Throughout almost 30 years spent in Financial Services and working for Malta’s biggest bank, Cliff Pace is currently the Head of Marketing and Corporate Communications at the Malta Stock Exchange.
After holding executive positions in diverse areas such as Branch Management, Public Relations, Marketing and Banking Operations, Cliff carries an enormous experience in an exciting area of the Financial Industry – Marketing.
One of the vital aspects of his daily job is increasing the visibility and maintaining the stellar reputation of the Exchange. This also includes being proactive to the most recent trends that can affect the Exchange and anticipate their potential impact.
With Malta being on its way to becoming the Blockchain Island of the world, it was fascinating to sit down with a person responsible for shaping the future, and public perception, of the Malta Stock Exchange in regards to the Distributed Ledger Technology.
Blockchain Seems Like a Natural Step
One of the unique changes that Cliff witnessed over the years was the historical change from paper-based banks to the digital revolution that came with the rise of the Internet.
For someone who had to go through the transition himself, Cliff acknowledged that the change was needed not only to improve the business but most importantly to enhance customer experience. Although cautiously at the beginning, the Financial Industry was eventually able to acknowledge the new technology and incorporate it into its services.
A similar pattern can be seen nowadays with the growth of blockchain and other DLTs – the technology is still in its infancy. Hence Financial Services are incredibly cautious before tailoring their services toward the invention:
“The Financial Industry is forward-looking, and is very conscious of its environment, and how it is changing. One of the issues that are relevant is the level of security and the level of regulatory structures and comfort to start using these platforms.”
While most criticise the Financial Industry for being reluctant to acknowledge the change, many forget that virtual currencies are not the only aspect of the developing technology. The likelihood of seeing either one of them being implemented before the regulations are in place is low. But, this doesn’t mean the Malta Stock Exchange, and perhaps, many others are not preparing for the future:
“With DLT and blockchain, we as an industry [financial sector], will have to wait for these structures to become better regulated, much more secure and will have the level of confidence to use these structures.”
Let’s not forget that Financial Services is built on the trust and confidence from the public as well as from the authorities. The risks must be calculated before making ad hoc decisions.
Fortunately, Malta Stock Exchange has an advantage over the rest of the world with the Government working on the regulatory framework for blockchain-based platforms, cryptocurrencies and ICOs.
And who knows, maybe the Maltese Exchange will be the first one worldwide to overhaul the traditional system and replace it with a blockchain-based peer-to-peer network?
More about Malta Stock Exchange
In the last 20 years, the Malta Stock Exchange has facilitated the trading of financial instruments on the secondary market, as well as admitted over €13 billion worth of new instruments to listing through the primary market. The Exchange also offers Depository services and enjoys international connectivity through its Clearstream link and the Xetra trading platform.
Discover more at www.borzamalta.com.mt.
