This new course will give an overview of ISO 27001, its importance in information security management, and its relevance in the digital age. It will highlight the key changes from ISO 27001:2013 to ISO 27001:2022 and explain the implications of the transition, and give a practical overview of the best practices to be used for the transitioning phase.
This in-person seminar at The Malta Chamber, in Republic Street, Valletta, will showcase the results of FAIRNESS, an Erasmus plus project that offers SMEs free research-based online training tools. Fairness also enables SME owners to understand the complexities of the various sources of capital to be better prepared when considering the various financial options. Registration and welcome coffee is at 08.30 hrs, and this free event will conclude with a networking opportunity and light refreshments. Registration is required.
Bonds are one of the most popular assets classes for many investors since they are generally seen as a reliable source of income with a defined investment term. This course will cover the basics of investing in bonds as well as the more complex features of this type of instrument. Participants will also learn about the key principles of bond pricing mechanisms, the structure of the fixed income markets, building a portfolio of bond instruments, and how to select bonds based on their characteristics such as yield and issuer credit analysis.
This course will provide a high-level overview of the Market Abuse Regulation and will serve as an introduction for anyone unfamiliar with the Regulation. The course will include an overview of the three offences of insider dealing, unlawful disclosure of inside information, and market manipulation, the various obligations imposed on market participants by the Regulation, as well as central key themes such as inside information. Participants will also be given a general understanding of the MFSA’s oversight function in respect of market abuse and applicable sanctions. Practical examples will be provided throughout the course to better illustrate the issues being discussed.
This course aims to provide a high-level overview of Environmental (E), Social (S) and Governance (G) criteria (ESG), and will serve as a general introduction to this fast-growing and ever-changing sector. The course will be informally split into three distinct sections; the first of which will largely focus on the main tenets of ESG: what it means, what it seeks to achieve and its development through time. The second section of this course will focus on the pertinent regulatory developments in the ESG sector, including the Taxonomy Regulation, the Sustainable Finance Disclosures Regulation (SFDR) and the upcoming Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), and their implications on market players falling within their scope. The third and final section of this course will then seek to provide examples of the practical applicability of ESG both locally and internationally, and will further explore what the future holds for this expanding sector.
This course is intended to educate and train professionals on the role of the risk function within an organization, and its effectiveness in acting as a second line of defense within the organization’s governance structure. The course will look into the practical implementation of risk and risk management, highlighting the main stages of a robust enterprise-wide risk management process.
The most important characteristic of a good line of credit afforded by a credit institution to an applicant is that is gets repaid. This requires a credit assessment process that could include profiling, economic stress testing, risk, financial and business analysis, and collateral availability. This course will address the credit proposal assessment process and give key practical insights to help attendees to carry out good quality assessments which will result in good mutually beneficial business.
The aim of this course is to give a brief overview of the different types of Collective Investment Schemes and to provide more information with regards to the tasks and responsibilities of the Fund Administrator. It will also give more insight on the different roles within the Fund Administration business. An explanation on how to calculate an NAV and on how to price different types of Instruments will be provided. After this course you will be able to understand the basic principles of Fund Accounting and Administration.
This session will provide an in-depth look at the continuing disclosure obligations emanating from Chapter 5 of the Capital Markets Rules applicable to Issuers in terms of the said Rules. This session will cover both periodic financial reporting as well as ad hoc disclosure obligations, and should be particularly relevant to equity and debt issuers listed on the main market of the Malta Stock Exchange as well as entities contemplating listing.
This course is an introduction to understanding how to use financial information to value and analyse companies. The course focuses on the practical application of financial statements analysis. Students will learn how to create and analyse financial ratios such as debt to equity, profit margins and more. Participants will gain analytical skills involved in reading and interpreting the financial health and profitability of a company through quantitative and qualitative techniques. A number of case studies and financial statements of actual companies will be analysed.
This module will give a comprehensive overview of property valuations and reports, showing what a good quality and realistic valuation should assess, and explaining the methodology of creating a good quality property valuation. It will also address the common mistakes and errors commonly found in valuations and the importance of having a good standard of valuation since this is often the basis of investment decisions.
The intent of this course is to help professionals better understand the link between risk and crisis management. The mantra of no risk, no reward still holds true, yet decision makers need to be fully aware and prepared for the various foreseen and unforeseen risks that can lead to crisis scenarios.This course is highly recommended to individuals that are new to the world of risk management and professionals that would like to better understand crisis management and recovery scenarios.
Participants will learn the basic investing concepts, the many different variations of traditional investments available and which type of investments are most suitable for their needs. The course will delve into the history of the capital markets, their role in the economy, the different types of markets, and the activities of exchanges. Participants will also learn about the difference between bonds and equities, what they are, their special characteristics and terminology, how they are priced and the risks of owning such investments. Students will also learn about various investment styles such as value, growth, and fund investing. Students will be taught how to and why they should take a critical look at all investing options based on sound risk/reward assumptions.
Cyber security is a key issue that affects everyone in the digital environment we live and work in. The aim of this course is to ensure that the end user has enough security awareness to turn them into a strong last line of defence in identifying cyber-attacks and protecting your organisation. This interesting and practical course will help you and your staff in an interactive course. The key benefits will be the change in users’ behaviour to reduce risk from phishing and other cyber attacks, prioritisation and improvement of incident response and reporting of incidents and ultimately the reduction of successful phishing attacks and malware infections.
This course is designed to familiarise attendees with the practical and real life circumstances of implementing a robust due diligence process. The Customer due diligence process (CDD) involves much more than carrying our research using the passport or other customer data available using one of the various monitoring systems and a ‘Google’ search. There are clear responsibilities that are related to AML/CFT, and this course will give a practical and hands-on approach on how to carry out the various CDD checks, how to deal with practical issues that are encountered on a day-today basis, and provide a practical insight to help subject persons, including compliance officers, compliance teams and MLROs, carry out their duties.
This course aims to offer participants an overview of the regulatory and compliance landscape by introducing elements of the AIFMD, MIFID, and UCITS directives. Students will be provided a foundation to be able to understand financial regulation and compliance requirements of an MFSA licensed company. The course will explore the optimal compliance structure of a fund or management company including their basic legal structure, the fiduciary duties of a board of directors, investment committee, MLRO, and compliance officer. Furthermore various AIFMD policies will be discussed including risk management, remuneration, valuation, insider dealing polices, etc.
This course has been tailored to provide attendees with a best practice approach in implementing a sound corporate governance framework, in line with the regulator’s expectations. The MFSA’s launch of the Corporate Governance Code in 2022 has established a set of principles which are to be applied by authorized persons on a ‘best effort basis’. The Corporate Governance Code is applicable across sectors, to all unlisted entities authorised by the MFSA.
Whether at top executive, middle management or even junior administrator level, conveying information, a message or even intent clearly, flawlessly and in appropriate detail is critical for getting the message across, establishing attention, winning business and building continued success. Business writing must form a credible basis upon which sound decisions may be taken. In this regard, besides communicating information accurately in an appropriate format, effective business writing demonstrates rationale, enhances credibility, carries influential impact, and conveys suitable courtesy. All powerful determinants for maintaining interest, rapport and enhancing sustainable achievement in the world of business. This short course gives practitioners, managers and administrators insights into sharpening and enhancing their business writing and communication skills in multiple and varied business contexts such as writing with impact and garnering results, drawing up reports as a sound basis for decision-making and outcome reporting, minute taking as well as delivering and presenting to an audience.
The Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA) is a new regulation aiming to establish Digital Operational Resilience for the Financial Sector and compliance with this new regulation comes into effect in January 2025. The Act aims to create common EU rules on digital operational resilience, ensure safeguards for ICT risk management and mitigation against cyber-attacks and other risks are in place, provide oversight in terms of critical ICT Third party services and dependencies and reduce financial and administrative burden on organisations. This course will help attendees to learn more about the updated Regulatory Technical Standards and associated guidance notes in preparation for compliance with this Act in January 2025
Raising capital is a difficult but essential part of running Capital markets - practical issues any business. Even the most creative ideas or business plans can only get you so far. It is therefore inevitable that businesses will need funding in order to grow. Although one of the biggest challenges businesses face is raising finance, various options exist and businesses can raise capital through capital markets, bank finance, private placements or business angels amongst others. The training session will give an overview of all sources of finance, focusing more on the capital markets available in Malta, and the practical issues encountered when raising finance and how business go around them.
