Malta Bankers’ Association thanks retiring secretary general James Bonello
The Malta Bankers’ Association recently hosted farewell drinks for its long-standing secretary general James Bonello who retired after a distinguished career in banking and 14 years of service to the MBA. The reception was held at the Caprice Gardens and Lounge at the Corinthia Palace Hotel in Attard and was attended by senior representatives of the Maltese banking community and of the supervisory authorities.
While expressing thanks and appreciation to Bonello for his years of service, MBA chairman Marcel Cassar said that “today we are also celebrating a long and distinguished career in banking and financial services that goes back over half a century”.
Cassar mentioned that James’ tenure of office coincided with the association becoming a full member of the European Banking Federation upon Malta joining the EU, marking the start of a very interesting and enriching experience for the MBA reaping the benefits of the international network, resources and overall platform that the federation provides. It also became an intensely demanding time for the association, throughout which James was running the MBA with the same vigour, sharpness and motivation as ever.
Bonello joined Barclays Bank in 1965 and his career progressed rapidly, eventually with Mid-Med Bank leading to a series of senior secondments, first in 1988 to the Malta Development Corporation and then to the newly created Malta International Business Authority (MIBA), which over time evolved into today’s MFSA, where he served as chief Executive officer.
He was called back to Mid-Med Bank in 1994 to run its newly created international banking subsidiary Mid-Med Bank Overseas. With the takeover of HSBC in 1999, James became head of Commercial Banking and in 2002 the first Maltese Executive director on the bank’s Board.
In 2004, he joined the association as secretary general where he served until May of this year, in the process also sitting on the Executive Committee of the EBF and on the boards of the Depositor Compensation Scheme, the Investor Compensation Scheme, the Forum for Financial Stability and FinanceMalta, among others.
Those present for the event included Central Bank of Malta deputy governors Alexander Demarco and Oliver Bonello, former MFSA chairman Prof. Joe V. Bannister, Depositor Compensation Scheme chairman Robert Caruana, various bank CEOs and senior executives and MBA Board members, including vice chairman Andrew C. T. Beane and former chairman Mario Mallia.