The 2nd ICPAC Mediterranean Finance Summit - A Gathering of World-Class Finance Leaders

The Institute of Certified Public Accountants (ICPAC) through its CFO Committee and QUBE Events successfully wrapped up the 2nd edition of the ICPAC Mediterranean Finance Summit (“Summit”). Following the success of the 1st Summit, the ICPAC CFO Committee and QUBE Events started planning the Summit back in September 2022. It took almost eight months of rigorous planning to put together the agenda, the speakers and panellists, the sponsors and the venue.

The Summit was hosted at the Four Seasons Hotel, in Limassol. On the 18th and 19th of May 2023, prominent finance leaders and key decision-makers from Cyprus and around the world gathered for a one-anda-half-day conference, filled with insightful presentations and relevant discussions, paving the way for valuable knowledge exchange and relevant networking opportunities.

The Summit brought together over 200 local and international finance executives from major companies, including Deloitte, UBS, PwC, Visa, Exness and Adobe to name a few, and international organisations like the ACCA. Panellists and speakers exchanged ideas and experiences, explored the latest financial trends and navigated today’s challenging business landscape. Multiple panel discussions and keynote speeches took place throughout the summit with a number of networking breaks and beneficial one-to-one meetings with the prestigious sponsors of this exclusive event.

Pieris Markou, the President of ICPAC, took the stage to deliver the welcoming speech, followed by Mr. Constantinos Herodotou, the Governor of the Central Bank of Cyprus who officially kicked off the day with his opening keynote speech. The first day of panel discussions and speakers featured an array of topics, with insights from leading finance professionals, such as Georgia Paphiti, CFO at UBS Europe SE, who shared insights on how to “Become a Valued Partner to Your CEO.” The line-up also featured a special address from the Executive Director - Strategy & Governance at the ACCA, Maggie McGhee, who spoke about the changing expectations of the CFO and the finance team as they strive to drive sustainable business value for the long run considering the changing stakeholder expectations. The Summit Chairman, Peter McKenzie, General Manager at Anticipa Real Estate, also presented his views with an excellent keynote session on what it takes to become “The Rockstar CFO!”. In addition to the keynote speeches, the Summit welcomed multiple panel discussions surrounding topics such as “Ensuring Compliance,” “Strategies for Coping with Inflation,” and “Investing in Digital Currencies & Payments,” with speakers from multiple leading financial institutions sharing and exchanging their ideas and thoughts on such topics. Participants had a unique opportunity to learn of “How to do Money Laundering in 2023”, through an insightful presentation by Yiannis Pettemerides. The first day of the Summit came to a close with an incredible inspiration session by Nikos Zisis, currently the General Manager of the Greek National Basketball Team and a living legend of the game. Nikos shared his life story with unique messages about facing adversity and the importance of teamwork and shared visions and goals, which left us all humbled and energized.

In his closing remarks, Kyriakos Iordanou, the General Manager of ICPAC, expressed his satisfaction with the outcome of this year’s Summit, highlighting the event’s objectives to make Cyprus a focal point for such exclusive finance gatherings in the Mediterranean. Overall, ICPAC, through its CFO Committee and QUBE Events managed to host a remarkable Summit that provided a solid foundation for attendees to immerse themselves in the future of the finance sector while fostering valuable connections. We look forward to next year’s Summit, which we aim to be bigger and better than this year’s.