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MT 22 January 2017

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42 Events maltatoday, SUNDAY, 22 JANUARY 2017 @ maltatoday We are on Instagram Malta can lead in digital identity management Speaking at the Xara Lodge to a leading group of business people in Malta, Julie Meyer, the CEO of Ariadne Capital, which recently acquired Portcullis Asset Man- agement in Malta, spoke on Why Malta? An Outsider – Insider"s View of Building an Investment Firm in Malta. As one of the World Econom- ic Forum's Global Leaders for Tomorrow, a former INSEAD Board Director and MBA '97D as well as a recipient of the MBE in the United Kingdom for her services to entrepreneurship, Ms. Meyer remarked on the im- portance of embracing potential entrepreneurs as the courageous problem-solvers of society. As the founder of Ariadne Capital sixteen years ago, she discussed Malta's adaptability and its 'fitness gene' resulting from a combination of thou- sands of years of thriving despite different regimes and conquests, a strong ability to organise itself against incoming as well as on- coming threats and the ability to integrate different models, peo- ple and frameworks. Ms. Meyer identified a chal- lenge that she believes the EU is facing today which entrepre- neurs can solve - that of Digital Identity Management. "Malta can lead in Digital Identity Management. The indi- vidual's digital profile or actual footprint has not kept pace with the free flow of people across the EU due to the Schengen accord and zone. "As a result, bad actors like the one that I mentioned in my presentation who appear to have dodged authorities in three ju- risdictions, committed plain fraud in various sectors, leaving a trail of debts, and who have been put in charge of an infant despite documented mental ill- ness, domestic violence, child abuse and a Family Court report arise. "This doesn't need to be the case when entrepreneurs and concerned citizens put their heads together, and leverage technology, API's, networks. Malta's understanding of regis- tries, and the courage and lead- ership of its people to tackle real problems in this jurisdiction, and then roll-out the solution across the EU is limitless. It will tackle the tough issues and cre- ate models for the EU. Malta can and will lead in Digital Identity Management," Meyer said. Ms. Meyer went on to discuss how Malta has been on the verge of 'Great' for twenty years. She believes that as a country, Malta sets goals and achieves them, at- tracting major entrepreneurs for more than for just tax reasons. ECB interest rate unchanged HSBC Malta Quiz Night HSBC Bank Malta recently held its annual Colleagues' Quiz Night where five top teams took home a series of prizes. A total of 34 teams and around 400 colleagues took part in the Quiz Night, which is one of the bank's longest-standing internal events. This year marked its 20th edition and participants made use of tablets to input their answers. HSBC Malta CEO Andrew Beane and other senior officials awarded the prizes to the top teams Vodafone Malta supports smartphone literacy classes Vodafone Malta is proud to sup- port a new initiative launched by the Malta Communications Authority aimed at helping peo- ple make the most out of their smartphones. The initiative, termed 'Get Smarter', mainly targets people aged 55 and over who would like to learn how to properly navi- gate a smartphone. According to recent Eurostat figures, 22 per cent of the Maltese population did not make use of the internet during the past year. In compar- ison, the EU average currently stands at 16 per cent. The training, also open to in- dividuals who do not yet own a smartphone, will help users identif y different ways of con- necting with people, as well as guide them on how to browse the internet over their smart- phone and obtain an overview of other interesting features avail- able on their mobile phones. These introductory sessions are being offered free of charge with the collaboration and sup- port of Vodafone Malta, togeth- er with GO and Melita. For further information, con- tact the MCA on the project's hotline 2125 5495 or visit w w w. mca.org.mt/getsmarter. Appli- cations will be received until March 1. AT today's meeting the Govern- ing Council of the ECB decided that the interest rate on the main refinancing operations and the interest rates on the marginal lending facility and the deposit facility will remain unchanged at 0.00%, 0.25% and -0.40% respectively. The Gov- erning Council continues to ex- pect the key ECB interest rates to remain at present or lower levels for an extended period of time, and well past the horizon of the net asset purchases. Regarding non-standard mon- etary policy measures, the Gov- erning Council confirms that it will continue to make purchases under the asset purchase pro- gramme (APP) at the current monthly pace of €80 billion until the end of March 2017 and that, from April 2017, the net asset purchases are intended to con- tinue at a monthly pace of €60 billion until the end of Decem- ber 2017, or beyond, if necessary, and in any case until the Govern- ing Council sees a sustained ad- justment in the path of inf lation consistent with its inf lation aim. The net purchases will be made alongside reinvestments of the principal payments from matur- ing securities purchased under the APP. If the outlook becomes less favourable, or if financial conditions become inconsistent with further progress towards a sustained adjustment in the path of inf lation, the Governing Council stands ready to increase the programme in terms of size and/or duration. Julie Meyer

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