Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/989894
COMMERCIAL 18 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 3 JUNE 2018 HSBC Malta was the first local bank to launch biometric tech- nology for customers with an iP- hone 5s or higher. As part of the celebrations linked to the intro- duction of this new feature, cus- tomers accessing either the iOS or Android HSBC mobile app were given the chance to win an iPhone X or one of two iPhone 8. The winners are Clayton Said who won a brand new iPhone X and Charmaine Farrugia and Kevin Crockford who walked away with an iPhone 8 each. The competition drew a sig- nificant number of entries fol- lowing the bank's announce- ments that all its customers in Malta can now benefit from Touch ID to gain safe and con- venient access to their accounts using the HSBC mobile app. Daniel Robinson, Head of Re- tail Banking and Wealth Man- agement at HSBC Malta, said: "The impressive number of entries in the competition rein- forced our view that customers are ready for a change in the way they use banking services. By be- ing the first major bank in Malta to introduce the Touch ID and Face ID features, HSBC has once again signalled its commitment to make modern banking in Malta as accessible as possible." The Touch ID feature relies on a recognised fingerprint in- stead of passwords and is quick and easy to set up. The service is now available for all HSBC mobile banking users of iPhone 5s or higher, as well as business customers using the HSBCnet mobile app. Customers of HS- BC mobile app and HSBCnet mobile app using an iPhone X can also use Face ID to access their accounts. Winners of HSBC Malta Touch ID launch competition announced Apex reach new business heights at 10th anniversary A packed crowd from vari- ous sectors of the Financial industry were welcomed by Paulianne Nwoko Managing Director of Apex and Omar Cascun Head of business de- velopment at Casino Maltese to mark their 10-year celebra- tions. Originally established in Ber- muda in 2003 by Chairman and Founder, Peter Hughes, Apex now has over 1,200 staff based in 24 jurisdictions globally and administers circa $350bn in as- sets. Apex provides a full suite of products surrounding its core fund accounting services, from regulatory solutions to middle office services, covering the full value chain for its clients. Amongst the guests at the company's anniversary were Joseph Cuschieri CEO MFSA , Joe Portelli , Chairperson Malta Stock Exchange and Guntar Pu- pelis, Director Europe , Exante and CIS and Exante's Commu- nication Director and Journalist Patrick J O Brien. "I founded Apex with a very clear objective to work locally alongside clients to provide a fast, effective and locally tai- lored service. Strong client rela- tionships have been, and always will be, at the heart of the Apex philosophy" stated Apex found- er Peter Hughes. "The commitment to staying true to this goal has played a huge part in our ability to ex- pand Apex's services across the world. Our global network of offices are focused on deliver- ing services locally, with good ethics, to both our clients and staff. RCI Insurance Ltd opens new offices in St Julian's IN order to support the de- velopments and the growth of their core activities, RCI In- surance Ltd and RCI Life Ltd decided to move into new of- fices. This move helps meet the Companies growth and trans- formation needs. The new offices will offer a modern, more collaborative workspace. RCI Insurance and RCI Life together has become the second ranked insurance companies in Malta in terms of premiums. RCI Insurance Ltd, and RCI Life Ltd, belong to RCI Banque S.A., trading as RCI Bank and Services, a French bank special- izing in automotive financings and services for the customers and dealership networks of Re- nault-Nissan-Mitsubishi. RCI Insurance Ltd and RCI Life Ltd, established themselves in Malta in December 2008 to provide a portfolio of Payment Protection Insurances mainly and Guaranteed Auto Protec- tion Insurances to customers of the Alliance. Originally the Companies launched their in- surance products in 2009 in Germany, followed by France, Italy and finally Spain. Last year they sold more than 560,000 New Payment Protec- tion Insurances Policies and around 220,000 Guaranteed Auto Protection Insurances. The Companies manage a portfolio of 1 750 000 Policies today. In 2018, RCI Insurance Ltd started the extension of its products range. After Payment Protection and Guaranteed Auto Protec- tion Insurances, the two main products currently offered, RCI Insurance launched a new product called Secure Activ- ity in January 2018, geared to- wards corporate customers and covering their possible finan- cial losses. This newly launched product provides daily allow- ance to corporate customer in case of reduction of profession- al activity due to unforeseeable immobilization of the car. RCI Insurance Ltd will also extend its activities in Austria in 2018. The decision to move into new offices was taken to support this growth and was designed to provide the companies' di- verse workforce with a modern and stimulating working envi- ronment while offering flexibil- ity to increase the workforce to cater for further growth. "Cou- pled with the digitalisation of our business and our processes, we believe these New Offices provide us with the platform to increase our efficiency and enhance our growth, thus lead- ing our Companies to the next level of development which we are aiming to." said Thierry He- bert, Managing Director of RCI Insurance and RCI Life Ltd. The HSBC Touch ID winners with HSBC officials GRANT Thornton's partner responsible for tax and regu- latory services, Wayne Pisani, has recently been appointed as President of Malta's Institute of Financial Services Practition- ers, taking over the role from Juanita Bencini. Wayne Pisani leads Grant Thornton's financial services team, conducting an active consulting practice on the le- gal and tax implications in- volved in the structuring of both local and international fi- nancial institutions, M&A and project finance transactions. He is a member of the board of governors of FinanceMalta, a council member of the Malta Institute of Management and a member of the International Fiscal Association, the Inter- national Bar Association and the Maltese Chamber of Ad- vocates. Wayne is an active thought leader in the financial tech- nology space, making regular contributions at fintech con- ferences, and has a passion for the security and technological aspects of distributed ledger technology. He is also a joint contributing author to "Eu- ropean Competition Laws: A Guide to the EC and its Mem- ber States, the leading legal compendium with respect to Competition law in Europe", published by Lexis Nexis and revised annually. In his role as President of the IFSP, together with the coun- cil members, he will continue to pursue through represen- tations to the authorities on a variety of issues which have an impact on the financial sector as well as on the broader econ- omy and reputation of Malta. Wayne Pisani appointed President of the Institute of Financial Services Practitioners