Courses

Participants will gain a clear and focused understanding of the key role of directors and corporate secretaries in the management and administration of the company. Today, directors are being constantly evaluated and scrutinised by regulators and shareholders and is therefore essential directors appreciate the responsibility of the office, their duties, rights, obligations and the relationship with other stakeholders within the company. Participants will also be exposed to the liability directors face in the event of a breach or non-compliance with any applicable law. Recent judgments will also be considered. this course will also emphasise on corporate governance principles, best practices and the interpretation of various provisions of the Companies Act.

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.

Students will learn how trusts are legal relationship created by one party and places assets under the control of another party referred to as the trustee for the benefit of the beneficiary. Participants will learn the intricacies of trusts, and the legal and tax ramification of their setup. There will also be discussions related to how to properly craft trust deeds and articulate the powers of trustees. Also students will learn why trusts are formed such as for the protection of assets or estate planning and why trustee independence helps avoid any suggestion that the settlor  continues to have control of the trust assets.

The Compliance Officer is the regulator’s invisible arm in that it ensures that the institution’s business is being conducted in line with regulations, internal policies and procedures.  Checks are carried out primarily through compliance monitoring programmes; be they on-site or desk based reviews. The fulcrum of the findings prompted by the reviews is in bringing these to the attention of senior management. Senior management is ultimately responsible for the establishment and maintenance of the compliance function and in ensuring that the business is carried out in line with regulatory requirements.

This course aims at providing attendees with the  necessary tools and techniques aimed at identifying  money laundering machinations and in combating the  funding of terrorism. The course has been developed  in an engaging and comprehensive format in order to  provide attendees with the appropriate training to meet  the regulatory requirements of subject persons whilst  providing a practitioner’s insight. The course shall focus  both on the applicable legislative framework as well as  on practical case studies.

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.

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.

This course offer students an introduction into Islamic Finance which refers to a system of finance that is consistent with the principles of Sharia Law, which emphasises moral and ethical values in all dealings. Sharia prohibits the payment or acceptance of interest charges (Riba) for the lending and accepting of money, as well as carrying out trade and other activities that provide goods or services considered contrary to its principles. Islamic finance has the same purpose as conventional finance except that it operates in accordance with Islamic rules. Individuals taking this course will be provided with an introductory level to the principles and the modus operandi of this alternative system of finance.

/Many individuals hold investments in property as well as shareholding in companies. There are several instances when shares exchange hands for one reason or another, and of course property is an asset that is easily and often sold or transferred to a third party for one reason or another. This course will delve into the capital tax treatment on the transfer of shares in companies, as well as the tax implications of property transfers. The capital gains tax rates that apply depending on the circumstances, their calculation, and any exemptions that may be applied will be explained in ‘plain English’ and non-technical terms.  The course will also address c apital gains taxation on shares traded on international exchanges  

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.

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.

After a general introduction to blockchain technologies, participants will get an overview of the history of crypto trading. The currently important crypto exchanges will be discussed and trading procedures explained. Use cases will be discussed on how cryptocurrencies can be used in practice. However, attention will also be drawn to the dangers and risks from a technological, economic and social perspective.

The Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive (AIFMD) is an EU Directive regulating managers of Alternative Investment Funds which are either licensed in, or marketed into, the EU. This course seeks to de-mystify the AIFMD, giving a practical account of the Directive, Maltese rules and regulations transposing the Directive, and structural and operational considerations for AIFMs.

‘Beneficial owner’ means any natural person who ultimately owns or controls a legal entity or express trust or similar legal arrangement, as well as any natural person on whose behalf or for the benefit of whom a transaction or activity is being conducted. Beneficial ownership transparency is an item of high priority at a global, EU and local level. In view of Malta’s previous greylisting, beneficial ownership concealment has been a high-priority agenda item locally, with a number of thematic visits taking place by the regulator. This area is fundamental to AML and needs to be given due importance; this course will help compliance practitioners to carry out their role more effectively.

This course will introduce attendees to the  key principles of portfolio risk management and will  explain and address key concepts of modern portfolio  theory such as the principles of correlation, causation,  and diversification, portfolio volatility, basic asset-liability  management strategies and how to create and manage  a portfolio that is tailored for individual investment  objectives.  The course will delve into areas such as modelling, asset  – liability management, scenario analysis, probabilities  and extreme value theory. It will outline the investment  planning process and is highly recommended for  all financial services practitioners as well as individual  investors.

This course focuses on the pivotal role, duties and obligations  of the company secretary.  The company secretary is an important link between the board of directors and the management arm of the company.  There is also a duty to ensure good corporate governance. It is important that company secretaries are familiar with their obligations to the board, shareholders and management.  The lecturer will also outline best practice and real life case studies.

Open-ended funds and Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) have become a very popular, cost effective and efficient way for investor to build diversified portfolios. Funds are widely used by investors and include a wide variety of assets including bonds equities, real-estate and commodities. This course will focus primarily on the different types of funds available to investors ranging from Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs), to open-ended and closed-ended funds. The course will contrast ETFs versus traditional funds, differentiate between active and passive management, explain the prospectus, expense ratios and other key points.

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.

Directors and executives of companies operating in all sectors need to have a clear understanding of the financial statements that their companies prepare and which they would be signing off.  This course is aimed at directors and executives who are not accountants or have a strong financial background.  With the many responsibilities and level of accountability that these executive positions hold, it is suggested that persons in these important positions are well versed in the understanding of financial statements.

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.