Meet the Council

Dr. Simon Grima

MACO President

Ph.D (Melit.), MSc (Lond), MSc (BCU), B.Com (Hons) (Melit.), FFA, FAIA (Acad), is the Head of the Insurance dept, in charge of the Bachelor of Commerce in Insurance, the Bachelor of Commerce (Honours) and Master’s degree in Insurance and Risk Management and a Senior lecturer at the University of Malta. He served as the President of the Malta Association of Risk Management (MARM) between 2013 and 2015, and is the Current President of the Malta Association of Compliance Officers (MACO) since 2016. Moreover, he is among the first Certified Risk Management Professional (FERMA), is the chairman of the Scientific Education Committee of PRIMO and a member of the curriculum development team of PRIMIA in 2014. His research focus and consultancy is on Governance, Regulations and Internal Controls (i.e. Risk Management, Internal Audit and Compliance) and has over 30 years of experience varied between Financial Services and with public entities in academia, Internal Controls, Investments and IT. He acts as an Independent Director for Financial Services Firms, sits on Risk, Compliance, Procurement, Investment and Audit Committees and carries out duties as a Compliance Officer, Internal Auditor and Risk Manager.

Simon has acted as co-chair and is a member of the scientific program committee on some international conferences and is a chief editor, editor and review editor of some Journals and Book Series. He has been awarded outstanding reviewer for Journal of Financial Regulation and Compliance in the 2017 Emerald Literati Awards.

Dr. Stefan-John Berry

MACO Secretary

Stefan is a lawyer with postgraduate specialisations in International Maritime Law and EU Commercial Law. He commenced his professional career at PricewaterhouseCoopers, then served in a number of roles at Lombard Bank Malta plc, (Mapfre) Middlesea Insurance plc and other FinServ licenced institutions. Stefan is involved in the convergence between Internal Controls, FinServ and FinTech.

Dean Bucknell

MACO Treasurer

Dean has over 20 years of experience in the investment management industry. He manages the compliance, fund accounting and finance activities of Oceanwood Capital Management Ltd and its client Funds. With over $2bn in assets under management, Oceanwood is a large AIFM in the European event-driven space. Prior to joining Oceanwood, Dean established and was CEO of Blue Planet Investment Management in Malta, where he moved in 2008. He previously was Operations Director at Blue Planet Investment Advisors Ltd., a UK-based boutique investment trust fund management and administration company. Dean has a strong background in multi-jurisdictional compliance, investment administration, management company accounting, accounting systems and multi-jurisdiction fund & management company taxation. He started his career in Edinburgh with the Scottish Midland Co-operative Society as a retail management accountant. Dean is a graduate of Edinburgh University and has a BEng (Hons) in Civil Engineering.
 

Dr. Stefan Patrick Gauci

MACO Council Member

Stefan is a Director of Affinity Management Services (Malta) Limited. A lawyer by profession, Stefan has 15 years’ experience in the corporate and trusteeship sectors having spent time at two family-owned companies before joining an international group, all of which are focused on corporate, fiduciary and other ancillary services. Stefan has been an approved person by the Malta Financial Services Authority since 2005, in view of his past positions as a director, company secretary, money laundering reporting officer and compliance officer of trust companies and other investment services regulated entities he has been involved in. Stefan has been a regular contributor in legal publications both locally and overseas and since 2014 has held the position of Assistant Visiting Lecturer at the University of Malta, lecturing in fiscal legislation.

Dr. Jason Vella Tabone

MACO Council Member

Jason studied law at the University of Malta, receiving a Bachelor of Laws (LL.B) degree in 2008, a Diploma of Notary Public (Dip. Not. Pub.) the following year and the Doctor of Laws (LL.D) in 2010. In 2008, Dr. Vella Tabone was among a small group of law students selected to work for the Institute of Legal Studies in Valletta, Malta, after which he worked as a legal trainee at one of Malta’s largest commercial law firms. Dr. Jason Vella Tabone then went on to become an associate at the Maltese branch of a Geneva-based Swiss law firm, specializing in corporate finance and banking regulation. Dr. Vella Tabone is currently occupying the post of director of a number or regulated entities including Asset Management Companies, Collective Investment Schemes, Investment advisors and Custodians.

Vanessa Vella

MACO Council Member

Vanessa joined Apex in December 2016 as Head of Compliance and Corporate Services. Her role entails the compliance and regulatory monitoring of the operations of the company as well as the implementation of the necessary risk management processes, whilst ensuring that the company has the necessary procedures and controls in place in relation to anti-money laundering and counter terrorism requirements, amongst others. She is also responsible for the Corporate Services Team within Apex. She has over 15 fifteen years of experience in the financial services industry, mainly in the fund administration business, specialising in compliance. Ms. Vella holds a Masters of Arts in Financial Services and is a Council Member of the Malta Association of Compliance Officers.
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