Prof. Simon Grima
My current research and outreach activities focus on enterprise risk management, insurance, financial regulation, corporate governance, organisational resilience, sustainability, fintech and financial innovation. My recent work examines areas such as crypto-assets and perpetual derivatives, board governance and corporate resilience, and the relationship between sustainability practices and financial performance. I pursue this research through international collaboration with academics and practitioners across Europe and beyond, as well as through scholarly publications, edited book series, conferences, professional training and industry engagement. My outreach also includes contributing to and Chairing the European certification of professional Risk Managers (RIMAP) and other executive-education initiatives, collaborating with professional and regulatory bodies, and translating academic research into practical guidance on risk appetite, stress testing, business continuity, financial controls and strategic decision-making.
Mr Philip Beattie
I am currently concentrating on research relating to two areas that impact risk and how it should be conceptualised, namely:
a. the notion of frenetic intemperance, defined as a restless, explosive and relentless drive that manifests itself within the financial economy by seeking to throw off legitimate constraints and gratifying disordered passions (Horvat, 2013)
b. the notion of financialisation, which, albeit subject to various definitions, refers to the increasing role of financial motives, financial markets, financial actors and financial institutions in the operation of the domestic and international economies. (Epstein, 2004).
I will attempt to determine whether or not the Austrian School of Economics and Risk provides, or allows for, a coherent explanation of these terms. In simpler terms, the objective is to determine whether or not these two notions are compatible with an Austrian School understanding of financial and risk economics.
Dr Christian Bonnici West
My research interests centre on information security governance and technology risk management, with a particular focus on privacy, consent and surveillance. He is interested in the organisational, ethical and societal implications of emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things, distributed ledger technologies and quantum computing. His interests also encompass governance, risk and compliance, risk culture, and the opportunities and challenges arising from digital innovation in financial services, particularly fintech and InsurTech.
Dr Andre Farrugia
I am currently researching how insurance practice, particularly underwriting and claims handling, must adapt to the convergence of smart contracts, artificial intelligence and evolving governance, risk and compliance expectations. Drawing on case study experience and analysis of parametric products, algorithmic underwriting and the Solvency II regime, I am developing a reform model and index that identify where human judgement, accountability and regulatory oversight now sit within increasingly automated insurance processes. I am examining the displacement of traditional problems, namely the oracle problem, immutability versus the law's need to correct, proxy discrimination, model opacity, data protection friction and moral hazard. The study considers when jurisdictions such as Malta are ready to reform insurance practices, and offers insights for legislators, regulators and stakeholders on adapting to changing consumer behaviour, information technology and the deepening role of insurance within corporate governance and compliance frameworks.
Prof Pierpaolo Marano
My current research investigates how European Union law is reshaping insurance and financial regulation in response to technological, institutional and societal change. At the centre of this research agenda is a broader question: how are regulatory authority, responsibility and accountability being redistributed within increasingly complex systems of EU governance?
My work examines the interaction between horizontal EU regulation and sector-specific regimes, particularly in relation to artificial intelligence, systemic risk, resilience and sustainability. I am especially interested in the institutional interfaces that arise when different regulatory frameworks, supervisory authorities, and levels of governance operate simultaneously.
A second strand of my research explores the changing boundaries between private law and regulation in insurance, including the emergence of customer value, prevention and product governance as regulatory categories and the evolving role of insurance distribution.
More broadly, my research seeks to understand forms of regulatory governance in which legally significant norms are increasingly produced beyond traditional legislation, and the consequences of this transformation for institutional accountability, judicial review and the protection of policyholders.
Ms Sharon Seychell
My research sits at the intersection of the sociology of risk and decision-making under uncertainty, examining how risk-taking is socially constructed and unevenly distributed rather than purely a matter of individual calculation. This orientation grew out of my Master's dissertation, which used a Durkheimian and Mertonian lens on anomie to examine the mishandling of financial derivatives, showing how normlessness in deregulated financial environments can structurally incentivise excessive risk-taking. Building on this, my current work extends into three connected strands. First, drawing on thinkers such as Beck, Douglas, and Giddens, I situate risk as a social and moral category shaped by institutions and culture rather than rational choice alone. Second, I investigate sex differences in risk-taking behaviour, critically examining how much of this variation stems from socialisation, gendered expectations, and differential exposure to risk rather than fixed biological traits. Third, I am interested in how the social environment, including peer groups, organisational culture, and institutional norms, shapes individual risk decisions, extending the anomic framework from finance into other institutional settings. Together, these interests point toward a research agenda treating risk-taking as fundamentally social.
Dr Jonathan Spiteri
My current research interests include sustainability and ESG risks, macroeconomic policy, innovation, behavioural economics, health and finance. Over the years my research has been published in several leading international journals and books, and I’ve also contributed to several high-profile research projects, notably the FP7-funded NUDGE-IT project, related to behavioural economics and health, and the Horizon 2020-funded R2Pi project, which delved into circular economy business models.