One of the foremost challenges facing Malta’s growing financial services industry is ensuring there is adequate depth in the local talent pool to service each of the flourishing sectors.

Henley Business School, which has offered its MBA programme in Malta for 20 years through local associates, last week widened its offering to professionals by launching the programmes of its ICMA Centre. It is the latest addition to a growing range of options available in Malta for senior professionals.

Described as the product of the first active collaboration between the securities industry and a university finance department – Henley Business School is part of the University of Reading – the ICMA Centre offers undergraduate, postgraduate and executive education, besides professional and policy development research and consultancy. Disciplines range from capital markets, regulation and compliance to investment banking and Islamic finance.

Henley Business School’s dean, Prof. John Board, who was in Malta last week to introduce the ICMA Centre’s portfolio, told The Sunday Times the development was a natural progression for the school. Henley was keen to make its various components accessible to Maltese professionals and the ICMA Centre was just the first. Established in 1946, triple-accredited Henley Business School has traditionally targeted senior managers.

Prof. Board, who was previously head of the ICMA Centre, said Malta’s financial system was becoming increasingly sophisticated and the risks and processes pertinent to other financial centres were relevant to the island. Henley had other plans for Malta in the medium-term, including establishing a presence of some of its other activities, and, as North Africa stabilises, using the island as a base for exploring other possibilities in the region.

Read the Full Article at The Times of Malta