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3 NEWS 22.7.2021 APS Bank has announced a number of senior management appointments as re- cently approved by the Board of Direc- tors. Edward J Calleja will take up the posi- tion of Chief Operating Officer as from 1 August 2021, subject to regulatory ap- proval being forthcoming. Calleja started his career at Mid-Med Bank in 1981 and joined APS Bank in 1992. He was respon- sible for the setting up of the Bank's lend- ing function. He was Head of Advances and, since 2016, Head of Risk. Calleja holds a B.A. (Hons) Accountancy from the University of Malta (1990), a Diploma in Management (2003) and an MBA from Henley Management College, UK (2005). He obtained his warrant as CPA in 1991 and became a fellow of the Malta Institute of Accountants in 2011. Liana DeBattista will take up the po- sition of Chief Strategy Officer as from 1 October 2021, subject to regulatory approval being forthcoming. She joined APS Bank in 2003 and worked in a num- ber of areas, including strategy, internal audit and marketing. Since 2020 she has held the position of Head of Strategy & Propositions. Liana has a B.Sc. in Busi- ness & Computing (2001) and a B.Com (Hons) in Management (2002), both from the University of Malta, and a First Class M.Sc. in Corporate Finance from the Uni- versity of Liverpool (2015). Rachael Blackburn has been appointed to the new position of Head of Culture with effect from 1 July 2021. She has a career spanning over 20 years, with man- agement experience in both the public and private sectors. Amongst other posi- tions, she was a Management Trainer in the United Arab Emirates (2002-2006), a Senior Executive at the Malta Council for Science and Technology (2009-2016), Director at Esplora (2016-2019) before joining APS Bank as Change Manage- ment Specialist. Blackburn graduated B.Ed. (Hons) from the University of Malta (2001) and M.A. in Creativity & Innova- tion (2009), specialising in organisational innovation management. Marco Micallef will be appointed as Head of Credit Risk as from 1 August 2021. He started his career at Mid-Med Bank in 1992 gaining retail network and credit experience. He joined APS Bank in 2000 and worked mainly in credit, both in the network and the commercial business unit. In 2011, he was appointed Credit Risk Manager, a post he occupies to date. Micallef graduated B.Sc (Hons) Financial Services and ACIB, jointly awarded by the University of Manchester and the Insti- tute of Financial Services, in 2004. In 2020 he obtained the International Certificate in Financial Services Risk Management from the Institute of Risk Management. Zoltan Horvath will be appointed as Head of Propositions as from 1 October 2021. He started his career in banking and consumer finance at KBC Group before moving to Budapest Bank-GE Capital (2005-2011) and then to Oney (2012) in France. He joined Banco Santander UK in 2014 and moved to APS Bank in 2020 as Senior Proposition Officer, bringing a wealth of international experience to his role. Horvath graduated M.Sc in Eco- nomics from Corvinus University of Bu- dapest in 2004. From left to right: Edward J Calleja, Liana DeBattista, Rachael Blackburn, Marco Micallef and Zoltan Horvath New senior management appointments at APS Bank FROM PAGE 1 "We have to be able to convince when ex- plaining our particularities," she told Busi- nessToday, noting that Malta depended on aviation and shipping for its commercial, travel and tourist connections. e EU has a target to become carbon neutral by 2050 but also has an inter- im target to reduce emissions by 55% by 2030. Dalli said these are EU-wide targets, which will eventually take into account the disparity in progress of the different countries. She said that Malta managed to convince the European Commission to allow fund- ing for a natural gas pipeline between Sic- ily and Malta that is hydrogen-ready. e Commission had turned down a funding proposal last year as it shifted its priority away from infrastructure projects for fossil fuels that produce carbon when burnt. Natural gas is a fossil fuel albeit less polluting than heavy fuel oil. Dalli had argued that Malta's case was particular since there was no readi- ly-available supply of hydrogen fuel in its neighbourhood. e pipeline will have to transport natural gas in the immediate fu- ture but be able to shift to hydrogen when this becomes commercially available. "We will have to make our case and ensure there is enough awareness on the impact of certain measures on Malta," she said. e European Commission last week published its Fit-for 55 package, a legisla- tive tool to deliver on the European Green Deal, to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 55% by 2030. e package includes several proposals, some of which are new, such as the Car- bon Border Adjustment Mechanism, and others revising existing legislations, such as the Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Directives, the Energy Tax Direc- tive, and the Emissions Trading Scheme. One of these laws incentivises clean en- ergy for the transport sector, but includes taxing kerosene for aviation and maritime sectors over the next decade. Brussels wants to introduce a gradual minimum tax-rate on aviation fuel, which is current- ly exempt, plus a specific sectoral emis- sion reduction target for shipping. e Brussels representative of Malta's Chamber of Commerce and hoteliers' lobby MHRA warned that the climate change legislative package could impact seafaring nations like Malta. Malta Business Bureau president Ali- son Mizzi had said the proposal had to be "studied in detail to quantify the impact" on peripheral countries such as Malta and other island states entirely dependent on these two sectors for the export and im- port of all cargo as well as tourism activity. "ese legislations will surely impact businesses and consumers, whether di- rectly or indirectly. It is accepted that the status quo is not sustainable. e MBB consistently said that the question is not if we should meet ambitious climate targets, but how to achieve this without under- mining the competitiveness of business, particularly SMEs, and those operating in the periphery of the EU," Mizzi had said. 'We have to be able to convince'

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