The changing role of the Maltese CFO

Abstract

The recent past has been characterised by advances in technology, continuous changes in the environment and also added regulatory requirements, mostly as a consequence of both corporate governance scandals and a challenging recession. This has induced changes in the role of most business professionals, among whom the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of Maltese Listed companies. The objective of this article, which builds on a recent MBA dissertation by Ms Buttigieg, is to analyse such changes in the role of these CFO’s since 2003 and their implications. For this purpose, a review of international literature is made, complemented by empirical data collected by means of semi-structured interviews held with ten CFOs of such listed companies. The rest of the paper consists of five sections. The next section will review the literature, followed by an exposition of the methodology used, the findings, the discussion thereon, and conclusion, including the limitations of the study.