Ready to Hear from the Most Influential Payments, Compliance & RegTech Leaders?
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NextGen Payments & RegTech Forum
19 FEBRUARY 2026
Hilton, St. Julians - Malta
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“Trust, intelligence, and speed are no longer trade-offs. They’re the new standard.”
QUBE Events
On 19 February 2026 at the Hilton Malta, senior leaders in payments, banking compliance, regulation, AI, fraud and risk will come together for a focused, high-impact fintech and payments conference.
The NextGen Payments & RegTech Forum Malta is a senior-level regulatory compliance and payments conference where banks, payment providers, fintech innovators, policy leaders and regulators align on what is next - from instant payments and account-to-account (A2A) transactions to AML, KYC, DORA / NIS2, PSD3, MiCA and AI-enabled compliance.
This high-level fintech event in Malta is built for decision-makers who are shaping the future of payments, RegTech, financial crime prevention and digital finance across the EU, UK and wider international markets.
Across keynote presentations, strategic panel discussions, real-world case studies and invite-only roundtables, delegates will gain direct insight into:
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The technologies reshaping payments and transaction flows: instant payments, cross-border payments, A2A, digital wallets, embedded finance and payment initiation
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The evolving regulatory environment: PSD3, MiCA, DORA / NIS2, AML and KYC obligations, and what supervisors now expect from banks, PSPs, fintechs and iGaming operators
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The new standard for financial crime prevention: fighting fraud, scams and mule activity while protecting user experience and conversion
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AI in production: how AI is already being deployed at scale in onboarding, transaction monitoring, fraud detection, customer protection and operational resilience - with governance, audit trails and accountability
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How Malta is positioning itself as a trusted payments, fintech and compliance hub, with credible supervision and an increasingly mature regulatory framework
Beyond on-stage content, this is also about access.
The Forum is engineered for senior dialogue, policy clarity and commercial opportunity. Delegates can connect through curated one-to-one meetings with vetted counterparts, focused working lunches and private networking sessions - designed to open relationships, shape partnerships and accelerate deals.
Join us in Malta - a growing hub for payments, fintech, compliance innovation and digital finance — for a day of intelligence, collaboration and deal-making.
Secure your place at the NextGen Payments & RegTech Forum Malta 2026 and be part of the conversation defining the future of payments, regulatory compliance, AML / KYC and financial services in Europe.
OUR SPONSORS
SUPPORTING PARTNERS
OUR SPEAKERS
OUR CONTRIBUTORS
WHAT'S COMING UP
1. Innovation in Payment Technologies
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Emerging Payment Solutions: Explore the latest advancements in payment methods, including contactless payments, digital wallets, and cryptocurrency integrations that are reshaping consumer behaviour and business models
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AI and Automation in Payment Processing: Understand how artificial intelligence and automation are being utilised to enhance efficiency, security, and customer experience in payment transactions
2. Navigating Regulatory Challenges
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Understanding Global Compliance Frameworks: Gain insights into the various regulatory environments affecting payments globally, including PSD2/3, GDPR, and AML regulations, and how businesses can adapt to comply
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Risk Management and Compliance Strategies: Discuss effective strategies for managing compliance risks and developing robust frameworks to safeguard against regulatory violations and associated penalties
3. Fraud Prevention and Security Measures
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Identifying Trends in Payment Fraud: Analyze the latest trends and tactics used by fraudsters in the payments sector and how to stay ahead of evolving threats
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Implementing Effective Security Protocols: Learn about best practices for securing payment systems, including multi-factor authentication, encryption, and continuous monitoring to protect against breaches
OUR AGENDA
19 FEBRUARY | MALTA
19 FEBRUARY 2026
08:30-09:00
REGISTRATION & WELCOME COFFEE
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Badge collection, welcome coffee, first informal introductions
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Concierged 1-to-1 meeting scheduling
Sponsored by ComplyRadar & Zampa Partners
09:00-09:05
WELCOME ADDRESS
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Opening of the Forum and how the day will run
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Why Malta matters now for payments, compliance, and growth
Lilly Pavlou, Executive Director at QUBE Events
09:05-09:10
CHAIRMEN OPENING ADDRESS
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Key themes for 2026: trust, speed, safety, and scale
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How regulation and innovation must move together (not fight each other)
Robert Courtneidge, Payment Industry Expert
Rich Wagner, CEO at Zempler Bank
09:10-09:40
PANEL DISCUSSION + Q&A
The 2026 Payments Landscape: Instant, Cross-Border & Embedded
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Real-time payments, account-to-account, and cross-border money movement: what customers now expect as “normal,” not “premium”
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How AI can spot unusual activity in milliseconds and approve good transactions faster, without adding friction
Moderator: Robert Courtneidge, Payment Industry Expert
Sean Spiteri, Head of Payments at Kwiff
Jean Noel Cutajar, Chief Legal Officer at BNF Bank p.l.c.
Matthew Farrugia, Head of Product at Lidion Bank
Stefan Pullicino, Payments Lead at Bank of Valletta plc
Jean Carl Grech, Senior Director - International Product at Global Payments
09:40-10:10
FIRESIDE CHAT + Q&A
Scaling Fintech, Strengthening Supervision:
Licensing Challenges and Supervisory Insights
Ian Coppini, Strategy, Risk & Transactions Advisory Leader at Deloitte
Camille Pepos, Head of FinTech Supervision at MFSA
10:10-10:35
KEYNOTE SESSION + Q&A
What is the State of Play of MICA?
Justine Scerri Herrera, Partner at MK Fintech Partners Ltd
10:35-11:00
KEYNOTE SESSION + Q&A
Beyond Compliance. How AI Is Reshaping Competitive Advantage
Regulation is often seen as a constraint on innovation. In reality, it is becoming one of the strongest drivers of meaningful AI adoption. The session explores how financial institutions are using AI to shift from reactive, rule based compliance toward proactive risk detection, behavioral insight, and continuous assurance. It highlights why traditional automation falls short in complex regulatory environments, and why context aware, human centred AI is now essential
Gege Gatt, CEO at EBO
11:00-11:30
NETWORKING COFFEE BREAK + ONE-TO-ONE MEETINGS
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Curated one-to-one introductions with senior buyers and partners
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Time to follow up on specific use cases and partnership needs
Sponsored by InfoCredit Group & Smart Technologies & Cybersift
11:30-12:00
PANEL DISCUSSION + Q&A
AI Safety & Governance for Financial Institutions
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How boards and regulators want AI to be managed: transparency, audit trails, model risk, accountability
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Building internal guardrails so AI helps decision-making instead of creating new compliance exposure
Moderator: Antonis Hadjicostas, Director at ENAH Services Ltd | Vice Chair at Cyprus Compliance Association
Gilbert Grech, Compliance & Risk Officer - Associate Director at Swissquote
Tim Khamzin, Founder and CEO at Vivox AI
Denia Ellul, Director at ARQ Advisory Ltd
Dhayalaruban (Ruban) Thangaraja, Director of Internal Audit at BDO Malta
Roman Zilber, Founder at Intrepid Fox
12:00-12:30
PANEL DISCUSSION + Q&A
AML/KYC 2.0: Risk-Based Compliance in High-Velocity Markets
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Smarter onboarding and continuous KYC: keeping bad actors out without making honest customers wait
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Using AI and shared data to catch suspicious behaviour early and reduce false positives across banking, fintech and iGaming
Moderator: Greg Papanastasiou, Chief Risk & Compliance Officer at Play North
Sofia Maria Cucciniello, Deputy of the Chairperson at Financial Institution Malta Association (FIMA)
Maja Andreevska – Blazhevska, Head of Financial Crime Compliance & MLRO of Finance Incorporated Limited
Charmaine Calleja, Head of Financial Crime Compliance /MLRO at Lidion Bank
Stephanie Agius Lia, Head of Compliance, AML & Risk at Paytently
Dylan Cuschieri Tonna, Senior Manager, Financial Crime Compliance at MFSA
12:30-13:00
KEYNOTE EXPERIENCE
Levels of Connection 4.0
Stephanos Papadopoulos, Founder & CEO at Spatzia.eu
13:00-14:00
NETWORKING LUNCH
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Hosted tables and working lunch conversations
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Opportunity for sponsors and buyers to sit together with purpose
Sponsored by Finance Malta & Deloitte
14:00-14:30
FIRESIDE CHAT + Q&A
DORA - What CEO’s Should Be Aware of And Preparing for in 2026
Moderator: David Nolan, CEO at Figure Markets Europe
Michael Carr, Director at Buen Crypto Consulting
14:30-14:55
KEYNOTE SESSION + Q&A
From Policy to Practice: Operationalising DORA, MiCA & NIS2
Aurimas Bakas, CEO & Co-founder at Copla
14:55-15:25
PANEL DISCUSSION + Q&A
Digital Assets in Payments:
Stablecoins, Tokenised Deposits & MiCA-Ready On/Off-Ramps
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How tokenised value moves faster and cheaper — and when that actually matters for a bank, PSP, or merchant
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Stablecoins, MiCA, CBDCs and on/off-ramp controls: making crypto-style speed work inside regulated finance
Moderator: Matteo Alessandro, Senior Legal Associate at MK Fintech Partners Ltd
Nadia Calleja, Head of Legal - Customer Operations and Payments at Betsson Group
Jürg Baltensperger, Managing Director at JayBee Ltd.
James Bennett, CEO at Stable Mint
15:25-15:55
NETWORKING COFFEE BREAK + ONE-TO-ONE MEETINGS
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Follow-up discussions on partnerships, pilots, integrations
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Media/interview windows and press moments
Sponsored by VivoxAI & Copla & COLIBRIX ONE
15:55-16:20
KEYNOTE EXPERIENCE
The Governance of Identity:
Mitigating Risk and Driving Growth through Brand
In the financial services sector, brand is often relegated to the marketing department, viewed as a collection of logos, colours, and slogans. However, in an era of rapid automation and shifting market trust, your organisation’s identity has become a core matter of boardroom governance. In this high-impact keynote, Peter-Jan Grech CEO of BRND WGN, challenges leaders to view branding as a strategic asset and a critical risk-management tool. Drawing on 25 years of experience and data-backed insights, he explores how defining common principles and fostering leader visibility can drive growth across organisations, markets and bottom line
Peter-Jan Grech, Founder and CEO at BRND WGN
16:20-16:50
PANEL DISCUSSION + Q&A
Navigating Agentic AI: Enhancing Compliance and Customer Relationships in Commerce
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Proactive Customer Engagement: AI "agents" that handle refunds, disputes, and loyalty issues before they lead to churn
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Transforming post-payment service into lasting customer relationships
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Smart Compliance Strategies: Transitioning from manual monitoring to intelligent, explainable systems that regulators can trust
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Implementing AI in compliance while maintaining necessary human oversight and control
Moderator: Julian Goffin, Co-founder and CEO at Alunafi
Corinna Scatena, Head of Legal & Governance at Getnet Europe by Santander
Erika Borg, Head of Product at Computime FinTech
Kamran Hedjri, Group CEO at PXP
James Erik Craggs, Director in Product Development & Design at Mastercard
Annalise Vassallo Seguna, Managing Legal Counsel at Malta Digital Innovation Authority (MDIA)
16:50-17:10
KEYNOTE SESSION + Q&A
The M&A Mindset: Building, Buying, Selling and Merging in a Regulated World
Jonathan Shaw, Partner at Hatten M&A Advisory
17:10-17:35
PANEL DISCUSSION + Q&A
Operational Resilience 2026: DORA / NIS2 Readiness for PSPs & Banks
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What regulators now expect on uptime, incident response, vendor risk and cyber resilience
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How AI-driven threat detection and auto-triage help teams act in minutes, not hours
Moderator: Michael Carr, Director at Buen Crypto Consulting
Robert Azzopardi, CTO at Smart Technologies
Piotr Lisak, Senior MLRO & AML Governance Officer at FDJ UNITED
Clare Pearson, Co-Founder Payments Specialist at Pearson Booth Consulting
Bernard Swierczyna, Industry Expert
17:35-17:40
CHAIRMEN CLOSING COMMENTS
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Key takeaways for payments, risk, policy and technology
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How to stay engaged after the Forum
Robert Courtneidge, Payment Industry Expert
Rich Wagner, CEO at Zempler Bank
17:40-19:00
NETWORKING DRINKS RECEPTION
Hosted drinks, informal networking, relaxed follow-up conversations
Located at Quarterdeck Bar - Hilton Hotel
Sponsored by Buen Crypto Consulting
19:30-23:30
EVENING NETWORKING PARTY
Music, canapés, and continued private discussions with peers and prospects.
Located at Hammett’s Monastik on the Sliema Seafront
Sponsored by MK Fintech & Damex
MEDIA PARTNERS
PAST EVENT VIDEO
KEY BENEFITS FOR PARTICIPATING
Interactive Hybrid Platform
Hybrid events enable you to put a virtual face to your organisation or come actually face-to-face by speaking to your viewers, attending meetings and networking
Build Thought Leadership
Showcase expertise and establish yourself as an industry thought leader
Generate Leads
It is the most cost-effective way to generate qualified leads of key B2B decision makers
Targeted Audience
Meet & engage with your target group
Global Reach
Hybrid events enable you to connect with your target audiences both locally and globally
New Prospects
Engage with new prospects and support existing relationships thus helping to drive leads into your sales funnel
BECOME A SPONSOR
Partnering with the NextGen Payments & RegTech Forum Malta 2026 places your brand directly in front of senior decision-makers.
It is a senior-level, highly curated environment built to accelerate meaningful conversations, warm introductions and commercial opportunities.
As a Sponsor, you will:
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Present your solutions to a concentrated audience of qualified senior stakeholders across payments, compliance, risk, fraud, regulation and digital finance
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Build meaningful relationships through curated one-to-one meetings with vetted prospects aligned to your growth targets
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Elevate your brand by contributing thought leadership on stage and in media, positioning your company as a strategic partner in payments, RegTech, compliance and financial crime prevention for the EU, UK and Malta markets
Our sponsorship packages are built around outcomes - visibility, credibility and deal flow - and shaped to your objectives.
Packages can include:
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A 20–30 minute keynote presentation or participation in a high-level industry panel
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Access to the Meeting Point: pre-qualified, pre-scheduled one-to-one meetings with senior buyers and partners
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A fully integrated international marketing and branding campaign
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Global social media amplification across QUBE channels and partner networks
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Branded presence in premium onsite locations (booths, demo areas, meeting lounges)
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High-profile PR and interview opportunities with international media
Establish your organisation as the trusted partner of choice.
MEANINGFUL NETWORKING
Finally we are back with in-person events! The time to connect with our colleagues and peers in the Payments and RegTech sector is here! Our aim with the NextGen Payments & RegTech Forum Malta 2026 is to facilitate key discussions and create a platform for meaningful networking. No spamming, no irrelevant conversations, just quality conversations that promote business growth.
