Malta promoted in London as centre for insurance services

An event held recently in London should serve to remind the London insurance community why Malta punches above its weight – particularly when it comes to insurance, according to the chair of the Association of Insurance Brokers Ramon Mizzi.

The well-attended event was organised by the Association in collaboration with FinanceMalta at the prestigious Lloyds’ of London, and the first speaker was his Excellency Dr. Emmanuel Mallia, the High Commissioner of Malta in the UK. The other speakers included Ray Schembri, the head of insurance and pensions at the Malta Financial Services Authority; and Marianna Papadakis, the Country Manager at Lloyd’s in Malta, Cyprus and Greece.

“The venue was also very important given Lloyds’ history, which internationally remains synonymous with insurance. “Having it at Lloyds elevated the event to a high level, especially since it was the first time for a Maltese entity to be present at this venue.”

The seminar had two main aims: to highlight the opportunities which the Maltese insurance market can offer and to promote Malta as an EU domicile of choice to participants in the London market.

The scope was to promote Malta post-grey listing, reassuring the audience about the country’s wellregulated and supervised operations. This latter point was also stressed by FinanceMalta Governor, Matthew Bianchi, who along with AIB chair, Ramon Mizzi, explained that the insurance business brought to London is of quality, and that the sector is experienced with a strong cultural cohesiveness.

The audience was made up of insurers from the London market and brokers from both countries.

“Malta hosts several insurers and brokers for a number of reasons. Not the least of these is our language: speaker Tom Malcolm of New Dawn Risk (Europe) said the level of English here is so fluent that nothing is ‘lost in translation’,” Mr Mizzi said.

“We are very grateful to FinanceMalta, whose remit is to promote Malta as a financial services sector and who do so with such great enthusiasm.”