Professional services firm KPMG in Malta has announced that four Partners and eight Directors have been appointed, with effect from 1st October 2022.

Alex Azzopardi, Giselle Borg, Curt Gauci, and Lisa Zarb Mizzi have been named Partners at the company. Additionally, Roderick Borg, Edward Curmi, Mark Dalli, Amanda Formosa, Ryan Mizzi, Marlon Sammut, Steve Stivala, and Shirley Vella have all been appointed Directors.

From left: Lisa Zarb Mizzi, Curt Gauci, Giselle Borg, Alex Azzopardi

“It is remarkable to see that more women now form part of the firm’s leadership,” KPMG Malta Country Senior Partner André Zarb said. “This is a true testimony to our equal opportunity culture including the flexible working policies we have adopted over the years, especially for our working mothers,” he continued.

KPMG says that an inclusive culture that values diversity “leads to better decision-making, drives greater creativity and innovation, better meets the needs of clients, and is more motivating for staff”.

“We strive to continue empowering women in the workplace, marketplace, and community,” Mr Zarb concluded.

Mr Azzopardi joined the firm in 2005 within its audit function, where he specialised in the external audits of financial services entities. After eight years, he moved to the advisory function, where he assisted in the setting up of the Internal Audit Services line. Today, he leads engagements mainly focused on the provision of services in enterprise risk, corporate governance, regulatory compliance – including licensing -, anti-money laundering (AML) and combating the financing of terrorism (CFT), and internal audit services across the regulated financial services sectors and other non-regulated businesses.

Ms Borg joined KPMG as an accountant in 2003 and spent the first 13 years at the company in its audit department with a focus on the insurance industry. Today, she advises firms on financial services regulation, risk and actuarial matters in corporate governance, regulatory reporting, risk management, internal audit – including AML – and actuarial services. Ms Borg also assists clients with their regulatory licence application for setting up a regulated company in Malta.

With over 25 years of experience in the tech industry, Mr Gauci works with KPMG’s digital solutions team. Throughout his career, he has been involved in a variety of projects in the private and public sectors, having assisted local and foreign organisations from different industries in gaining operational efficiencies and competitive advantages through the leveraging of tech. Recently, he has been focused on assisting organisations in their digital transformation journeys.

Ms Zarb Mizzi advises a number of multinationals and high net individuals with a presence or seeking to structure a presence in Malta, on tax matters and relating planning. Her work extends to advising corporates in the financial services industry on their operations in Malta. She is also actively involved in the automatic exchange of information service offering of the firm and also regularly delivers tax presentations and training both internally and externally.

From left: Steve Stivala, Ryan Mizzi, Roderick Borg, Marlon Sammut, Shirley Vella, Edward Curmi, Amanda Formosa, Mark Dalli

Mr Borg advises organisations and individuals on various tax matters relating to cross-border and domestic transactions, and also assists clients with the implementation of restructuring processes, as well as actively handling corporate liquidation issues.

Over the course of his career, Mr Curmi has gained deep organisational insights after working within executive roles in the industry and also as part of delivery teams within professional services firms. After six years of being involved in deal advisory mandates for KPMG, in 2019 he moved on to fully dedicate his time to drive the operational and administrative functions across advisory as its Chief Operating Officer, where he has been “instrumental in championing a number of tools, structures and process improvement initiatives for this fast-growing function”, even improving the “overall experience” of this within and clients of the advisory function.

Mr Dalli has accumulated several years of auditing experience, particularly specialising in the audits of iGaming and technology entities. He participates in the Malta Institute of Accountants (MIA) iGaming Committee, and also delivers external training through the MIA and the KPMG Learning Academy.

Initially joining the audit function in KPMG’s Malta office in 2008, Ms Formosa also worked within the same function in KPMG’s Canada and US offices, gaining experience in a number of industries, especially banking and asset management. She is currently part of the banking and asset management cluster in the audit function.

Commenting on her new role, Ms Formosa said that she is “very excited” to continue her journey at the company, before thanking her mentors and colleagues who helped her “develop over the past 14 years” and congratulating the others on their new positions.

Mr Mizzi forms part of the leadership team of KPMG’s deal advisory practices, with a focus on mergers and acquisitions including transaction services, corporate finance, and strategy projects. Over the past 11 years at the firm, he has worked across various jurisdictions within its advisory functions, with him also having a client portfolio that ranges from listed corporates and start-ups, to diversified family businesses.

Mr Sammut joined the firm’s corporate accounting services team in 2009, specialising in accounting and financial reporting, VAT compliance, and finance function transformation services to local and international clients. Today, he leads the firm’s finance function transformation service line, assisting clients in optimising their finance processes.

An economist by profession with over 15 years of experience, Mr Stivala leads the infrastructure, public policy and strategy team. He advises a number of clients in different sectors, including energy, construction, logistics, and banking. Mr Stivala is also an IFRS9 specialist involved in the creation and assessment of expected credit loss models.

Having joined KPMG in 2000, Ms Vella now leads the corporate compliance function, ensuring companies meet their compliance obligations in a timely manner. She has worked with national and multinational clients which include banks, insurance companies, finance firms, funds, and shipping companies.

KPMG in Malta is a professional services firm that forms part of the KPMG global organisation. It has operations in 145 countries and territories with close to 236,000 employees at member firms across the world.