June 2026
This June, ARQ Group hosted Integra International’s EMEIA Regional Chapter Conference at the Corinthia Palace, Malta, welcoming over 40 delegates from member firms across Europe, the Middle East, India and Africa, as well as guests from the US and Asia. Held under the theme ‘The Power of Small’, the conference made the case that scale is not the only measure of strength, and that agility, focus and depth of expertise are often what allow smaller jurisdictions and firms to turn today’s complexity into opportunity.
The conference opened with welcome remarks from Olivier Lefebvre, Global Chair of Integra International, and David Borg, EMEIA Chapter President and Partner at ARQ Group. “Integra is all about the power of partnership between member firms, not only in sharing clients but also knowledge and expertise,” said Lefebvre. Borg added: “By being agile and resilient, we can take advantage of shifting patterns around us and create opportunities, while larger economies are slow to react.”
Regulatory Reform Takes Centre Stage
On the regulatory front, Dr Manfred Galdes, Managing Partner at ARQ Group, unpacked Europe’s new Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing (AML/CFT) package, the most significant reform to the region’s financial crime framework in decades. Built on a unified rulebook, centralised supervision and stronger FIU coordination, the reform introduces the EU’s new AMLA authority and raises the bar for customer due diligence across the board.
Panels That Shaped the Conversation
Four panel discussions rounded out the programme, each exploring a different angle of the region’s evolving landscape, from Malta’s strategy for attracting high-value investment, to turning regulatory complexity into competitive advantage, to the geopolitical forces reshaping global business, and how ESG is shifting from a compliance obligation to a genuine driver of long-term value. ARQ Group’s own Dr Manfred Galdes, Martina Mifsud, Dr Christian Farrugia, Martina Cutajar and Dr Vanessa Borg featured among the moderators and panellists, alongside industry leaders from FinanceMalta, the FIAU, Cité Gestion and FFF Legal.
Planning for the Next Generation of Partners
Dr Vanessa Borg, Chief Operating Officer at ARQ Group and Chief Communications Officer at Integra International, closed the conference’s technical programme with a session on partner succession planning within independent professional services firms, highlighting how robust succession pathways protect client relationships and preserve the value firms have built over decades. The key takeaway: success over the next decade will not necessarily belong to the largest firms, but to those with the strongest succession plans in place.
A Social Calendar Rooted in History
Beyond the technical programme, delegates experienced Malta’s history and character through a series of social events, including a guided tour of St John’s Co-Cathedral in Valletta and a traditional dgħajsa boat tour of the Grand Harbour, as well as networking dinners that gave visiting firms a flavour of Maltese hospitality. As Lefebvre put it, choosing Malta to host this year’s conference proved the point at the heart of its theme: “steady, resilient growth, while larger economies absorb one geopolitical shock after another… in an uncertain world, scale is not strength. Agility is.”
Hosting the Integra EMEIA Conference 2026 at the Corinthia Palace was a proud moment for ARQ Group. Together, the sessions and the surrounding programme reinforced this year’s central message: that in an uncertain world, agility and depth of expertise count for more than scale.
