Med bank network approves wide-ranging proposals

The Mediterranean Bank Network (www.medbanknet.com) held its annual general meeting on March 17 in Verona. The meeting was held at the head office of the presidency bank, Banco Popolare di Verona e Novara.

The AGM approved the annual report and financial statements (2005) and a wide-ranging and comprehensive list of proposals. They include a new mission statement for the MBN, a new statute which introduced the function of a management board whose members will be the chairman of the board and the managing director to handle the day-to-day running of the organisation on behalf of the executive board, a new class of 'Associate' membership which will be made available to selected and internationally reputable multinational companies, and a three-year business plan (2006-2009) which approved a new strategy of operation and income generation activities and which will further enhance the MBN 'brand' and 'trade name'.

Other proposals included the further development of MBN conferencing related to financial services, an MBN Master Risk Participation Agreement and Cash Pooling Agreement, a modest increase in the number of banking (functional) committees in such areas as consumer affairs, money laundering, economic monetary affairs, EU legislation and policies' etc., and recruiting new banks from Greece, Lebanon, Morocco and France.

The MBN is a regional banking association with headquarters in Malta. Its executive members are the Banco Popolare di Verona e Novara (Italy), Banco Sabadell (Spain), Bank of Jordan, Bank of Valletta, Banque Internationale Arabe de Tunisie, Commercial International Bank (Egypt), Hellenic Bank (Cyprus), Israel Discount Bank, Nova Ljubjanska Banka (Slovenia), Turkiye Garanti Bankasi, and Zagrebacka Banca (Croatia).