Official opening of new BOV offices at Centris Business Gateway
On Friday, 27 October, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat inaugurated the new offices of Bank of Valletta on the second and third floor of Centris Business Gateway, Triq il-Palazz lAhmar, Mriehel.
Present for the inauguration were Deo Scerri – BOV chairman, Mario Mallia – BOV chief executive officer, Silvio Schembri, parliamentary secretary for Financial Services, Digital Economy and Innovation, representatives from the bank’s Board of Directors and the bank’s Management Board.
In his brief address, Prime Minister Muscat said: “The Centre we are inaugurating today is proof of the resilience of the financial services industry in Malta and of Bank of Valletta’s strength. Though these offices will not be customer-facing, the people working here have an important role to play because they are actively involved in the regulatory environment that exerts significant pressure on this industry, and is onerous, not only in Malta, but across Europe.”
Dr Muscat expressed his confidence that Malta’s reputation in the banking sector will continue to grow from strength to strength, because this is a resilient industry and Bank of Valletta has an active role to play in the economy.”
Above all, this Centre is witness of the growing financial services industry in Malta of which BOV is leader. This function across Europe is always on the growth. Financial services in Malta are growing from strength to strength. Your first responsibility is towards shareholders and offering a strategic contribution to the economy. The financial services industry is a success story in Malta and will continue to grow because it is resilient and I am confident that the professionalism and the reputation in this industry will serve us well.
The bank’s chairman said that these offices will be housing four functions, namely the bank’s Risk Management Division, Compliance, Anti-Financial Crime and Debt Management Unit. “All of these units are of strategic importance and have evolved from peripheral units into key units within the bank’s organisation structure over the past years. Currently there are about 100 employees reporting here,” explained Scerri. “The importance of these functions grew as the bank was recognised to be of systemic importance, having a direct impact on the Maltese economy.”
The bank’s Risk Management function guides the bank’s Management Board vis-àvis its risk appetite framework, while being responsible for the on-going monitoring of the risk levels across a number of business areas with a view to retain a balance between efficient business generation and acceptable levels of risk.
The Debt Management Unit is responsible to manage those facilities that show signs of deterioration with a view to managing the bank’s non-performing loans and their speedy recovery.
In a further bid to improve its controls, 2016 saw Bank of Valletta setting up a dedicated Anti-Financial Crime Unit, separate from its Compliance function, so that both areas could develop further their knowledge base, while ensuring they are well-equipped to meet regulatory challenges.
“Today’s event shows that the bank is enhancing its efforts so that it ensures that an adequate balance is reached − the bank’s dual goal of developing the business and increasing profitability on one hand and maintaining strong capital buffers and monitoring risk on the other hand. The upcoming equity issue fits into the bank’s long-term vision towards maintaining this balance, enabling BOV Group to continue servicing the Maltese economy while protecting the Group’s longterm sustainability,” concluded Scerri.