Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1210197
17 maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 12 FEBRUARY 2020 COMMERCIAL SEVENTEEN specialist HSBC employ- ees have successfully completed the Award in Maltese Home Loan Finance offered by the institute of financial ser- vices (ifs) Malta. These financial services professionals are the first group to attain this quali- fication since it has been updated with the latest regulatory changes and the re- quirement for anyone working in the ar- ea of Home Loan Finance to be qualified. This qualification is an MQF lev- el 4 qualification and, therefore, goes beyond the Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA) mandatory level 3 qualification requirement to practice in this area. It is also recognised by the National Commission for Further and Higher Education (NCFHE). Ifs Malta worked closely with HSBC to adapt the delivery times of the course around the busy schedules of the 17 employees without compromising the quality of the programme. All tuition was given by a qualified trainer who is highly knowledgeable in the subject. In the end, all candidates passed in the first sitting with eleven of the candidates ob- taining a distinction. Peter Gauci, HSBC's Head of Distribu- tion, Retail Banking and Wealth Man- agement stated: "Our customers expect and deserve the best advice when mak- ing such big life decisions. Keeping that in mind we decided to invest in our peo- ple through this programme. We con- gratulate and thank each and every one of them and look forward to increasing the number of people enrolled to fur- ther improve the advice, support and service quality we give our customers looking to buy a home." Ifs Malta President, Kenneth B. Mi- callef said: "the Award in Home Loan Finance is a home grown qualification specifically designed for the local mar- ket and is the most professional qual- ification of its kind in Malta. While congratulating all the HSBC employees for successfully completing the study programme, we look forward to having more Home Loan professionals quali- fied in this area from across the finan- cial services sector." HSBC staff complete training in home loan finance A free assessment of companies' IT infrastructure is being offered by Forestals Professional, which will help companies reduce costs, simplify pro- cesses as well as ensure safety and se- curity. Assess IT is a recently launched service, which provides an overview of a company's existing IT systems, tech- nology and support infrastructure. The assessment will take the form of an onsite visit. A qualified IT technician will visit your company and conduct an examination of what infrastructure, services and support you have in place. The assessment will also consist of a discussion of what your current IT system requires as well as particular trouble points. The assessment will provide an op- portunity for a number of cost-effec- tive and secure solutions namely: by being able to redefine the econom- ics of IT resources, companies will have the possibility to reduce costs through efficient resources and in- frastructure. Assess IT will also make suggestions as to how com- panies can not only speed up their service delivery but also reduce po- tential risks to the business such as hacking, viruses and malware, for in- stance. Importantly, the assessment will allow insight into how to boost the performance of your business by, for example, ensuring that your business needs are met, while allow- ing you to give more choice, options and flexibility to your employees and customers. Speaking about the service, John Farrugia Randon Head of Commer- cial Sales said: "Thanks to Assess IT, companies will be able to target specifically their IT needs. This ob- jective assessment of businesses will not only save them time and money in the long run, but it will also make their entire IT infrastructure safe from the many risks they are so easi- ly exposed to." Forestals Professional is a gold partner with Hewlett Packard, with specialisations in printing and com- puting services. Forestals offering free IT assessment