Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/352862
41 maltatoday, Sunday, 27 July 2014 The Banif Bank (Malta) board of directors has announced the ap- pointment of Adrian Coppini as director of the bank. Coppini joined Banif at its in- ception and was instrumental in setting up the bank 's operations in Malta, where he led the bank 's HR and Corporate Services de- partments. Today he occupies the post of chief officer Corporate Services with responsibilities for people management, properties, admin- istration, marketing and commu- nications. He serves on the bank 's executive committee. Coppini held senior manage- ment positions in the airline, elec- tronics and investment promotion sectors as chief officer HR & Cor- porate Services at Air Malta plc, managing director at Ero Elec- tronic (Malta) Limited and execu- tive company secretary at Malta Enterprise Limited among others. He served as director on the board of Air Malta plc and Société Internationale de Télécommuni- cations Aéronautiques (SITA) and was elected SITA council deputy president. Coppini's sound international exposure is combined with a solid knowledge of start-up operations, business development, general management, strategy and mar- keting. He currently serves on the board of governors of the Convent of the Sacred Heart School Foundation where he chairs its finance com- mittee. Coppini holds a degree in Busi- ness Management from the Uni- versity of Malta. He is married and has three children. GO, Malta's lead- ing communica- tions provider, has launched a new initiative in support of l-Ist- rina. From now till Christmas day, the Com- pany will donate €1 whenever cus- tomers sign up to settle their bills by direct debit. GO has been one of l-Istrina's longest-standing partners and has actively support- ed the charitable event for several years. As one of the main partners of l-Istrina, GO has previ- ously waived all service fees and provided communications equip- ment for the annual TV broadcast for free. In order to help the event run smoothly, GO's technical sup- port has also included TV broadcast and internet support. As the official communications provider for the Malta Community Chest Fund, GO has also supported and participated in other events, including this past weekend's Festa f 'San Anton. This new initiative in support of l- Istrina, not only aids a good cause, but also makes it easier for GO cus- tomers to manage their accounts. The total amount raised through this initiative will be presented to l- Istrina during the annual TV mara- thon on 26 December. Teresa Rizza, Marketing Com- munications, Events and Sponsor- ship Manager at GO, said, "GO and l-Istrina have a long standing partnership. Every year we support l-Istrina with technical infrastruc- ture, support and free services. This year, we are committed to helping more, while at the same time help- ing our customers to manage their bills more efficiently." The European Commission has just published its annual report on the implementation of the EU regulato- ry framework. This report includes a country chapter that provides an overview of the European Commis- sion's assessment of the work carried out by the Malta Communications Authority (MCA) during 2013. The opening statement of the report says: "Malta has already achieved the first two of the Digital Agenda for Europe (DAE) targets related to broadband, i.e. 100% basic broadband coverage by 2013 and 30 Mbps broadband coverage by 2020" is. In this regard, the Commission goes on to state that the number of broadband connections per 100 in- habitants increased by 1.6 percent- age points during 2013, bringing Malta's penetration to 33.8%, well above the EU average of 29.4%. With respect to the Authority's regulatory work, the Commission provides a comprehensive overview of a number of regulatory decisions taken by the Authority during 2013, which impose various obligations on the market players. The Commission refers to the launch of the Digital Malta Strategy and to the numer- ous initiatives included in that strategy which fall under the remit of the MCA such as eCommerce, eInclusion, Inter- net Safety, and Internet Gov- ernance amongst others. The report also positively re- fers to the recent amendments to the MCA Act, where the legal provisions related to the independence of the Authority were strengthened. With respect to the Author- ity's role in relation to con- sumer issues, the Commission refers to the roles of the Com- munications Authority and the Malta Competition and Con- sumer Affairs Authority (MC- CAA). In this regard, it states that "since there is no clear sepa- ration of competency, a consumer may bring forward a complaint re- lated to electronic communications issues to the MCA or the Office for Consumer Affairs of the MCCAA, or both; in the latter case both Au- thorities have to deal with the same complaint individually. In cases where consumers claim compensa- tion for damages suffered, they have the option to go to the Consumer Claims Tribunal. In this case, it is mandatory to go to the Office for Consumer Affairs (MCCAA) first, even if the MCA has already dealt with the complaint." With regard to the last comment made by the Com- mission, the MCA notes that amendments to the Consum- er Affairs Act have removed the need for the MCCAA to once again investigate such cases, before forwarding them to the Consumer Claims Tri- bunal. The Commission also re- ports on the work done by the Authority on the consumer front and refers to the launch of "telecosts.com", the MCA's interactive price compari- son portal; the availability of services allowing consum- ers to obtain information on their usage free of charge; the MCA's work in relation to termination procedures, the availability of email portabil- ity and number portability; the legal provisions ensuring that, once a contract is renewed, subscribers can exit the contract without pay- ing termination fees, as well as the MCA's decision on itemised billing. Banif Bank (Malta) plc appoints new director Biannual information on Euro banknote counterfeits - number of counterfeits remains low New initiative from GO in support of l-Istrina Events In the first half of 2014 a total of 331,0 0 0 counterfeit euro bank- notes were withdrawn from cir- culation, 6.2% down on the figure for the second half of 2013. Overall, the number of counter- feits remained ver y low compared with the number of genuine bank- notes in circulation during that period – the number of genuine notes was of over 16 billion. Despite these low numbers of counterfeit notes, the members of the Eurosystem – i.e. the Euro- pean Central Bank (ECB) and the 18 national central banks of the euro area – advise people to pay attention to the notes they receive in their transactions. Genuine notes can be eas- ily recognised using the simple " feel, look and tilt" method de- scribed on the euro pages of the ECB's website and the websites of the Eurosystem national central banks. If a person receives a suspect banknote, he/she should compare it directly with one that is known to be genuine. If those suspicions are con- firmed, the person should contact either the police or – depending on national practice – the respec- tive national central bank. The €20 and €50 continued to be the most counterfeited bank- notes. They accounted for 81% of the counterfeits, a slight increase over the previous half-year. 98% of the counterfeits were found in euro area countries, 1.9% were found in EU Member States outside the euro area and 0.1% were found in other parts of the world. The Eurosystem has a dut y to safeguard the integrit y of euro banknotes, so it offers guidance on how to distinguish bet ween genuine and counterfeit notes, and helps professional cash han- dlers ensure that banknote han- dling and processing machines can reliably identif y and withdraw counterfeits from circulation. The Eurosystem draws on improve- ments in banknote technolog y: the Europa series it is introduc- ing will help maintain public confidence in the banknotes and offer renewed protection against counterfeiting, as the notes will be even more secure and durable. The new €10 will be issued on 23 September 2014. For media inquiries, contact Elo- die Nowodazkij, tel.: +49 69 134 4 7390. European Commission publishes report on implementation of EU telecoms regulatory framework in Malta Denomination €5 €10 €20 €50 €100 €200 €500 Percentage breakdown 1.2% 4.6% 46.5% 34.7% 10.9% 1.3% 0.8% Adrian Coppini