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09.01.2020 5 NEWS THE Malta Financial Services Au- thority today released its Risk Culture and Risk Appetite Statements as part of its drive to place risk management at the centre of its strategy. These Statements seek to ensure the better identification, evaluation, manage- ment, and communication of the Au- thority's approach to risk. The MFSA's Risk Culture Statement provides guidance in relation to best practice and implementation of the MFSA's Risk Culture change pro- gramme, whilst the MFSA's Risk Ap- petite Statement sets boundaries of acceptable levels of risk in key areas of the Authority's activities as a financial services supervisor. "To better serve our role as the sin- gle regulator of financial services in Malta, we are working towards this transformation by incorporating a risk-based approach as we look to improve resil- iency, enhance operational and supervisory ef- fectiveness and address our stra- tegic priorities. To transform our risk culture, we must ingrain a risk-focused mindset into the Authority's activities," stated the MFSA's Chief Executive Officer, Joseph Cuschieri. The MFSA's Risk Appetite Statement documents the Authority's overall low risk appetite for supervisory risk. It also states that the MFSA is willing to consider a certain degree of toler- ance for uncertain outcomes to fos- ter innovation and efficiencies with- in certain business models, or with a view to achieving the MFSA's mission, vision, and strategic objectives. "The MFSA's Risk Appetite State- ment is an important step towards a sounder and more transparent risk management strategy for our Au- thority," said the MFSA's Head of Risk, Franco Borg. "By clearly conveying the acceptable level of risks within our activities, manage- ment and employees have clearer signposts to guide their decisions, and external stakeholders can better understand the Authority's actions in the context of the risks the Authority is facing." The Risk Culture and Risk Appetite Statement are available on the MFSA Website. Risk culture and appetite emphasised in MFSA drive Risk Culture The Malta Financial Services Authority's Risk Culture describes the set of shared attitudes, values and behaviours that characterise how the Authority and its staff consider risk in their day-to-day activities. The MFSA aims to foster a positive risk culture. Risk Appetite The Malta Financial Services Authority's risk appetite is defined as the amount of risk (volatility of expected results) the Authority is willing to accept in pursuit of its mission and in carrying out its function as a financial services supervisor. FINANCEMALTA new chairman, Rudolph Psaila, addressed the successful Fin- Tech Junction two-day event held recently in Berlin, Ger- many. During the event, Fi- nanceMalta had a stand which attracted significant attention and many have requested in- formation on Malta's Fintech and Blockchain strategy. FinTech Junction, organised by People & Computers, is in its fourth edition and the Berlin event brought togeth- er over 2,000 Fintech leaders from around the world to discuss the latest technolo- gies and challenges which is currently facing the financial services industry. The agenda covered various themes and topics including banking and personal finance, payments, retail and ecom- merce, insurtech, cybersecu- rity and privacy, regulation and innovation. Psaila took part in a pan- el discussion with the theme "The Future of Finance: What the Next Decade will Look Like", which featured, amongst others Yoni Assia, CEO and co-founder of eToro. Other members of the panel included James Henry, Head of Sales & Partnerships, Su- mUp; and Stefan Heilmann, CEO of IEG – Investment Banking Group. The pan- el session was moderated by Ben Robinson, Co-Founder, Aperture and Former Chief Strategy & Marketing Officer of Temenos. Mr Psaila said: "Banks are facing several challenges nowadays in particular those posed by 'Fintech disruptors' who are 'attacking' some ele- ments of the profitable busi- nesses of the banks and offer it at a cheaper and potentially more efficient way." He spoke about the digi- tal-related challenges that banks are facing nowadays, in particular on the banks' abil- ity to keep up and invest in technological advancements on a holistic basis, in order to enable them to improve cus- tomer experience, increase transparency and be more competitive. It is probable that banking groups will redefine them- selves and whilst they might cease providing certain ser- vices, they will instead fo- cus on developing enhanced products better suited to their clients, he said. "Banks should nowadays embrace technology, focus on innovation and accept disrup- tion which is inevitable in the digital world," Psaila said. This year FinanceMalta will be participating in several FinTech related events. FinanceMalta chairman addresses FinTech Junction event in Berlin FinanceMalta Chairman Rudolph Psaila (first from left) making a point during a panel discussion at the recently-organised FinTech Junction event held in Berlin

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