Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/385963
maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 24 SEPTEMBER 2014 16 Events HSBC Malta to invest €2m in contingency site AS part of its long term operations strategy, HSBC Bank Malta is in- vesting €2 million in a new contin- gency site. Following a very detailed assess- ment of the options available for such a contingency site, HSBC Malta decided to invest in its exist- ing property in Fgura. This site was chosen due to its location, size and structural capability. The building already serves as a business conti- nuity facility for the bank's busi- ness and will be further developed to accommodate a wider range of facilities, including 155 contingency workspaces. Work on the Fgura site is expected to be completed by June 2015. Contingency sites are locations which are used as backup workspac- es in cases of emergencies requiring the evacuation of staff from opera- tional buildings. Such sites ensure that business continuity is in place and, as a result, disruption to cus- tomers is kept to a minimum. As part of the development of the Fgura building, the current branch will be relocated to Żabbar Road in Fgura. The new branch will be a fully automated operation with state-of-the-art ATMs and deposit machines. Support customer serv- ice and teller services for the Żabbar Road branch in Fgura will be provid- ed in the nearby branches of Żabbar, Paola and Cospicua. The members of staff working in the current Fgura branch will be redeployed in other branches. Exist- ing Fgura branch account custom- ers can continue to access their ac- counts and banking services from any branch of their choice in Malta and Gozo. Meanwhile the €13 million pro- gramme for the renovation of branches and installation of next generation ATMs continues with the planned refurbishment of other branches in 2015. Earlier this year, HSBC completed the renovation and upgrading of two of its flagship branches – Victoria Gozo and Val- letta Merchants Street. Over the past three years, 13 HSBC Branches have been refurbished: Valletta, Victoria, Buġibba, Ħamrun, Swieqi, Paola, Żejtun, Mosta, Żurrieq, San Ġwann, B'Kara, Sliema and Żabbar. All Bank ATMs have been upgraded to new machines with enhanced se- curity and anti-skimming devices as well as enhanced functionality such as instant deposits. In July, HSBC Malta opened its "largest ever branch" with the launch of its highly popular free Mo- bile Banking App for iPad, iPhone or Android smartphones. The app allows users – once logged in – to view their account balances, details and history. They can also transfer between their own accounts, includ- ing their credit card, as well as pay bills, send and receive secure mes- sages, and view currency and depos- it rates, among other features. Users can also transfer funds to any other third-party HSBC accountholders, including those who don't use mo- bile banking. This feature is unique to HSBC Mobile Banking. Walk for breast cancer awareness OCTOBER is with us and once again Action for Breast Cancer Foundation will be organising its annual walk in collaboration with Hard Rock Café Malta on 5 October. Ta' Xbiex, near the Black Pearl, will be the meeting point where registration will start at 8.30am, against a €5 donation. The walk begins at 9am. A warm-up will be held prior the walk by the Na- tional Women's Football Team. Participcants will walk towards St Julian's, ending in Baystreet. Hard Rock café will once again be hosting participants for a hearty healthy brunch, which will be served to all par- ticipants wearing the participation wristband. Free T Shirts will be available on a first come first served basis. Free water will be provided. University students rev up their racing Formula style Car in Valletta ahead of Science in the City A team of students from the Uni- versity of Malta got together to rev up their newly built open-wheel Racing Formula Style Car along Victoria Gate in Valletta as part of the promotion for Science in the City which is being held on Friday evening. Students from the Faculty of Engi- neering and the Faculty of Econom- ics, Management and Accountancy teamed up to design, engineer and manufacture their own racing car in the past months in preparation for the Formula ATA 2014 compe- tition. The competition was held at the end of August at the Riccardo Pal- etti Circuit in Varano de Melegari (Parma, Italy). Over 80 universities from all over the world participate in the Formula ATA each year. This is the second time that the Univer- sity of Malta participated in the Formula ATA competition, with the first time being in 2007 "The team has worked very hard to improve the mechanics of the 2014 car which is reflected in this year's overall results obtained in Italy. The difference from last year's car exhibit is that now we have our very own racing car, which can still be driven and has even raced abroad," said Leonard Agius, UoM Racing PRO. This stimulating project is carried out in a bid to encourage University students to actively study in the en- gineering and automobile field, use their engineering skills and work together as a team. The UoM Racing Formula style car 2014 will be exhibited during Science in the City at the City En- trance. The team members will be showing car enthusiasts the work- ings within their open-wheel car, visitors can also have a picture tak- en in the racing car. UoM Racing Car team would like to thank their main advisors and sponsors namely Dr. Ing. Maurizio Fenech, Dr. Ing, Mario Farrugia, RIDT, The Ministry for Education, OKmalta.com; Trelleborg Sealing Solutions, Transport Malta, Alarm Tech, Tek-Moulds and many other supporting companies and entities. Science in the City—European Re- searchers' Night is supported by the EU's Marie Skłodowska-Curie Ac- tion of the Horizon 2020 (H2020) Programme. The event is organised by the University of Malta, Malta Chamber of Scientists, and the Re- search Trust of the University of Malta (RIDT), in partnership with Karl Borg Events, Studio 7, Valletta 2018 Foundation, MEUSAC, Val- letta Local Council, Malta Council for Science and Technology, Malta College for Arts, Science and Tech- nology, Arts Council Malta, PBS, Notte Bianca, St James Cavalier, Lufthansa Technik Malta, General Soft Drinks with Coca Cola, Ta' Mena wines, Italian Cultural Insti- tute, and British Council. The full programme and venue de- tails can be downloaded from www. scienceinthecity.org.mt THE €10 banknote of the Europa series entered circulation on 23 September 2014. "It's essential that everyone who uses euro banknotes can continue to do so with complete confidence. That's why we're intro- ducing the Europa series", said Yves Mersch, the ECB's Executive Board member responsible for banknotes. Like the new €5, the new €10 has several enhanced security features as well as a fresh look. Its hologram and watermark include a portrait of Europa, a figure from Greek mythology. It also has an "emerald number". When tilted, the shiny number displays an effect of the light that moves up and down, and also changes colour from emerald green to deep blue. With these fea- tures and others, the new €10 is very easy to check using the "feel, look and tilt" method. To facilitate the introduction of the new banknote and to ensure it is as widely recognised as possible, the Eurosystem has taken many measures to further support the producers and owners of banknote handling machines and authentica- tion devices. One initiative was to make new €10 banknotes available for testing purposes almost nine months ahead of the launch, allow- ing sufficient time for the equip- ment to be adapted. Another initiative was to sim- plify the procedures to receive the new €10 banknotes for adaptation purposes. In addition, the Eurosys- tem organised – as part of the Eu- rosystem Partnership Programme – a banknote-related seminar in Brussels, while the national central banks were in direct contact with the relevant stakeholders in their country. The European Central Bank has received confirmation from the na- tional central banks of the euro area that they have done everything that could be reasonably expected with- in their capacity to facilitate the ad- aptation of banknote handling ma- chines and authentication devices in their countries for the new note. "To make the launch of the new €10 go as smoothly as possible, I urge all those owning banknote equipment to make sure that it can handle the new banknotes," Mersch said. The €10 banknotes of the first series will continue to be issued in order to use up stocks. They will cir- culate alongside the Europa series €10 before being phased out later on and eventually ceasing to be legal tender. This change in their status will be announced well in advance. A video entitled "Discover the new €10 banknote", available at www. new-euro-banknotes.eu in 23 Eu- ropean Union languages, provides further information on the new note and how to check it. It is one of sev- eral cash-related videos on the web- site, which also offers other ways of learning about the banknotes, such as the "Euro Cash Academy". For media queries, please call Elodie Nowodazkij on +49 69 1344 7390 or William Lelieveldt on +49 69 1344 7316. New €10 banknote in circulation An architect's impression of the redeveloped HSBC Fgura contingency site UoM Racing Formula style car being driven by Luke Cini at Victoria Gate, Valletta