Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1495990
3 NEWS 30.3.2023 Advisory body pushes private pension schemes in National Strategy for Financial Services The Malta Chamber holds 2023 AGM THE Malta Chamber of Commerce, Enterprise and Industry held its Annu- al General Meeting (AGM) on Tuesday 28th March 2023. is AGM saw the end of a two-year term of office of President Marisa Xuereb while initiating e Malta Chamber Council elections to appoint 18 council members. "Hand on heart, I feel that I have fulfilled my brief of seeing the renewal process of e Malta Chamber through, to such an extent that I believe that the energy that drives the organisation today gives it the required dynamism to aim higher for many years to come," said President Mari- sa Xuereb in her opening speech. She added that e Malta Chamber's model of governance is built on the principle of constant renewal through two-year terms of office that provide people with the im- petus to get things done quickly while al- lowing for new energy and fresh ideas to come in every couple of years. Xuereb said that "e challenge for e Malta Chamber is to persevere through systematically pushing the priorities one by one over the course of the cur- rent legislation. I am confident we have the required credibility, a track record of transparency, integrity, accountability and consistency, and the right people on board to do this." Addressing those present, Xuereb said "we stand on the shoulders of giants who have shaped the commercial, economic and social development of Malta leading a national business organisation that is unique in its legal status, history, influ- ence and impact. I pass on the baton fully conscious of the honour and privilege I enjoyed in leading e Malta Chamber, satisfied that I have led with the required passion and conviction, and confident that e Malta Chamber will continue to be Malta's leading business representative body." e Malta Chamber invited Minister for Finance and Employment, Clyde Carua- na, to give an economic and financial up- date on the local and international scene. Minister Caruana spoke about the impact of high energy prices in Europe, the war in Ukraine, renewable energy and tax harmonisation. Minister Caruana said that for our country to continue to grow we need to focus more on talent, quality and greener initiatives to our economy. He said that "as a country, we are pro- jecting a deficit that is lower than 5% but higher than 4% by end of year." He added that the EU is pushing to increase energy prices for those who are still using fossil fuels and a major reform in tax harmoni- sation by end of 2025 and to start reining in fiscal deficits in 2024. Minister Carua- na concluded that in the coming months the country will see an overhaul of the in- land revenue department and stressed the importance for every entrepreneur to pay the taxes due. Dr Marthese Portelli, e Malta Cham- ber CEO, outlined the work that has been done during the past year. Dr Portelli highlighted that over 85% of the members are satisfied with the membership and would recommend e Malta Chamber to other businesses and professionals. Dr Portelli gave an overview of the policy, projects and communications efforts and events that were held in the past year and the upcoming ones. "Our targets for the coming year will fo- cus on prioritising the quality and mem- ber value for our members. All this will be accompanied by the continuous work and policy lobbying with government au- thorities, and European and international counterparts," said e Malta Chamber CEO. Towards the end of the AGM, Karen Spiteri Bailey, accountant at e Malta Chamber, presented the financial state- ments of e Malta Chamber for 2022. After her intervention, President Marisa Xuereb launched the electoral process for the council members to be elected. For this election, 21 candidates contested out of which four are female. e Malta Chamber AGM was also ad- dressed by Vladimír Dlouhý, President of Eurochambres and Fredrik Persson, Pres- ident of BusinessEurope. NICOLE MEILAK TAX cuts on income from private pen- sion schemes and an opt-out pension plan for employees are being recom- mended by the Malta Financial Services Advisory Council in the new National Strategy for Financial Services. e advisory body says Malta has an opportunity to expand its Second Pillar Pensions through personal private retire- ment schemes or through employer pen- sion plans, in turn alleviating pressure on the government's pension system. e council's suggestions include tax incentives for employer pension contri- butions, an opt-out pension plan system for employees, and an advantageous tax rate on pension income from private pensions. It's also suggesting de-minimis rules that allow pension pots of €10,000 or less to be withdrawn as a lump sum and taxed as pensionable income. Other initiatives outlined in the strate- gy document include a centralised iden- tity management and due diligence por- tal, a law reform task force for financial services, and a change in processes to obtain timely convictions for financial crime. e council also pointed out that digi- tisation efforts in government are being hampered by the current government procurement processes. It also suggested that clear distinctions are made between contraventions of tax law requirements and conscious crimi- nal evasion of tax. e national strategy was launched on Wednesday with the aim of strengthen- ing Malta's position in the industry. e strategic priorities of the strategy include streamlining regulatory pro- cesses, building a national payments infrastructure, consolidating identity management, enabling financial ser- vices law reform and harmonisation, and modernising Malta's tax structure, among others. Joseph Zammit Tabona, who chairs the council, said that the strategy is the fruit of stakeholders in the private sec- tor, government and regulatory bodies. "While not an easy change to imple- ment, it will transform the industry and fully leverage the sector's potential on the island." George Vella, Chairman of Finance- Malta, said that it will continue to sup- port the industry and contribute as needed throughout the implementation of the strategy.