George Mangion has over thirty years experience in accounting, taxation, financial and consultancy services.
George is a regular contributor to local newspapers on business, i-gaming and e-Commerce.
He writes articles weekly on the Business Times, contributes to a few articles on Sunday Times, Malta Today, The Times, The Malta Economic Update & The Malta Independant. He has also lectured and delivered presentations at numerous seminars and conferences worldwide.
Published on the Malta Today, issue 25 January 2012
If you take a look at the tabloids you’ll notice no reports on turbulent financial markets… so much so that one could even go so far as to say that markets appear to be finding a belated stability. The panic that many experts feared after the downgrading of nine eurozone countries by rating agencies Standards & Poor’s has failed to materialize. It is surprising, but notwithstanding the downgrade investors keep on buying Italian, Spanish and French government bonds.
Published on the Malta Independent, issue 08 January 2012
Malta’s trade and bilateral relations with Hungary (nostalgically labelled “Goulash lovers”) were at their peak during the socialist years in the late 1970s, when a number of companies were set up – mostly in the engineering sector – with the help of Hungarian technicians. Sadly, none of these enterprises have survived, but relations were renewed when Hungary left the Soviet regime and subsequently joined the EU in 2004. From the economic perspective, one sadly recounts how the Hungarian economy and its currency, the forint (HUF), is facing turbulent times on the international markets reflecting a recession.
Published on the Malta Independent, issue 01 January 2012
While economies shrink and austerity measures are a common feature in Europe, Malta can boast of some cheer with the news that, in 2011, our GDP at constant prices rose by 2.2 per cent. This compares with a contraction of five per cent suffered by the Greek economy and an increase of only 0.5 per cent in the UK. Certainly the good news that the cost of Italy’s borrowing had fallen by half this month is a harbinger of good tidings for the euro club and improves its chances of survival.
According to the International Accounting Bulletin (IAB) World Survey of global networks and associations of accounting firms, PKF International Limited (PKFI) is now the tenth largest global accounting network out of 44 surveyed for the fiscal year 2008/2009. The fee income of PKFI member firms increased by 29% in the 2009-2010 financial year to $2.4 billion and audit growth of 23% to $1 billion following the combination of a strong performance from member firms and the acquisition of several large US firms. These results were achieved in a year in which most accounting firms reported improved results compared with the previous year, which was dismal for almost all of them.
PKF International Limited (PKFI) is now the tenth largest global accounting network according to the International Accounting Bulletin (IAB) World Survey. The fee income of PKFI member firms increased by 29% in the 2009-2010 financial year to $2.4 billion following the combination of a strong performance from member firms and the admission of large US firms.
Read more..
Published on the Malta Independent, issue 06 February 2011
It was a cold wintry day when I stepped out of Moorgate tube station in the heart of London’s financial district to attend a conference on captives.The conference was organised by Pageant Media in collaboration with a number of leading City firms that also included a sponsorship from Finance Malta. Called Captive Live UK, it was a full two-day event held in a converted brewery that hosted over 150 delegates from the various sectors of the insurance market.
Published on the Malta Independent, issue 30 January 2011
At the request of the European Commission, Malta – along with other EU member states – is in the process of preparing a 10-year national reform programme (NRP) to plan ahead with a view to improving economic conditions. Among other things, the programme is particularly intended to improve the labour market.
Published on the Malta Independent, issue 16 January 2011
Malta is regarded as one of the leading international hubs that regulate remote gaming effectively and responsibly. In fact, the island has become a benchmark of how i-Gaming should be regulated. As a reflection of its professional approach to remote gaming regulation, the country has become the jurisdiction of choice for the industry; a jurisdiction which believes that all stakeholders have a role to play, both in maintaining it as well as developing it further in the years to come.
Published on the Malta Independant, 9th January 2011
We are now in the 11th year of a young millennium and our destiny beckons. By now, we will all have forgotten our New Year’s resolutions and are resigned to the fact that we can only improve our lot and achieve our objectives by tightening our belts, and not by drawing up wish-lists.
Published on the Malta Independant, issue 2nd January 2011
Many have followed with trepidationthe latest shock waves that have battered the euro currency. There have been well wishers who wrote in favour of buttressing the single currency, while on the other hand a growing family of sceptics count the days for the death knell that will lead to its funeral.
Published on the Malta Independant, issue 19th December 2010
It is in the news again. Pensions have stolen the Christmas limelight, the social partners are up in arms and are discussing the latest recommendation for a mandatory second pillar. A study group is proposing that a second pension requirement should be introduced for those who are 45 and under.
Published on the Malta Today, issue 15th December 2010
Finally it is upon us. Nearly all the investors are smarting up for the lush parties to kill the terrible times we have faced of late. This is when all the brokers, hedge fund managers and bankers start budgeting (like our parliamentarians) on how best to spend their annual bonuses and increased honoraria.
Published on the Malta Today, issue 8th December 2010
The first signs of the economic and financial crisis appeared at the beginning of the second quarter of 2008.The recession intensified and spread across both sides of the Atlantic with a fury that was unprecedented. A midst these challenging times we meet countries who took the bull by the horn and started introducing austerity measures to prop up their finances.
Published on the Malta Independant, issue Sunday, 5th December 2010
The recent attempts to bail out Greece and Ireland is a complicated business that has left many suffering souls who had believed that the euro was invincible and the bonanza of low interest rates would prevail in their profligate economies. Now they are paying a high price and their sovereign debt is in shaky territory.
Published on the Malta Independant, issue Sunday, 28 November 2010 An extract from the latest IMF report on Malta talks of the challenges that lie ahead but also the considerable opportunities. While the closer integration of the world economy magnified the impact of the current crisis, countries that reform their structures stand a better chance of speeding the recovery, as demand from the countries that first return to growth will take exports, and thus production, from their trading partners.
Published on the Malta Independant, issue Sunday, 4th November 2010 To quote Warren Buffet: “It’s only when the tide goes out that you realise who has been swimming naked”.
To put his quote into context, one needs to recall the severe financial turmoil that gripped the Western world from 2008. Whereas before the sub-prime crisis everything seemed so rosy in the Wall Street garden, it had to be the sudden demise of Lehman Brothers (among other omens)...
Published on the Malta Today , issue 3rd November 2010
A lot has been written on how to ameliorate the double insularity of the sister island. Rivers of crocodile tears flowed and lamentations were uttered by politicians of different hues bestowing their heartfelt wishes to spur the island to a better economic future. But miracles cannot happen over night and with a restricted budget of euro 74 million not much can be done by the minister for Gozo except paying for recurrent expenditure.
Published on the Malta Independant, issue 31 October 2010
Malta’s Budget for 2011 was presented in Parliament on Monday as pouring rain pelted down with unprecedented fury. Yet we did not take to the streets protesting as they did in France and Britain, so only torrential rains wreaked havoc by flooding this small island.
Published on the Malta Today , issue 27th October 2010
Last year it was a cold shower for the boffins in Brussels faced with the sudden demise of the Greek economy. This lack of preparedness has taken the EU bureaucrats by surprise and a special task force of finance ministers was swiftly set-up to analyse what went wrong. The financial distress of one so called bad apple has impinged on the stability of the euro.
Published on the Malta Today, issue Wednesday, 20 October 2010
Wikipedia defines the Elephant in the room" as an idiom for an obvious truth that is being ignored or goes unaddressed. The idiomatic expression also applies to an obvious problem or risk no one wants to discuss. I used this title to discuss the unpalatable problem of a low index of national competitiveness.
Published on the Malta Independant, issue Wednesday, 17 October 2010
Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi has warned that, notwithstanding the good results, Malta must not be complacent about tourism. Speaking at a seminar, he pointed out that the positive achievement of a 12 per cent rise in performance, coupled with an improvement of 20 per cent in tourist expenditure, needs to be sustained in the years to come.
Published on the Malta Independant, issue 13 October 2010
Reviewing the film Wall Street –Money never sleeps is not easy. Those who saw this sequel to Wall Street filmed in 1987 must have been surprised to see Gordon Gekko (Michael Douglas) the ruthless corporate raider in 1987 is now a changed man.
Published on the Malta Independant, issue, 10 October 2010
In the last decade, public confidence in the auditing profession was dented by corporate scandals such as Enron in the US, Dutch retailer Ahold, Parmalat in Italy and Societe Generale in France (to name a few), and lately the Madoff scandal.
Published on the Malta Today, issue 6 October 2010
One wonders how the incidence of bullying takes place at so many levels of society in this tiny island of ours. To start with it is commonly associated with the trauma felt by pupils during the prep school but this is also existent in later stages of the educational ladder.
Published on the Malta Independant, issue Wednesday, 03 October 2010 Now that the pre-budget document has been published, the minister is making a clarion call for closer consultation with the constituted bodies and others. It is therefore timely to analyse where we stand in terms of economic development in comparison with the so-called Mediterranean countries.
Read Article..
Published on the Malta Today, issue 29 September 2010
It was a stunning experience last Sunday attending Sir Elton John's concert and what a cheerful crowd there was to greet him on the ‘fosos’. I paid euro 80 for a seat which was half a kilometre away from the main stage but thanks to binoculars I could follow the show (not so others next to me) .
Published on the Malta Independant, issue Wednesday, 26th September 2010
Imagine, if you can, Malta voting not to join the EU (a Switzerland in the Med) while at the same time trying to attract multi-national remote gaming companies to host their servers and offer bets to foreigners. This would have been very difficult but, since accession, our EU membership provides a bedrock protection against barriers to trade. Online gaming in Malta has blossomed and is its pride and the envy of others.
Read Article..
Published on the Malta Today , issue 22 September 2010 The writer has been invited for the third year to attend a Public Welfare Conference in China to be held in November 2010. The event is organized by the Ministry of Welfare in conjunction with Peking University and has been very well attended by a number of researchers and professors on lottery and player welfare in the Asia.
Published on the Malta Independant, issue Wednesday, 19th September 2010
Recession has not spared the local telecoms sector, which now has more than six operators all competing in a miniscule market. But not everything is doom and gloom since GO Group (formerly Maltacom plc) this quarter reported improved growth in broadband, data and TV services, which have compensated for the decline it continues to experience in traditional fixed-voice services. Read Article..
Published on the Malta Independant, issue Wednesday, 12th September 2010
Concerns over the sovereign debt crisis in countries such as Greece, Latvia, Spain and Ireland, and growing deficits in Europe, have prompted decisions to cut social spending together with measures to raise taxes and the pursuit of
significant austerity measures. Read Article..
Published on the Malta Independant, issue Wednesday, 05 September 2010
While most European jurisdictions are waking up to the reality that nothing can stop Internet gaming, it transpires that a South African judge has just outlawed the sector. As a result, it is an offence for Internet service providers (ISPs) to facilitate online gambling, and for the media to run advertisements promoting Internet gaming. Read Article..
Published on the Malta Independant, issue Wednesday, 29 August 2010
The government is planning to set up offshore wind farms in a bid to reduce Malta’s dependency on oil for electricity generation. One may lament the fact that progress in this direction has been slow, but by 2020 the government is committed to obtaining at least 10 per cent of Malta’s energy from renewable sources. Read Article..
Published on the Malta Independant, issue Wednesday, 22 August 2010
With news of the latest court action taken by a local institutional investor against Bank of Valletta (BOV) and its associated fund administrators, we see that the “silly season” is not that silly at all and the investor may face a bumpy ride during court proceedings. Read Article..
Attracting Funds…the next step forward
Published on the Business Today, issue Wednesday, 19 May 2010 Read article..
If you take a look at the tabloids you’ll notice no reports on turbulent financial markets… so much so that one could even go so far as to say that markets appear to be finding a belated stability. The panic that many experts feared after the downgrading of nine eurozone countries by rating agencies Standards & Poor’s has failed to materialize. It is surprising, but notwithstanding the downgrade investors keep on buying Italian, Spanish and French government bonds. 
According to the International Accounting Bulletin (IAB) World Survey of global networks and associations of accounting firms, PKF International Limited (PKFI) is now the tenth largest global accounting network out of 44 surveyed for the fiscal year 2008/2009. The fee income of PKFI member firms increased by 29% in the 2009-2010 financial year to $2.4 billion and audit growth of 23% to $1 billion following the combination of a strong performance from member firms and the acquisition of several large US firms. These results were achieved in a year in which most accounting firms reported improved results compared with the previous year, which was dismal for almost all of them. 
It was a cold wintry day when I stepped out of Moorgate tube station in the heart of London’s financial district to attend a conference on captives.The conference was organised by Pageant Media in collaboration with a number of leading City firms that also included a sponsorship from Finance Malta. Called Captive Live UK, it was a full two-day event held in a converted brewery that hosted over 150 delegates from the various sectors of the insurance market. 
Published on the Malta Independant, issue, 10 October 2010
Published on the Malta Independant, issue Wednesday, 19th September 2010
Published on the Malta Independant, issue Wednesday, 12th September 2010
Published on the Malta Independant, issue Wednesday, 05 September 2010 
Published on the Malta Independant, issue Wednesday, 29 August 2010 