be nimble, flexible, and innovative in terms of legislative developments. We have shown this in the past, for example in the igaming industry. This space potentially offers even more benefits as our vision is to move forcefully into complementary segments such as artificial intelligence and internet of things (IoT). Doing so should ensure that we remain innovators in the digital economy.

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TWO SIDES OF THE SAME COIN 12 · MONEY

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THE BUSINESS EDITION

Giselle is a freelance writer, proofreader and social media marketer who lives on Instagram and cappuccino. Runs Content for Success.

Giselle Borg Olivier speaks to Christopher P. Buttigieg, director of securities, Malta Financial Services Authority, on the pros and cons of the crypto boom and other technological innovations reshaping the financial services sector.

What are your views on the DLT and cryptocurrency arena that Malta is heavily invested in?

Distributed Ledger Technology and cryptocurrencies are disruptive technological innovations, which have the potential to reshape the financial services sector. Following the government’s announcement of its policy decision to establish Malta as the Blockchain Island, we have seen a drastic increase in interest in ICOs, virtual currencies in general as well as the application of fintech in traditional financial services. As with anything which is innovative, DLT and cryptocurrencies bring to the fore a number of challenges and

I N T E RV I E W

opportunities for all stakeholders, be they regulators, industry players or investors.

The benefits of crypto assets include: an alternative source of funding which can be availed of by new or innovative businesses; and access to potentially attractive investments for investors. On the other side of the coin, one may identify potential risks such as a high volatility in crypto-asset prices, a degree of information asymmetry, money laundering and funding of terrorism, and risks associated with technology and operations, such as risk fraud and cybersecurity.

How does this new finance sector affect the MFSA in terms of its role as regulator?

The MFSA has consistently sought to be a proactive regulator for financial services, holding the three main objectives of financial regulation — investor protection, market integrity and financial soundness – at the forefront of its agenda. Faced with a sector which was largely unregulated, the MFSA has proposed a regulatory framework which sets out requirements for: [i] offering of virtual financial assets to the public in or from within Malta by an issuer; [ii] application, by an issuer, for a virtual financial asset’s admission to trading on a DLT exchange; [iii] activity of VFA Agents; and the provision of VFA services in or from within Malta; replicating the high level principles of existing EU financial services legislation. The authority has sought to devise a framework that regulates effectively but which does not stifle innovation.

What are the challenges that the MFSA faces?

The two main challenges faced by regulators in this field are: [i] the high rate of failure of ICOs and the risk of fraudulent activity connected therewith; and [ii] the use of crypto-assets for money laundering.

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While the technology itself has allowed for the development of a number of forensic tools that cater for transaction monitoring, and which may assist in addressing such risks — the proposed framework, as shall be explained, seeks to address such risks.

The MFSA has gone through major restructuring this year. What was the main scope behind this and what other changes can we expect in the coming months?

During the past year there have been two major developments with respect to the MFSA — the appointment of a chief executive officer — an official responsible for the overall performance of the authority and the implementation of its objectives, strategy, and of policies as set by the Board of Governors; and the establishment of the Registry of Companies as an agency which is totally independent of and separate from the MFSA. A new chairman and chief operations officer have also been appointed. The appointment of Joseph Cuschieri, as CEO of the MFSA, has led to a new vision being set for the authority whereby technology is now considered mission critical and a means to achieve better supervisory efficiency. The authority has also embarked on an organisational restructuring programme which will lead to addressing existing supervisory gaps and more effective decision-making by addressing fragmentation.

There is currently a bill in Parliament, which sets out a number of changes intended to strengthen the authority, to make it a more efficient, proactive and dynamic regulator.

Bill 49 shall see the setting up of a new Executive Committee, composed of the CEO, the General Counsel and a number of chief officers. The Executive Committee will be responsible for the implementation of the strategy and policies of the authority, for all regulatory and supervisory affairs and for carrying out the management of

MONEY · 13

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the day-to-day operations and finances of the authority. It will replace a number of existing committees thereby consolidating decision-making in one executive body.

What measures has the MFSA taken, if any, to prepare for the cryptocurrency market?

On November 30, 2017, the MFSA published a Discussion Paper which presented stakeholders with a proposed policy to be adopted by the MFSA for the creation of a high-level principlebased regulation, in line with the highlevel objectives set out by international standard setters, relating to ICOs and the provision of certain services in relation to DLT assets that currently fall outside the scope of existing financial services regulation. The MFSA received significant positive feedback with respect to the proposed introduction of a new legislative framework and therefore proceeded to draft the Virtual Financial Assets Act. The Act was approved by Parliament and was subsequently published on July 20, 2018.

Notwithstanding its publication, the Act will only come into effect on such date as the Minister for Digital Economy may establish by notice in the Government Gazette. The MFSA has also published Consultation Papers on the regulations and rules, which will complement and underlie the Act. The authority is currently reviewing the feedback received and shall shortly be publishing the final versions on its website. The authority has also issued a Financial Instrument Test for beta testing. The objective of the test is to determine whether a DLT asset, based on its specific features, is encompassed under [i] the existing EU legislation and the corresponding national legislation, [ii] the Act or [iii] is otherwise exempt.

crypto-assets for money laundering.

The Act establishes a number of measures aimed at addressing fraud risk in relation to ICOs. It sets out the matters which must be included within a White Paper and requires Issuers to appoint a VFA agent who shall, prior to on-boarding such Issuer as its client, assess its fitness and properness. Chapter 2 of the proposed VFA Rulebook – The Virtual Financial Assets Rules for Issuers of Virtual Financial Assets, issued for consultation on the July 30, 2018 provides more detailed and granular rules, inter alia with respect to the appointment of a number of functionaries, requirements relating to cyber-security and record keeping, transparency and admission to trading on a DLT exchange.

With respect to AML, the Act states that VFA agents, issuers and VFA service providers are to be considered as subject persons for purposes of the Prevention of Money Laundering and Funding of Terrorism Regulations. The authority considers the designation of these persons as a subject person as a sine qua non.

While the Issuer is the person undertaking the ICO — or rather, as termed in the Act, an Initial Virtual Financial Asset Offering – and the VFA service provider is the person who provides clients with services in relation to VFAs, the VFA agent, given his role as a first line of defence in this field, is considered to be in a good position to monitor compliance with certain AML/CFT obligations. Currently, the MFSA and the FIAU are jointly working on sector specific implementing procedures for the virtual currency sphere.

Are the requirements for DLT and VFA operations vastly different to those required for more traditional financial operations?

How is the MFSA planning on preventing cybercrime infiltrating this new sector?

As stated previously, the two main risks in this field are: [i] the high rate of failure of ICOs and the risk of fraudulent activity connected therewith; and [ii] the use of

Even though the requirements under the VFA framework are indeed similar to those stipulated by the traditional framework; the VFA framework does not go into the same detail of its traditional counterpart; that said, there are evident similarities.

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The authority embarked on an organisational restructuring programme which will lead to addressing existing supervisory gaps and more effective decision-making by addressing fragmentation.

For example, the requirements for IVFAOs are similar to those under the Prospectus Directive, the obligations of VFA service providers are analogous to those under MiFID, the requirements for VFA exchanges are similar to those for MTFs, etc. etc.

Has the MFSA encountered any backlash?

There have been articles in the media, which criticised the MFSA’s proposals.

While the authority welcomes constructive criticism and is open for discussion with all interested parties, it should be emphasised that all the authority’s actions and decisions are taken with investor protection, market integrity and financial soundness in mind.

Lastly, I would like to take the opportunity to mention the transitional provisions under the Act. It should be noted that transitory provisions, in general, stipulate how legislation is to come into effect, and

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are ordinarily included in laws which set out new requirements in order to give persons affected a defined period of time to align themselves with such new obligations. In the case of the VFA Act, given that the sector is currently unregulated, such a transitory provision is considered crucial as, in its absence, any person conducting activity regulated by the Act would, on the day of its coming into force, effectively be committing a criminal offence.

The application of the transitory provision under the VFA Act is not automatic. It is subject to a notification to the authority to be made immediately upon the coming into force of the Act. This notwithstanding, the MFSA will be expecting persons operating under the transitory provision to comply with the regulatory framework on a best efforts basis. Needless to say, once the transitory period expires, entities should be compliant with the framework.

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Veronica is a freelance writer and editor. She won the IGM Award for her work on Ethical and Positive Disability in 2016.

I N T E RV I E W

MINDING THE SKILLS GAP There is currently a huge shortage of skills across all sectors of the economy and industry is suffering as a result. How can Malta deal with this problem to avoid a huge dent in the economy? JobsPlus executive chairperson Clyde Caruana offers some insight to Veronica Stivala.

From accountancy, to finance, IT, gaming, construction and the hospitality industry, Malta is currently experiencing a large shortage of skills across all tiers and sectors of the economy. Indeed, an EU country report recently stated how over 30 per cent of companies have registered a labour shortage.

should be done to educate people about the benefits of education.”

However, he adds that perhaps it is still too early to see the results of the government initiatives taken to combat early school leaving.

Clyde Caruana, executive chairperson at JobsPlus, puts this problem in part down to a preference to start earning money quickly — rather than investing in further education against higher future returns. He says more needs to be done to encourage different behaviour: “I strongly believe that more

But the education problem goes deeper than early school leaving.

Another worrying issue is a very weak basic skills attainment (such as reading and writing) among the young.

Asked on his views for solutions to this, Mr Caruana refers to the Ministry for Education and Employment which has taken a number of measures during the past five years to address such challenges.

He admits that the result of this will take some time to materialise. But, he says, this is not enough and there must be “concerted efforts between institutions and parents to nurture their children’s interest in education”. Again, this remains easier said than done as children’s educational outcome is still strongly influenced by their social background.

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A quick fix solution has been to bring in foreigners, although long-term solutions are sorely needed.

One is to invest in education and skills, which the country has done, yet it still has a very high rate of early school leaving – that’s one in five who will leave school by the age of 18, or 19.7 per cent compared to the much lower 12.4 per cent EU average.

THE BUSINESS EDITION

Despite a significant part of the problem being attributed to failings in the education system, he pinpoints the problem to numbers more than anything else.

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He comments: “We have a situation in our labour market where the economy is adding circa 11,000 jobs every year but there is only an increase of 3,500 Maltese per year.

Hence, the gap must be filled with foreign workers.”

Another issue that cannot be skirted is, of course, the rapidly changing demand for skills and Mr Caruana is adamant that education is not, and cannot be, the only solution: “It is unrealistic to assume that the education system can train students that fully match the requirements of employers,” he notes. “But if students have a good command of numerical, literacy and digital skills they can easily adapt to different work environments.”

When and if labour shortages remain, and foreign workers cannot be found, the next step will be labour-to-capital substitution.

In his words: “Given that labour is scarce and becoming more expensive, certain firms will seek to automate their processes where possible.”

He is quick to add that this may be difficult to implement in labour-intensive firms.

And in this case, when employees cannot

be replaced, then “the only solution is for employers to pay higher wages in order to attract enough applicants”.

until 35 years of age is higher than the EU average, but it is considerably lower above this age. What solutions does he see?

Higher wages are most certainly a sore point from two standpoints: low salaries which are not meeting the cost of living, as well as the gender pay gap.

While Mr Caruana acknowledges that the numbers are high, he points out that the employment ratio among those who are 35 years or older is catching up fast, noting how Malta should reach the EU’s average female employment ratio within the coming five years.

Mr Caruana notes how, theoretically speaking, wages should reflect the productivity of workers. He notes that “if such relativity no longer holds, then the increases may be counterproductive”.

One of the many challenges of a rapidly expanding economy is inflation and in Malta’s case the concern revolves around rent. A difficult problem to solve, he comments that “although a lot has been said about the subject, the long and short of it is that this is an issue of demand and supply. As long as the demand for housing remains strong, prices will continue to soar. The rent/price-to-wage ratio can only stabilise or improve if the supply of housing is as strong (if not more) as demand”.

Another issue is the gender employment gap. Malta’s female employment ratio

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This, he says, means Malta will have one of the highest overall employment ratios in the EU. This is a cohort-effect issue, he says, noting how for varying reasons, women aged 55 and over are not interested in joining the labour market. Over the next couple of years these women will exit the working age population and will be replaced by younger females who are economically active.

The solution to filling the huge shortage of skills is evidently not clear and not easily found. One hopes that at least some of Mr Caruana’s solutions will materialise shortly.

MONEY · 17

C OV E R S TO RY

MONEY spoke to SiGMA’s chief executive officer Eman Pulis, chief operations officer Oliver De Bono, and chief financial officer Chris Grech on SiGMA’s ever-growing popularity as it extends its reach internationally.

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C OV E R S TO RY

“We’re no longer seen as a purely local event,” SiGMA CEO Eman Pulis said.

“The show has grown to the extent that companies that don’t yet have ties to Malta also feel the need to attend, and we’re now operating on the European and global stage,” he added.

The SiGMA event calendar is now peppered with entries. While all roads still lead to the flagship event in November, the expo is supported by numerous other events that occur throughout the year, which give the company’s global ambitions a number of tangible focal points.

For instance, the Affiliate Grand Slam series has become a can’t-miss appointment in affiliate networking. This year’s editions in Kiev and Hong Kong sought to bridge the gap between the European, Asian and CIS gaming markets. 2018 also saw the launch of the Alpha Boot Camp in Buenos Aires, where operators from the LatAm market were introduced to some of the finest suppliers from the European scene. The success of the inaugural edition means the event will not be a one-off, with the US mooted as the likely next leg of the new series. Even the iGatherings took on an international twist this year, as one of the events was taken to Stockholm.

Mr De Bono. “What really separates us from the competition is our individual, personalised approach. Whatever growth we go through, we need to make sure we retain one of our biggest competitive advantages in the process”.

Careers focus At the outset of 2018, SiGMA chose to take on the additional challenge of adding news and careers portals to its bag of tricks. This has involved significant investment, but Mr Pulis believes the end goal well justifies it.

“Our goal is to offer complete coverage for the gaming industry,” he said. “Media coverage is obviously a big part of that, and our careers portal will address one of the biggest headaches gaming companies face in recruitment. In both cases, the immense network we’ve already built will definitely come into play.”

A showcase for Malta SiGMA has matched the growth of the Maltese gaming ecosystem, but it also helps to drive it. The show has persuaded a number of companies to either relocate or co-locate their operations in Malta,

Agility in growth SiGMA COO Oliver De Bono said: “We look at ourselves as a platform for the industry. The net value we offer our clients and partners far exceeds the size of our company. We love punching above our weight.”

“I’m happy with the growth we’ve gone through this year, especially because it hasn’t come at the cost of our agility,” said

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Eman Pulis

While that’s certainly true, SiGMA has also experienced significant growth through 2018. There was no way to really follow up the redefined expectations and ambitions without an expanded team.

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and there is a tangible ‘SiGMA effect’ on the local economy. In fact, November has become a busy month for the hundreds of small and big businesses in Malta who are involved in the show directly or indirectly.

For instance, Air Malta’s in-flight publication enjoys its best month of advertising in the run-up to SiGMA – but the same uptick is experienced by a number of small businesses too.

“What makes us really proud is receiving that random call from the smallest corner print shop to the highest echelons in government,” said Mr Pulis. “This encourages us to keep doing the right thing, bringing more business to the island.”

As the company has continued to grow, so has its commitment to social responsibility.

SiGMA’s relationship with the Malta Community Chest Fund and the Office of the President has gone from strength to strength. Once again proceeds from the Malta Gaming Awards, held as part of the SiGMA festivities, will be contributed to the Malta Community Chest Fund. Last year alone, SiGMA donated well over €30,000 to a number of charities, including the MCCF, Reaching Out – the organisation behind the

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C OV E R S TO RY

SiGMA has [not only] matched the growth of the Maltese gaming ecosystem, but it also helps to drive it.

Kilimanjaro Challenge – as well as a number of sports organisations.

The company will also keep up its support for the Kilimanjaro Challenge, another staple of Maltese philanthropy. This year, SiGMA’s involvement will be even more direct.

“We’ve always been fans of the Kilimanjaro Challenge, and have been supporting the initiative for a while,” said SIGMA CFO Chris Grech. “This year, three members of our staff are actually training to take the challenge on, so we’re obviously very heartened by that. Hopefully, this collaboration can continue to grow in the future”.

Green machines SiGMA’s commitment to societal improvement does not end there, however.

Starting this year, the company has entered into an agreement to provide its employees with energy-efficient electric scooters – and will be encouraging its partners to do the same. The same electric scooters will be prominently featured at the expo, in the hope that other gaming companies in attendance might be encouraged to take a similar initiative.

The purpose of this move is threefold.

Firstly, it addresses the mobility issues experienced by gaming employees based predominantly in the most congested parts of the island. Secondly, a move towards two-wheel travel will be a move away from traffic congestion overall. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, the electric scooters themselves are so energy-efficient that their impact on the overall carbon footprint will be resoundingly positive.

“We love to capitalise on win-win

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situations in general,” Mr Pulis explained. “If something as simple as an electric scooter can alleviate multiple problems, it makes all the sense in the world for us to support the transition. It’s a no-brainer.”

2019 and beyond SiGMA’s year is about to reach its climax.

With another record-breaking year on the cards, the company is already setting its sights on 2019. While the organisation has definitely come a long way, it retains the pioneering mentality of a start-up. As a result, it combines the clout of an emerging force with the agility of a much smaller company – and its ongoing commitment to overall societal improvement means it doesn’t shirk its responsibility. If you’ve somehow missed out on SiGMA so far, there’s no better time to get on board.

Things are happening fast – don’t blink, don’t miss it.

MONEY · 21

Duncan has over two decades of experience in feature writing and journalism. He is also a freelance writer. In 2012, he was the national winner of the EU Health Prize for Journalists.

I N T E RV I E W

UNBLOCKING THE

CHAIN

Duncan Barry interviews Paul Brody — principal and global innovation leader, blockchain technology at EY — on blockchain-based crowd funding, the rise of classical fiat currency tokens, like dollars and euros, and the much-awaited regulatory compliance and standardisation in this area.

22 · MONEY

There seem to be a lot of people out there who mix bitcoin up with blockchain or who have heard of bitcoin and not blockchain.

Can you explain the difference in a nutshell?

or track usage of an item in those accounts.

Usually we’re talking about money, but it can also be securities or electricity consumption or frequent flyer points.

Bitcoin was the first widely adopted digital currency based on blockchain technology.

Blockchains are just a specific kind of distributed database with certain unique features. What Bitcoin does (and by extension what blockchains do generally) is very basic to computing: they are transaction processing systems that allow users to have accounts and to move value

The Bitcoin blockchain is mainly focused on how we handle virtual digital tokens that represent money – in this case Bitcoins.

Other types of blockchains allow us not only handle money, but also to other types of tokens, be they digital representations of gold or unique kinds of cryptocurrencies.

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Do you feel banks run the risk that they may

I N T E RV I E W

not remain relevant eventually as a result of the fast-evolving blockchain technology?

Not necessarily. While I think that blockchain technology is revolutionary in many industries, it may not be quite as transformational in banking as some expect. The most unique feature of blockchain technology is the ability to manage payments or transactions securely without an intermediary. The reason we prefer to do things without intermediaries is that they cost money and they accumulate a lot of power by their ability to view all the transactions going on.

In the case of banking, particularly payments, governments require intermediaries to do things like check identity and implement anti-moneylaundering rules. They also regulate the power of banks to do things like abuse their insight into transaction flows. As a result, the value proposition of blockchain isn’t necessarily as strong in banking as it is in some other areas. However, blockchains could still be a transformation if they usher in a new era of competition in an industry that has consolidated extensively.

Does blockchain provide peace of mind when it comes to securing financial transactions in terms of acting as a barrier to security breaches?

It’s possible for blockchains to become a much more secure platform for finance in the future because blockchains have a number of built-in security features that make counterfeiting or fraudulently processing transactions nearly impossible.

However, over and over again, we see thefts occurring in the world of blockchain that are not the result of security flaws in blockchains but in human error or problems in how exchanges are built up. If you lose your private security key to phishing, hacking or another kind of attack, then you can have your crypto assets easily stolen.

Smart hackers have learned that human nature and human behaviour haven’t kept

up with security technology and so they target the vulnerable part of the end-toend solution: the person themselves.

Quite the contrary. If you had invested in heavily in the ICOs of late, you would have lost a significant amount of money so far.

Malta as a whole, including the government, seem to be embracing this paradigm shift.

But at the same time, a good number are misinformed or lack blockchain knowledge.

What in your opinion can change this?

It’s not realistic for consumers to learn how blockchains operate any more than they really understand how digital banking and credit card systems work. They just need to work. I think governments and regulators must set security and audit standards and hold to account those companies that fail to meet them. I also believe that public disclosure of security breaches should be required.

What will be the big blockchain trends over the next 12-24 months?

While some very sophisticated consumers can manage the custody of their own blockchain assets, I primarily believe that blockchains are a “back office” technology – not for consumers but for enterprises to use in technology that hides complexity from end users and just lets them enjoy the benefits.

Blockchain is a great platform for companies seeking to launch a product and garner funding for a project. Does this mean that start-ups are risk-free when turning to such a platform to invest in a product or service?

So far, Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) (and that is what you’re primarily talking about here), have been very good at raising money and very bad at delivering results.

EY is carefully tracking the performance of the companies that raised money in 2017 through initial coin offerings. Not only was there a tremendous amount of fraud in the fundraising itself, one year later, less than a third of these companies have any product to show for their fundraising.

Early stage venture capital investing is very difficult and high risk. This appears, so far, to be a case where the “wisdom of crowds” hasn’t turned into better decision-making.

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We foresee three big emerging trends over the next 24 months. The first is the rise of classical fiat currency tokens, like dollars and euros, instead of crypto currency tokens as a preferred means of payment. Secondly, we expect to see a big increase in regulatory compliance on the

While I think that blockchain technology is revolutionary in many industries, it may not be quite as transformational in banking as some expect. part of companies that are doing business on the blockchain. The Wild West era of blockchain is over and what is coming now is a period of regulatory compliance and standardisation. Finally, we will see the first widespread deployment of zeroknowledge-proof based secure, private transactions online.

With these three trends in progress, public blockchains will become much more attractive to enterprise users and private blockchains will, a bit like private clouds, become something of a niche attraction.

MONEY · 23

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MONEY catches up with Kevin Deguara – a household name in real-estate - who explains that the volatile crypto space requires an agile team to secure property purchases within a squeezed time-frame. And Kevin and his team are about to make it happen here in Malta dubbed the Blockchain Island.

In a newly emerging world of crypto real-estate, Malta is about to reach new heights as local real-estate specialist Kevin Deguara partnered with a leading international crypto exchange platform and storage facility - Dutch-based BitPay - in a bid to facilitate secure high-end property purchases using Bitcoin or Bitcoin Cash within a record timeframe.

So if you’re a crypto investor looking to secure your virtual finances, property is the next thing you should be looking at as a viable option, explains Kevin Deguara, who has been selling properties for nearly two decades under his Remax Blue Harbour real-estate brand.

He tells Money: “The crypto space has its risks due to its stability fears. Our multifaceted team ensures full-compliance across the board when purchasing a property using cryptocurrencies, having a four-tier due diligence mechanism in place to give clients peace of mind.

“For starters, we have sealed a partnership with one of the best crypto exchange platforms BitPay to ensure secure payments, whereby BitPay will convert the property purchaser’s Bitcoin into Fiat, which, in turn, will be transferred to the vendor as a means of payment for the property.

“Furthermore, a final deed of sale is expected to be fully completed within 10 days to a maximum of three weeks on selected properties we are offering to counter the crypto space volatility,” he continues, “which will make you the owner of a property within the said time-frame”.

we do things, and cryptocurrency is fast becoming a way of payment for everyday things, the next big thing to accelerate this change is investing in real-estate using cryptocurrencies, as many investors using this space are heading towards Malta.”

Kevin says he has outsourced a reputable due diligence firm – Diligex – which will perform the necessary checks prior to the signing of any contract. Kevin’s team comprises of a team of specialists who operate in the same traditional way one would expect when purchasing a property but are very well versed on digital advances

He adds: “Another advantage is that we are a one-stop shop solution that will move fast without compromising on quality and security as the volatility in the crypto market demands caution.

And the fact that the Maltese Government is embracing change, and has committed itself to the Blockchain and crypto space, makes things more doable, he continues.

“…a final deed of sale is expected to be fully completed within 10 days to a maximum of three weeks on selected properties we are offering to counter the crypto space volatility.”

and the regulatory frameworks that come with it.

“The team will move fast to secure the property sale and purchase, without compromising on quality, in a bid to counter stability fears that the crypto space may pose,” Kevin assures.

So what sets Kevin and his team apart from others who are embarking on projects of this sort?

“Malta’s property stability track record and the increase in value of properties here is another asset for diversifying one’s asset portfolio,” Kevin emphasises.

Kevin’s team has been working hard on solutions for the real-estate market in Malta to connect to the crypto world. If you’d like to give it a shot and explore your options further, contact Kevin on +356 9988 9999 or kdeguara@remax.com.mt

Kevin says: “As blockchain and crypto are poised to change the landscape in which

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MONEY · 25

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TALKING BLOCKCHAIN Michael Mathias, the innovator behind DasCoin – the blockchain-based currency at the centre of a unique digital platform known as Das33 – was speaking at the Delta Summit 2018 held in October – the first official conference launching Malta as a regulated virtual currency and ICO centre.

MONEY spoke to the Princeton graduate.

“There has been a very strong trend in that direction. They are searching the world for the right jurisdictional approach to this very new industry. [These places] are hard to find, Michael Matthias said when asked by session moderator Eddie van der Walt of Bloomberg whether he sees more exchanges moving to Malta. Matthias continued: “You have some standout examples. I think Singapore is one that is doing things the right way – but to find support for this industry at the very highest levels of leadership will absolutely attract more exchanges to Malta. That is without a doubt.”

And what is, in his opinion the key ingredient for a country to successfully attract blockchain-based businesses of every kind? “As things evolve you need this nimbleness and receptivity at the highest levels.” With a background in finance and technology, it is no surprise that the entrepreneur is a leading figure in the blockchain and cryptocurrency industry – rapidly establishing himself as a stalwart of the Maltese scene.

When asked by Money on why the Princeton graduate chose Malta as a base for operations, he said: “When I started to

PROMO

there is an ethical requirement. At a recent special Das33 briefing coinciding with the 73rd regular session of the UN General Assembly, Mathias announced that the platform would support the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

“I think Singapore is one that is doing things the right way – but to find support for this industry at the very highest levels of leadership will absolutely attract more exchanges to Malta.” move into blockchain and cryptocurrency, it was in Europe where there was a real buzz in this area. That led me to think, ‘where would be a great place for me to operate from in Europe?’ And Malta stands out as a good choice.”

Mathias established a presence in Malta in 2016, when he first spotted the potential of the island as a market leader in blockchain technologies and their regulation. “I saw it as a place that is very forward looking in its outlook,” he explained. “The Maltese government has made policy decisions that have opened up genuinely new opportunities.”

Mathias’ business is a case in point. Recent developments have seen the launch of Das33, a revolutionary platform within the Das ecosystem to allow independently vetted businesses to issue their own tokens on the DasCoin blockchain. But

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Mathias presented Greenstorc, a disruptive heat-to-power energy solution and the first project on the Das33 platform, as an example of how quickly Das33 is putting this into action. The initial funding round of €1.5 million for the project on Das33 was raised in just 60 hours. “People care about people,” said Greenstorc CEO Paul Flynn at the time. “People want to help but they also need to know where that money is going.”

Mathias believes there are a huge number of other areas that could benefit from blockchain. One is the real estate market.

By placing land registries on the blockchain, a reliable and immutable record could be created, leading to a faster and more efficient process. “It can take weeks for titles to transfer,” Mathias said. “By having everything automated on the blockchain, you can have very reliable outcomes much faster, much more efficiently, and much cheaper.”

He cites the benefit of blockchain to the shipping industry as a pertinent example of how the adoption of blockchain technology could benefit Malta. “This is another well-positioned opportunity for Malta.

The whole logistics realm is going to be reinvented. It’s a small island, but if you move things quickly through the system, you can become this major hub. “ According to Mathias, blockchain technology is set to have a transformative effect on mainstream economies by distributing influence on a wider portion of society. “When you get into an economy that is built on blockchain, you allow more participation. There’s going to be a resurgence in participation at all levels of society. There’s the opportunity for more people to play more meaningful roles.”

For more information visit http://das33.io

MONEY · 27

E M P LOY M E N T

The rising rental market prices are having a knock-on effect on employers.

Malta Employers’ Association Director-General Joe Farrugia spoke to MONEY about the impact.

28 · MONEY

Are the soaring rental market prices and the sudden surge in general rising costs leading to employers having to drastically increase employee wages?

It is a fact that many employees — particularly young couples and foreign employees — are suffering as a result of higher rental or property costs. This is becoming an issue as the rent to disposable income ratio has risen dramatically, leading to a fall in disposable income.

Consequently, there is pressure to increase wages.

The fundamental issue here is that this is cost-push inflation and many companies cannot simply transfer these costs to their consumers as it would have an impact on their competitiveness. This is the case especially in export-oriented sectors.

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Is this leading to a second problem: making it harder to attract foreign workers who might be priced out due to the rental market?

The situation, if unchecked, can affect local companies in a number of ways. Firstly, unemployment across the EU is on the decline and there will be less incentive for employees to work outside their countries.

In fact, we are already observing a change in the mix between EU and third country nationals working in Malta. The ratio of TCNs to EU employees is increasing steadily. Secondly, demographic pressures in the EU, like for an instance an aging labour force, is increasing the demand for TCNs across the EU. We will end up competing with other EU economies to attract foreign labour. Many companies report that foreign employees who come to work in Malta are leaving after a few

E M P LOY M E N T

months because they find it too expensive to live here, and rent is a determining factor.

a return of about 3 per cent after expenses, so in many cases one can understand that rent has to reflect the market value of property. Yet the market value has shot up, even though the supply of property has increased, because of a sudden increase in population due to the sheer number of foreign employees in Malta, which is currently approaching 50,000. In many sectors, wages cannot rise sufficiently to make up for this increase and this is why a section of the population may feel worse off today than they were previously, in spite of the fact that their disposable income has increased.

This is happening even in sectors that pay relatively high salaries. Foreign executives, for example, are unlikely to accept sharing apartments, unlike unskilled workers who may settle for accommodation where six persons are sharing a flat. Therefore, highly skilled employees may not be comfortable paying a monthly rental of €1,000 and return to their country of origin or work elsewhere.

Is there a solution to all this?

What is MEA proposing?

There is no single solution as rent control is a tricky business which could easily backfire. Renting a furnished apartment worth €250,000 for €800 per month yields

What MEA is insisting on is that wages and salaries are dependent on companies’ sustainability, and not on inflationary pressures. Asking companies to foot the bill for a spike in rental costs through higher wages would be irresponsible. Any social measures have to be financed by the national budget, and not by employers.

Although the current situation, in terms of employment figures, is rosy, we cannot take it for granted as higher costs may force companies to close down or shift operations to cheaper destinations if certain limits are exceeded. We have been stating that part of the influx of foreign employees is due to an increase in employment in the public sector.

What MEA is insisting on is that wages and salaries are dependent on companies’ sustainability, and not on inflationary pressures.

In a paper which we issued last year, entitled ‘Malta's Demographic Challenges’, we also called for a strategic approach to address shorter and longer term challenges that Malta faces as a result of an increase in population.

Increasing the supply of social housing may alleviate part of the problem in the medium term, but the manner in which social housing has been managed in the past does not raise my hopes that such housing will be distributed to the most deserving recipients.

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MONEY · 29

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LET'S TALK

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MONEY · 31

Dayna is a senior speech therapist by day and features writer by night. When she's not busy fixing words, she is travelling the world to add to her fridge magnet collection.

PROMO

REVOLUT(IONARY) Dayna Clarke catches up with Malta, Cyprus and Greece’s country manager Dimitris Litsikakis, who was in Malta for the DELTA summit, on all things Revolut.

In case you haven’t heard, Revolut is the new-generation smart phone-based bank which is causing a storm across Europe right now.

Revolut’s app-based checking account and debit card offer customers payment notifications, built-in budgeting controls and the ability to spend and transfer money globally using the real exchange rate, thus bypassing forex fees. The banks’ presence

in Malta has turned traditional banking methods on its head and is showing absolutely no sign of slowing down.

How did Revolut begin and when did the proverbial banking unicorn hit Malta?

Revolut founders identified that banking was broken and decided to fix three distinct problems. First, banking is expensive; customers face charges for international

bank transfers and currency conversion.

Not with Revolut. Second, banking is inconvenient. I can’t imagine why someone still has to wait in the queue at a bank branch to open an account. This is 2018.

We need technology to simplify our lives.

With Revolut, you can open a current bank account with an IBAN in two seconds straight from your smartphone and order your contactless card immediately. The third problem, banks are sneaky. They are very innovative when it comes to inventing new hidden fees at the fine print of their pricing schedule instead of focusing on real innovation. Revolut invested heavily on building a state-of-the-art app that is currently trending at the number one spot of the Maltese app store. Not just in the finance category, but in all categories. This is proof that Malta was ready for such a disruption. During the Delta Summit, I noticed a common theme across all the feedback from the people: they were not happy with banks in Malta and they were super happy that finally there was a real digital banking alternative that they can count on.

Globally Revolut is growing at an incredibly fast pace, how is that growth possible, as well as on a local level?

It’s simple. The product is awesome! Instead of burning money on marketing money like most of our competitors, we focus on building the best possible experience

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PROMO

for our customers. If you look at the app history, you’ll notice that we enhance the product very often, releasing a new feature every month! This fast pace of innovation is incredible. Our users appreciate this, as a result of which they eventually become our ambassadors. Word of mouth brought us to almost three million users worldwide and 40,000 users in Malta. In fact, Malta is our no.1 market when it comes to market penetration because Maltese appreciate technology — don’t forget, you are living on the Blockchain Island!

Malta is a country steeped in traditions, including banking. What’s wrong with traditional banking methods? Why do they find so it difficult to respond to consumer requirements including mobile technology?

There are two elements here. One is legacy systems. They are built with yesterday’s infrastructure and it’s not easy to change that even if you wanted. Revolut, on the other hand, is built with the future in mind.

We are mobile-only, not mobile-first. We don’t have any technical debt to hold us down. That’s why three months in Revolut is like three years at a traditional bank.

The second issue with traditional banks is culture. And this is an even more difficult problem to solve, as you are dealing with people who don’t necessarily embrace change. They have been operating in the same old-school manner for so long; it’s hard to think differently. Revolut is exactly the opposite. With fresh minds, each one of the 500+ employees is on a crusade to disrupt the banking system once and for all, and help build the largest financial organisation in the world. We think big: 100,000,000 users in the next five years.

Is gaining consumer trust in such an innovative area of banking an issue? What barriers face Revolut, whether real or misconceptions?

When it comes to money, trust is crucial.

That’s why we are very serious when it comes to AML and compliance. We work

hard to protect our customers and safety is on top of our agenda. That’s why we develop solutions like virtual disposable cards that tackle the burning issue of online fraud, which cost €1.8 billion annually to European consumers, rising +10% every year. Another great practical example is our revolutionary geo-location based security, which proactively blocks suspicious transactions when your card is being used on a POS that doesn’t match your phone

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GPS location. How cool is that?

What is the company’s ethos? What challenges have you faced in Malta?

Our ethos is very powerful and not a secret, anyone can find it on our career page: banks are powerful. They owe us nothing.

They watch us. They punish us for our mistakes. They have more money, more people and even more connections.

MONEY · 33

PROMO

Word of mouth brought us to three million users worldwide and 40,000 users in Malta.

We are underdogs. We keep learning.

We innovate. Every day is a new fight.

Technology is our weapon. We identify opportunities. We focus. We execute. Banks can be beaten. We love the game. The only challenge I see in Malta is the use of cash, but this is changing fast and in fact, Revolut will help to add a level of transparency and safety that electronic transactions offer.

Think about it: if you lose your cash, you’ll never get it back. If you lose your Revolut card, your money is safe.

of all incoming customer requests. That’s probably why we have such a high rating on the app store (4.9/5*) since our users can get instant answers to common problems without having to wait for ages to get on the line with an agent. We also deployed AI for compliance, assigning an individual risk profile to each user rather than a fixed limit for their yearly top-up limit. Applications like that make AI a real-life application rather than just a buzzword.

The challenger bank/mobile first sea is already flooded, Revolut has already had its fair share of competitors and managed to shake them off. How do you hope things will pan out over the next three years? What’s the secret to Revolut’s success here?

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The secret to Revolut’s success is that we never settle. Having a card and an app to manage your expenses is not enough.

Revolut has quickly transformed into a platform that offers so much more, from

device and travel insurance to crypto. We introduced a radically better experience with Revolut Metal, offering up to 1 per cent cash back for all your transactions.

We actively promote a cashless society by rewarding our users with perks that are automatically unlocked every time they complete 10 transactions with their card.

And we’re very close to releasing the first commission-free shares trading platform in Europe that will democratise investments.

Dimitris Litsikakis holds a BSc in Information Technology from Piraeus University and an MSc in Project Management from Lancaster University.

He worked at IBM UK as a project manager delivering large scale IT projects. He then joined Edenred Greece as digital

transformation manager where he led the entire digitalisation of the company’s solution offering, issuing hundreds of thousands of MasterCard cards to beneficiaries. In 2018, he was appointed country manager of Greece, Cyprus and Malta for Revolut — the fastest growing FinTech based in London. Having secured $336 million in funding, Revolut has an impressive $1,7 billion valuation.

With 2.8 million users across Europe, Revolut processed more than 150 million transactions with a total volume transaction of over $22 billion to date, providing the fastest, safest and easiest way to get innovative banking services with a mobilefirst approach. Since 2014, he also acts as Athens Chapter Director for Startup Grind, the largest entrepreneurship community in the world.

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Over the last few years, the use of artificial intelligence and virtual assistants has increased in FinTech. Is this is something you can see in the future of Revolut? Do they have a place in the commercial banking world?

When you grow at an insane rate as Revolut does, AI is critical to your success.

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About —

Dimitris Litsikakis

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14th Edition of EY Malta’s Attractiveness Survey Simon Barberi, director and EU advisory services leader at EY Malta, gives a breakdown and analysis of EY Malta’s Attractiveness Survey, which once again found that Malta is attractive for foreign direct investment.

115 top executives from foreignowned companies operating in Malta were interviewed for the 14th edition of EY Malta’s attractiveness survey.

The survey aims to gauge sentiment on Malta’s investment attractiveness.

This year’s survey focused on the ‘Transformative Age’ — an era that combines unparalleled transformations with limitless opportunities. The nature of work is evolving fast, new generations are now leading the workforce and we are all being asked to adopt new behaviours and attitudes — becoming more innovative, more agile, and more collaborative.

international, and future. The insights are widely regarded by business, the media, politicians and major public stakeholders as the benchmark insights into what makes the country attractive for investment on both the national and sectorial levels.

Attractiveness

In order to really get a sense of the country’s economic and financial pulse, the results are split into six categories: attractiveness, regulatory, skills, technology,

The transformative age is changing how we live, work, and play. Increasing global competition means that Malta must consolidate its position at the forefront of innovation and remain an attractive FDI destination. Three-fourths of current foreign investors (74%) believe that Malta is an attractive destination for FDI, a preference which is driven primarily by corporate taxation (88%), stability of social climate (75%), the potential productivity increase of one’s firm (67%) and the

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Attractiveness scoreboard Malta's FDI attractiveness Corporate taxation 88% Stability of social climate 21%

75%

Potential company productivity increase 67%

23%

Telecommunications infrastructure 63%

27%

Labour costs 37%

56% Flexibility of labour legislation 55%

36%

Local labour skills level 53%

27%

19%

Level of protection of intellectual property rights 48%

28%

18%

Domestic or regional market 45%

22%

20%

Stability and transparency of political, legal and regulatory environment 44%

21%

34%

R&D and innovation environment 37%

33%

15% 15%

Transport and logistics infrastructure 26%

23%

45%

Very attractive / Attractive Neither attractive nor unattractive Not attractive / Not attractive at all Not relevant Source: All 2018 respondents.

Note: Some numbers may not add up due to rounding.

S U RV E Y

telecommunications infrastructure (63%).

Investors also cite Malta’s access to the EU market, a pro-business culture and a skilled English-speaking workforce as key benefits, with lower operating costs than Western Europe. While positive, investors did note that Malta couldn’t be complacent.

The perceived attractiveness of the country has decreased by 4 per cent from 2017.

Investors cite reputation challenges, rising operating and living costs and labour shortages as key negative factors impacting Malta’s current attractiveness. The number of respondents ranking the stability and transparency of Malta’s political, legal and regulatory environment as attractive stood at 44 per cent in 2018, down from 58 per cent in 2017 and 70 per cent in 2016.

Respondents also highlighted key areas Malta should focus on to remain globally competitive. As in previous years, developing Malta’s education and skills base ranked top (70%). Investors also highlighted the need to provide support for innovation and to high-tech industries (61%), support for SMEs (59%) and to invest in major infrastructure, transport and urban projects (55%).

Other key areas to keep an eye on include

Regulatory Effective and efficient legislation will continue to play an important role in attracting more FDI. Recent regulatory developments for innovative technologies such as blockchain and DLT will also be key. Business investors increasingly believe that Malta is keeping pace with regulatory changes in competing jurisdictions (83%).

Increasingly positive replies were registered from across all sectors, including insurance, iGaming and other financial services. Fiftysix per cent of respondents believe that the Maltese legislative framework creates a competitive advantage in European and global markets.

Skills The future of work is changing and new technologies are driving fundamental changes in how we work, where we work, who does the work, and deed what work is.

As Malta’s economy continues to flourish, the ability to source skilled and un-skilled

Expansion plans over the next year

2016

However, investors’ ability to retain specialised personnel remains relatively high, with 81 per cent of respondents still managing to retain their specialised personnel, comparable to previous years.

Arguably, a high level of employee loyalty continues to exist.

Technology As the world forges ahead with digital transformation, decision-makers are working to ensure that the right gamechanging technologies are adopted.

Investors believe that around two-thirds of their staff have the right skills to keep up with these changes. To better this situation, investors are suggesting that policy makers invest in digital technologies and infrastructure (70%) as well as enhance workforce skills for the digital age (63%).

The technologies expected to have the largest impact on respondents’

Find and recruit the required specialised skills in the local labour market +4%

+8%

53%

labour is becoming increasingly challenging.

Sixty-four per cent of investors are finding it difficult to recruit the required personnel. The sectors encountering major skill shortages include ICT and telecommunications (100%), other financial services (71%) and insurance (70%).

the need for Malta to project a strong and positive image; facilitation of the flow of migrant workers from inside and outside the EU; design processes to make doing business faster and easier.

61%

2017

Source: All 2016-18 respondents.

65%

2018

47%

2015

45%

2016

2017

38%

36%

2018

Source: All 2015-18 respondents.

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MONEY · 37

S U RV E Y

businesses include process automation (57%), computing advancements (55%), business model innovation (28%) and the Internet of Things (27%).

This year’s survey provides insight into how foreign investors in Malta are faring with regards to technological uptake. From the list of innovative technologies taken on board, cloud computing (55%) is the most widespread, followed by data analytics (27%) and mobile (24%). Blockchain and distributed ledger technology is already in place for 5 per cent of investors. However, the number of respondents expecting to have this technology in place over the next three years is expected to increase by 31 percentage points.

International For many years Malta has positioned itself favourably on a global level. Survey respondents note that the talent shortage (57%), economic and political instability in the EU (26%), competition from emerging markets (22%) and the rise in populist and protectionist feelings (22%) will negatively impact their future investment decisions.

For the second consecutive year, respondents were asked for their thoughts on Brexit and the current and projected implications it may have on their businesses. Since the Brexit referendum, 77 per cent of respondents have witnessed no change to their business. Companies in insurance, other financial services and ICT and telecommunications once again saw more improvements, while banking, manufacturing and iGaming were mostly unaffected.

Future Foreign companies continue to have a keen interest in retaining their business operations in Malta. Seventy-eight per cent believe they will still be operating in Malta in 10 years’ time, a result that is consistent with that of the last couple of years. Only 4 per cent of investors do not believe they

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Foreign direct investors think that Malta is currently attractive

88%

9% 3% 2013

79% 84%

87%

15%

11%

6%

5%

6%

2014

2015

2016

7%

78%

11% 11% 2017

74%

Yes Don't know No

16% 10% 2018

Source: All 2013-18 respondents.

will be present in Malta in a decade’s time.

In addition, an increasing number of companies are planning to expand their operations. A total of 65 per cent of the FDI companies surveyed have some form of expansion plans for the coming year, an increase of four percentage points compared to last year and 12 percentage points more than 2016.

The key sectors envisaged to drive Malta’s growth in the next five years are iGaming (69%) tourism and leisure (48%), payments and FinTech (45%). These results are similar to those of previous years. However, a few “other” responses indicated innovative and distributed ledger technologies, such as blockchain, as the leading business sectors in Malta in the next five years.

The type of expansion companies are considering varies from head-office operations, to R&D, sales and marketing and manufacturing activities among others.

Forty per cent of respondents highlight that skill shortages may hamper planned expansion activity.

Skills shortages remain a serious issue This year’s survey results have again highlighted areas in which Malta is excelling

ISSUE 51

THE BUSINESS EDITION

and those in which more needs to be done. Skills shortages remain a serious issue, which may be leading companies to increasingly look to technological advancements, such as automation, to fill existing gaps and to increase output and efficiency.

The international landscape continues to play its part, with Brexit’s deadline looming on the horizon and with ongoing economic and political challenges in the EU. The Maltese economy’s resilience to international economic developments will be crucial in the years to come.

Investors in various sectors are viewing recent regulatory updates in a favourable light. Effective and efficient legislation will continue attracting further FDI to Malta’s shores. New laws passed will need to balance adequate protection for stakeholders with the prudence and not to stifle business.

Finally, Malta’s image and brand is a vital element for investors when choosing to set up or even relocate their business to Malta.

Positioning the island at the forefront of innovation, while remaining true to the principles and values that the country has grown accustomed to, will be even more relevant going forward than ever before.

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OPINION

Manuel worked for several years in Maltese politics including as press secretary to then prime minister Eddie Fenech Adami and chief of staff for senior government ministers in PN administrations.

Manuel Delia gives an in-depth account of Malta’s psyche where thriving in business means overstepping fair boundaries and sustaining the political party in government in turn for backing.

There’s a saying in Maltese which like all the interesting ones is for the ears of adults only. It is perhaps a reflection of the local psyche that the Maltese word for cheating is also the word for having sexual intercourse. Loosely translated the saying goes that those who ‘do it’ move ahead in life. Those who don’t ‘do it’ — cheating, that is — get rogered. The musicality of the idiom is sadly lost in translation, but you should get the meaning.

comparison, almost everything in Malta comes in twos, so that no ambiguity is left about the winners and losers. Football team rivalries come in pairs. There’s no logic to the pairing, as derbies in big cities of other countries. Two teams have identified each other as rivals and one ranking above the other as important to the teams as winning the tournament altogether.

Some call this general attitude to ethics in anything one does outside one’s own front door as amoralism. The notion that’s right or wrong at work, in business, in politics, even in the competition between sports clubs and band clubs, can only be measured by success and not by what was necessary to achieve it. For ease of

For each band club set up in a village there is another across the street. An Olympian rivalry of longer lasting fireworks displays, louder music at street parties, and bigger shipments of beer is a race with yearly laps but no finish line. Business rarely comes in twos. Rivalry is only occasionally about outperforming the other. Getting ahead is a race against oneself and against one’s failure. But the Olympian attitude of

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THE BUSINESS EDITION

going ever further is not coupled with the Olympian rules of fair play, of decency, of compliance with objective rules.

In a country like ours it is hard to detach business from politics. Our political game is the most obvious rivalry that comes in twos. The two political parties have fought a zero-sum game of alternation since the second world war. Laps are every five years.

The race is never ending. You can largely ignore the petty races between village clubs. But the political race is one you must watch even if you’re not taking bets.

Much money making in Malta continues to depend on the favour of government. And much of that favour continues to depend if not on enthusiastic partisan support, at the very least on cautious neutrality. Take

OPINION

When mani pulite raged in Italy in the early 1990s no one was surprised that an edifice of corruption between political parties of every hue and businesses had been erected. everybody’s favourite way of saving here: construction and development, although small slices in the pie of economic value added, still major drivers of purchasing power and a general atmosphere of economic well being. A liberal policy on permitting development is an enabler.

But policy here is never exercised blindly.

Corners must be cut and for profits to be resounding government must also enable the availability of public land for development that is less obviously of public utility. Also, the application of planning restrictions, however relaxed, needs cajoling if some of the more ambitious developments can take off.

That’s a lot of backroom dealing which requires more than capable intermediaries and properly filled out forms. It requires networking, smoke-filled rooms and rather less obviously, participation in

the political game. Political parties need funding. Campaigning in today’s world is an expensive business and political parties keep an entire infrastructure — offices, staff, libraries and media — throughout the political term humming on standby to go in full gear at election time.

That sort of financial pressure creates a monetary vacuum that can only be filled by those that most directly need politicians to open doors for them. There’s nothing savoury about this. The business of forming policies, promoting them, campaigning on the back of them and implementing them in government is no longer the business of speaking for the voiceless and improving the lot of the downtrodden. Politics is simply too expensive to be paid for by the poor.

In this context, the government has become an operational background cost for major businesses here. Policies are an outcome of an auction among competing interests. Their implementation is the completion of a transaction that has started with this or that business paying this or that bill the political party could not pay.

On this underlying reality at least, there is cross-party consensus. The Labour Party has led the way under Joseph Muscat’s transformative stewardship. Any old ideological qualms have been abandoned under the guise of aspirational politics and business friendliness. Labour has rendered itself an extension of its funders’ will.

The Nationalist Party is learning the hard way to chase Labour down that road that it now accepts is a winning formula.

Any other business with the financial fundamentals of the PN would have long closed down. It hasn’t because it cannot and because it is realistic about what it takes to bring about a financial turnaround, before a political turnaround can be achieved. You will notice that none of this is an assessment of what is right and what is wrong. It just is. Remember the old adage: only those who do it, get ahead. There’s no

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morality but the measure of success.

When businesses fund this reality they also think in terms of realpolitik. Discussions of right and wrong are for bishops and academics, and not all of them at that. A business, much as a political party, can quibble over the fine nuances of ethical limits and dance its way to oblivion as it does so. Or it can consider corruption something it can complain about in private conversation but pretend does not exist even as it pays its handshakes to get the decisions it needs.

When mani pulite raged in Italy in the early 1990s no one was surprised that an edifice of corruption between political parties of every hue and businesses had been erected. The laws that clamped down on those practices had been in existence from way before and the fact they were ignored was more than common knowledge.

That experience is hardly inspiring. When Italian tycoons found that the politicians they used to fund in the 1980s were in prison or exile in the 1990s, they solved the problem by becoming politicians themselves. In place of feigned ideas about how to create a just society, a more sincere politics we now call populism developed where social change and economic justice were relegated as quaint pipe dreams of the old regime. In their place the charm of reducing government to an irrelevance to let businesses rule the roost. After mani pulite, populist parties emerged elsewhere.

Here too the traditional mass parties of workers’ rights and European standards reinvented themselves as agents for yearly profits.

When nobody is thinking of right or wrong, nobody is thinking about the sustainability of this edifice. Those that pay into tangentopoli can assure themselves good returns for the year but if they aren’t paying for the security of a sustainable economic future beyond the visibility of the next political lap turn, who is?

MONEY · 41

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LESS WASTE AT WORK It is a well-known fact that reducing waste is crucial if we are to preserve and protect our world and environment. Many of us are conscious of our impact on the environment and try to make efforts to reduce waste at home, but what about at the workplace?

ENVIRONMENT

WHAT YOU CAN DO Adopt a CSR policy to promote your environmental credentials.

Commission a waste audit. This can then be used to obtain a sustainability performance baseline and assist to: −−

Better manage your waste;

−−

Improve your environmental performance

and; −−

Ensure how your operations can be

improved to generate less waste, be it manufacturing, retail, office, catering or

In Malta, the average amount of municipal waste generated per person in 2016 amounted to 642 kg; way above the average in other EU member states.

International studies confirmed that by 2050 there will be more plastic in the ocean than fish. This confirms the fact that the use and littering of plastic and packaging waste has continued to grow, presenting a serious global challenge that will require innovation and collaboration across all industries.

There are various effective measures that can be implemented in an organisation to ensure reduced use of single-use plastics, better waste separation and recycling.

A good number of local businesses have

hospitality.

Integrate the waste management theme when

already started to jump on this bandwagon by leading the way and introducing initiatives to reduce the waste generation.

From large corporations like Freeport and HSBC to small-scale businesses, like Soap Café, the participation and response has been extremely encouraging.

Meanwhile at Vodafone Malta, plastic cups have been banned while also going paperless, as has Gasan Mamo Insurance, which also systematically separates all waste produced by the company. BOV has even installed a special bring-in site in their offices to encourage staff to separate waste. At Pure detergent store customers are encouraged to bring in their empty bottles for refills rather than buying more plastic bottles. Abertax Group is producing containers made from plastic waste resulting from other manufacturing processes – plastic which would otherwise be thrown away.

organising team building activities or annual events.

Reduce your single use plastic cups by encouraging employees to bring their own mugs.

Provide labels for employees to stick on used office supplies and reuse them rather than throwing them away.

Treat employees to a branded reusable water bottle and install a water fountain, thereby doing away with small plastic bottles. Consider the cost a small one-time investment in your people and your company.

Place the correct infrastructure so that waste can be separated at source. While it may seem obvious it is worth remembering to print on both sides of each paper. Setting up all printers with this option as a default setting will help.

Use available technology to communicate internally via text, voicemail, email, and digital chat rather than printing emails or leaving notes.

Install an organic waste bin. This will contribute

These are just but a few examples among many other businesses which have followed suit in introducing systems to reduce waste at work. Below are some other easy ideas to consider introducing at work. An extensive list of green business tips and other useful information on waste can be found on http://dontwastewaste.gov.mt/ our-community/tips/business-tips/.

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to a company’s corporate social responsibility while ensuring that maximum value is extracted from the waste produced.

Consider also the introduction of a food waste week in the office to engage your employees and set new standards for disposing of food waste.

MONEY · 43

C O U N T RY P R O F I L E

How Many Irelands Does It Take To Fix A Border?

The Irish did not have any say in the Brexit referendum, even though the impact on its relations with neighbour Northern Ireland will be profound. With the border question far from sorted, what is the forecast?

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C O U N T RY P R O F I L E

You have to hand it to the Irish Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe. When he faced a parliamentary committee in early October, he did his best to put on a brave face.

With the possibility of a no-deal Brexit looming, he admitted that this would give the Irish economy a "very significant shock" but he took the sting out of the words by reassuring his audience that it would still grow in 2019.

Just what does a “significant shock” mean?

Between 3/4 of a percentage point to a full point of national income growth in one year and between 3 and 3.5 percentage points of growth over several years, he said.

Amid all the hyperbole about Northern Ireland, it seems that the impact on the republic might still not have been fully appreciated by the public. Irish online media City Metric fretted recently that there were “potentially grave implications for the movement of goods and services, all island trade and industrial cooperation”, but that the issue was even wider than the 200 public roads that criss-cross the border.

“The border is far more than an obstacle to haulage. It is a place of communities and human interaction. For thousands of British and Irish citizens, the border is part of daily life,” it wrote.

But the potential slowdown has to be seen in the context of where Ireland is now. The official forecast for GDP growth this year actually increased to 7.4 per cent from the previous estimate of 5.6 per cent and the projection for next year went up to 4.2 per cent from the 4.0 per cent forecast six months ago.

The Celtic Tiger has been flexing its muscles again. Indeed, the Irish GDP has been among the best in Europe for the past few years, with the government finances largely under control. The government is on track for a deficit of just 0.2 per cent of

gross domestic product this year, thanks to higher than expected growth making up for higher than expected expenditure – particularly in the health sector.

Tax revenue was 5.2 per cent up yearon-year, although that was still €127 million behind the 2018 target at the end of September so Donohoe had limited wriggle room in the Budget when it came to further tax cuts and spending increases next year. Part of the pressure comes from the Central Bank which would love to see a budget surplus next year instead of the planned minor deficit.

This is all the more significant when you consider that Ireland had been badly hit by the financial crisis and had launched a raft of tax increases to help job losses to recover. It put itself squarely on the map as a location for multinational companies, and sat back to watch the corporate tax roll in.

And it is not just services that are doing well. Ireland's manufacturing sector has

for residential units were up an eyewatering 80.8 per cent.

All this has not gone unnoticed by the European Commission in its regular economic member state forecast.

“While the outlook for the eurozone slightly worsened, the overall external economic environment is expected to remain broadly supportive of Irish exports over the forecast horizon,” it noted.

The EU forecast is for real GDP to grow by 5.6 per cent in 2018 and 4.0 per cent in 2019, with domestic demand as the main contributor.

HICP inflation remained subdued in the first five months of 2018, dragged down by lower import prices due to the appreciation of the euro against sterling.

The outlook was – by politicospeak standards – rosy: “Risks to the macroeconomic outlook are tilted to the

The border is far more than an obstacle to haulage. It is a place of communities and human interaction. also been the envy of many other member states. It has been expanding for a straight 64 months, even though the rate of growth is now levelling off.

New orders expanded for the 26th successive month in September, creating yet more new jobs. Indeed, employment in 2018 went back to its pre-crisis levels.

Construction also maintained its strong momentum, increasing by 20.6 per cent in the first three months of the year. And there is more to come as planning permits

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downside.” However, the uncertainty on Brexit loomed over the interim report; “As a highly open economy, Ireland is particularly exposed to changes in the international taxation and trade environment. Activities of multinational companies could swing headline GDP growth in either direction,” it warned.

With the clock ticking for the UK, it remains to be seen how Brexit will affect the lives of 4.8 million people in Ireland, and the 1.8 million who live just across the 500km border.

MONEY · 45

Richard is the CEO of Switch – Digital & Brand, a marketing agency that forms part of ICOM, the world's largest network of independent agencies.

BRANDING

The

capital in culture

Company culture is an important part of your brand. Richard Muscat Azzopardi explains why.

This year we seem to have heard enough about Valletta being the European Capital of Culture for 2018 but we didn’t hear enough about how much capital there is in culture.

nothing. You could have a great deal of capital stored in IP or in real estate, but it’s going to be very hard to build a successful business without a good set of people working with you, especially if you’re in the services industry.

Most organisations’ capital lies in their culture. Take away the people that work in most companies and you’re left with

It seems like company culture is split very firmly down the middle. You’re either a company that values it or you aren’t.

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It’s very hard to convince people who are not believers in a happy workforce that it’s important. These people usually lead with fear, not respect, wrangling a group of disgruntled employees — rather than leading a team of motivated individuals towards greatness.

For the intents and purposes of this article I’m going to ignore these companies. There are so many obvious steps they’re going to have to take that it is clearly inertia and not a lack of awareness that impedes their transformation. We’ve managed to turn a few of these around, but the biggest stumbling block usually tends to be the

BRANDING

leadership. There’s no way you can improve the company culture in a business where the leadership does not value it.

If we move onto the people who think they believe in a good company culture then, luckily, there’s a whole lot of people who are doing a good job. The issue most of the time is that there are too many of them. Look around you and you’re going to find 50 large companies that are offering free lunches, breakfasts, big budgets for personal development, in-house masseurs, and lavish company parties and holidays.

The problem is that employees tend to become desensitised to the luxuries. This approach works in the short term when attracting them over from companies that offered them nothing of the sort. It might keep them happy and chatting about the environment in the first few months, but at the end of the day there’s much more to great company culture than a barista making you a skinny latte every morning.

We always seem to go back to the same issue — but it’s only because we believe in it wholeheartedly. The only thing that will allow you to build a culture that will put everyone on the same track is a solid brand.

This helps in various ways, so we’ll break it down into bite-sized chunks that build on each other, because we don’t try to eat a steak in a single bite.

Clear and shared purpose Businesses tend to share an underlying purpose: making money. Once we get that out of the way most businesses seem to find it very hard to articulate their purpose.

If you don’t have this set in stone as a company owner (or leader) then how do you expect everyone in your company to be on the same page? There are various ways of identifying your ultimate goal, however, we have proven time and time again that a brand exercise is the best way to get to it. Why? Because it’s an agnostic process that’s only there to extract what’s already

there but might never have been thought about explicitly.

Clear and shared goals The first part of this is usually easier for most companies. Most leaders have a clear goal in mind. This can be as straightforward as a financial target or market share or it could be something harder to measure, like being the favourite brand in the market.

What most leaders find harder, however, is sharing those goals and the progress made towards those goals.

Leadership In a recent brand exercise we were carrying out, Ed asked the board of directors to each write down what their goals for the company are. There were 11 people at the table. Not one of their answers matched. If

sense of ownership. Some people are only motivated by financial reward, and nothing will ever help you win their loyalty.

However, the majority of people want to feel they belong to something bigger than themselves, and a sense of ownership will help you build a team that’s rooting for your cause as much as you are.

Corporate culture Once everyone is on the same page and working in the same direction, your company culture has fallen into place without you needing to work on it directly.

Will it need maintenance, care and attention? Yes, for sure. This is not a task that happens once and can be forgotten about immediately afterwards. You can’t do it for the sake of having done it. Corporate culture is as alive as each and every single human being in your organisation, so it

If the 11 people responsible for the direction of the company can’t agree on a single clear direction, how do you expect the 100 employees to align? the 11 people responsible for the direction of the company can’t agree on a single clear direction, how do you expect the 100 employees to align? And if they can’t align with the people who are leading them and with the people around them, how happy do you think they can be?

Ownership If everyone in the company can align to a purpose and a set of goals that’s clearly and consistently communicated to them by an effective leadership then you can get to the holy grail of businesses. People working for your business can feel a

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needs to be nurtured, fed, cared for and honed.

Remember. This is your capital. You wouldn’t let your building fall into a state of disrepair or leave heavy machinery unserviced. It is simple maths: it costs much more to fix when it breaks.

Switch was the host of ICOM’s EMEA meeting between October 17 and 19. In it, agency leaders from over 30 countries discussed The Capital in Culture, exploring how ICOM agencies can foster a better sense of belonging for employees throughout the world’s largest network of independent agencies.

MONEY · 47

DESIGN

A CUT ABOVE THE REST

STUDIO11 DESIGN THEIR OWN OFFICE SPACE IN MINSK, BELARUS The young team behind Studio11, architects and interior designers based in Minsk, Belarus, have recently completed their own studio space. The layout accommodates two separate workrooms, a kitchen, a materials and sample library and a bathroom.

philosophy in design,” the team continues.

“Here one can find several techniques and objects that were used in our projects. One such element is a ceramic module which we developed for one of our interiors.

Things like this are very dear to us – they fill the workspace with personal history and additional meaning.”

“The interior did not have any initial stylistic orientation and was formed gradually,” said the designers. “It is safe to say this space gathers our professional preferences and is a physical expression of our personal

Overall, the interior is a reinterpretation of the modernist movement with a contemporary twist. Functional and robust, the space is softened with the use

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of curved shapes and deliberate colour choices. The floor is a rough concrete screed painted in light grey, while the reinforced concrete slab that forms the ceiling was left unfinished. The walls are part-painted in a complex blue hue, with top sections remaining as worn white plaster. The curtains maintain the same colour layout, which extends the compositional integrity of the walls. The new small wall partition was built using glass blocks, referencing the work of master architects such as Alvar Aalto.

DESIGN

Look at these offices and you will immediately see what sets them apart from the rest.

LOFT OFFICE IN ROTTERDAM

BY JVANTSPIJKER ARCHITECTURE Jvantspijker urbanism architecture has redesigned the main space of an old steam factory in the Delfshaven neighborhood of Rotterdam into an open loft office. A central glass meeting room, with a pantry and stairs leading to the plant-filled roof organises the large warehouse space in a single sweeping gesture, transforming it into a generous and optimistic working space. The central design idea behind the transformation of the office was to keep the scale, transparency and lightness in place and to connect the office to the main atrium of the building.

This conversion of a factory space into a grand office loft space demonstrates the potential of often forgotten spaces in inner cities. The way in which this type of space accommodates new functions, in a both classy and seamless manner, is exemplary for the opportunities that layering, re-using and re-vitalising provide for central but forgotten areas in inner cities.

Therefore, the central element was designed as a hybrid between a room, a wall and a piece of furniture; it divides, connects and provides service space. In a single continuous gesture, a timber shape takes on the function of wall-cladding, floor, wall, kitchen and roof. The new element uses the potential of the large free height provided by the open space, by adding an extra dimension to the use of the space in the form of a modest roofgarden on top of the meeting room. A small flight of stairs leads up to this garden that provides a lovely space to relax during hectic working days. At the same time, the garden is a spectacular landscape feature in the office and absorbs sound to create an acoustically sound environment.

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DESIGN

SWEDISH ARCHITECT’S MER DESIGN THEIR OWN OFFICE IN STOCKHOLM MER (MORE) is a leading architect and consultancy company that specialises solely in creating and changing offices for Swedish and international companies. Recently the company developed a new environment for their own office located in Stockholm, offering their staff and visitors an exciting journey of discovery among innovative solutions for a creative workplace.

“The office is a strategic tool that modern

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DESIGN

companies take very seriously for their success in attracting the brightest staff and most interesting customers. This also applies to MER,” says company CEO Cecilia Bejdén.

The aim of the office was for the company to try their own methods, test creative solutions and apply new research findings in their daily work. In MER’s office lab, the company continues to develop brandbuilding design and function. Equally, MER abandoned their previous minimalist aesthetic and instead went all-in for an interior that raises eyebrows and provides experiences. Here, art and mirror walls are mixed with strict work cubicles and a cosy library. The handling of the material samples has been inspired by “movement patterns in supermarkets”.

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FA S H I O N

1

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FA S H I O N

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THE BUSINESS EDITION

ISSUE 51

MONEY · 53

brings cool back to the kitchen with engaging content, edgy design and a lifestyle flair.

OCTOBER EDITION OUT NOW Distributed exclusively from Park Towers Supermarkets and from selected outlets.

The Bluesman is a Maltese sound engineer working in New York.

LAST WORD

The Bluesman analyses some big sexual harassment cases which involved powerful men and the inclination of certain men who seek to overpower women.

THE BUSINESS EDITION

ISSUE 51

‘The mess of Miss America’ muttered the headline over a two-column story in one of the [tabloid] newspapers. The new boss, Gretchen Carlson, a former winner, decreed that the swimsuit [understandable] and evening gown [why?] segments would no longer be a part of the competition [also not a pageant anymore she decided].

Carlson had acquired activist credibility when she stopped being a Fox News host and filed a sexual harassment lawsuit against now former Fox bigwig Roger Ailes. The settlement was for $20 million.

She also became a face of the #MeToo movement early on in the birthing of it.

It seemed a strange match then, when

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LAST WORD

“ IT WAS ONLY IN THE 20TH CENTURY THAT HARDFOUGHT AND HARD-WON BATTLES MADE INROADS ON BEHALF OF WOMEN.” she was put in charge of this ‘pageant’, so vilified by those who consider such events demeaning to women, after her predecessor had made sexist comments about former winners. Despite the accusations of hijacking the event and bullying the committee into shaping the competition to conform to whatever agenda Carlson might have, the event was held.

The new winner Nia Franklin, gushing during an interview about only getting two hours sleep that night because you know, the excitement, otherwise this aspiring composer who sang an aria from La Bohème in the talent segment, didn’t have much to say about the changes except “we just want to look beautiful”.

So why is this newsworthy? It’s a sign of the gender ship righting itself towards an even keel. For generations this ship had been listing … okay, I’ll leave that simile for Skipper magazine.

There have been many matriarchal societies throughout history. From the mythical Amazons, the Nubians in Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia, not mythical as Augustus Caesar would have attested, the Suevi in Germany, also around the time of Augustus, the Chinese Na close to the Tibetan border holding their society together for many thousands of years and the Hopi, a Pueblo tribe in the middle of the Navajo reservation east of the Grand Canyon.

Ancient civilisations untouched by human hand, well unsullied by male domination

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anyway, since ancient times. Or maybe unsullied by the three main religions, all of which are not kind in their attitude towards women.

It was only in the 20th century that hardfought and hard-won battles made inroads on behalf of women. Suffrage, freedom of choice and almost but not quite yet, equal pay. Then in October 2017, a story was published in The New Yorker detailing alleged misconduct by Harvey Weinstein towards women he had dealings with as a powerful film producer. This threw the proverbial nudge, nudge, snigger, snigger stories of casting couch shenanigans right into the glare of the international klieg lights. This story was by Ronan Farrow, son of Mia Farrow and Woody Allen [or maybe as some rumours have it, Sinatra], and was followed by further allegations which had powerful men toppling like skittles. Back to the first paragraph and the circumstances under which the Miss America pageant/ competition moved away from gawk-fest to whatever it is now.

Thus the #MeToo movement was born. A new era of true women’s liberation and equality. Unfortunately on the Hill it was politics as usual. A judge poised for a seat on the highest court of the land has had accusations made against him by a girl [now a college professor] he knew during his high-school days.

This, as often happens, was followed by two or three others with similar tales of aggressive and unwelcome sexual behaviour. The professor was given short shrift by the Republican Senators on the Senate Judiciary Committee and only a public outcry convinced them to listen to her story and grudgingly, further investigation was authorised. And in spite of it all, his nomination went through.

The GOP is champing at the bit to install this contender because they feel swinging the Supreme Court to the Right will lead to limiting accessibility to women’s health

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THE BUSINESS EDITION

and eventually overturn the landmark Roe v Wade case granting freedom of choice. Any one of the 25 right-wing judges on the list of potential nominees would do just that if appointed to the Court but THIS one has also opined that a sitting president cannot be indicted, although he was vociferously on the opposite side of this issue when he was on Ken Starr’s team seeking to impeach President Clinton AND a case is on the SCOTUS docket that will remove individual States’ right to file charges separately in State court against recipients of Federal [read, Presidential] pardons. So, gosh darn it, no ‘confused’ silly female is going to get in the way of this even if the wrath of voters, especially women voters, will hit them hard in the ballot box this November.

There is a gamut of offences at the extreme end of which is femicide, the killing of a female because she is female. Degrees of femicide can include genital mutilation, verbal and physical abuse, sexual abuse and harassment and emotional abuse. This last is what the professor faced as she testified under oath. The GOP senators on the committee had no clue how to deal with what one called initially this ‘confused’ woman. Even when they had to admit that she made a credible witness they gaffed all over their attempts at sounding sympathetic; Orrin Hatch [R Utah] for example stumbled out: “I don’t think she’s uncredible (sic), I think she [is] an attractive, good witness.” When challenged by a reporter on what he meant by ‘attractive’ he then GOP’splained well, you know, pleasing. Gobsmacking stuff.

Strange to consider that among many animal species, males compete sometimes to the death for the opportunity to get to a female [some bee tryst areas are littered with the corpses of dead drones, and it doesn’t end well for them once they mate either], but there are those among the human species who feel the need to bolster an entitlement they aspire to by seeking control over women.

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NEWS

Ozone Ltd launches its next generation Cloud IP PBX Solution.

Ozone Ltd has signed a major agreement with a leading Centrex Vendor and is launching its next generation IP PBX Platform to meet the growing need of companies looking for greater flexibility for their operations. Ozone’s new Cloud IP PBX platform is a scalable cloud-based phone system designed for businesses of all sizes. The feature-rich platform will include unlimited voicemail, call recording, and IVR, as well as conference bridges, hunt groups (ring groups), paging groups, and more.

"The launch of this platform was the logical next step for us," said Ozone’s management team Robert Runza, Christian Ransley and Adrian Stilatto who run the operations closely making sure to always be the leading telco innovators. "We have seen a fast growth in the B2B sector over these years, and we intend to be at the forefront of that explosive growth. With the launch of our new Cloud-based solution, we are giving our clients all the VOIP solutions they need to operate like a big business at an affordable price.”

A satisfying result across two floors at EY Malta.

EY Malta recently expanded their offices, and engaged DEX to furnish two floors. The entire project included numerous different spaces, such as meeting and training areas, lounges, and different types of offices. The experts from DEX included the two sales consultants Sarah Jane Vella and Darren Zahra, each of which was tasked with key parts of the project. Sarah Jane was working closely with the client’s architect, Janice Fiorentino at XYZ Architects, to source all the required furniture items, such as operational workstations, ergonomic swivel chairs, foldable tables and conference chairs.

The most important criteria for all these products were sound absorption and insulation, so VertiQ was the first choice for this project. Josef Cassar, facilities executive at EY Malta, described the entire experience of working with the DEX team as “a great and straightforward one”. The type of services provided by EY Malta require an office environment that is welcoming to both clients and employees. The team at DEX is proud that EY Malta is fully satisfied with the finished product.

DEX Workspaces offers a complete range of solutions for offices, including workstations, seating, flooring, acoustic systems and partitions. Contact us at info@dex.com.mt or 22773000, or visit our showroom at Mdina Road, Qormi.

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The right ERP solution can shape the growth of your business by maximising productivity and streamlining operations. Acumatica Cloud ERP is a connected business platform which empowers you to transform your business by putting customer success at the heart of your operations. For more information on how Acumatica Cloud ERP can accelerate your business growth by providing on-demand insights for decision makers, as well as automating key processes, visit www.computimesoftware.com/acumaticaerp or email info@computimesoftware.com.

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THE BUSINESS EDITION

SKILLBIKE™

Will you make it to that last hill? Can you push yourself above and beyond your last competitor, and take the challenge further? It’s hard if it doesn’t feel like the real thing.

If you don’t shift a real gear on a real road, riding across real routes along with real companions. It’s time to unleash your athletic potential. It’s time to shift to real riding.