Malta ranked among top three financial centres

A Global Financial Services Index has named Malta as one of the top three financial centres, likely to increase in importance over the next two to three years, while the World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Index ranks Malta 13th out of 133 countries for its financial sophistication.

14 September 2010, 12:00am
by Karl Stagno-Navarra

1 min read

A special report published this month by HedgeWeek reveals how the number of professional investor funds (essentially hedge funds) has grown to over 400 since 2007.

According to HSBC, the fund sector in Malta grew by 30 per cent in 2008, 22 per cent in 2009 and 26 per cent in the first quarter of 2010 alone.

The financial intermediation sector’s direct contribution to the economy rose from 4.5 per cent in 2008 to 6 per cent in 2009.

The fund management industry has been one of the pillars of the continuing growth.

Last year, 20 new investment and at the start of 2010 there were 88 investment services licence holders, 29 more than in 2006.

In addition, 105 new Collective Investment Schemes licences were issued (including sub funds) to 392.

Dermot Butler, Chairman of Custom House Global Fund Services says: “we are expanding the services we provide from Malta because of its growth potential.”

He explains that Malta is “probably the third biggest fund administration centre in the worls,” which is little recognized.