Still a bank with good growth potential

Except for his concluding statement, I totally sympathise with Dennis Vella (August 6).

Throughout the entire Property Fund saga I have consistently been critical of the way Bank of Valletta treated the fund’s investors, culminating in bullying them to accept almost 30 per cent loss on their initial investment. BoV invested in dubious worthless funds not indicated in its prospectus; it failed to monitor its investment consultants Insight; it was chiefly interested in earning commissions by selling to all and sundry; “privileged” shareholders were able to dispose of their holdings at a premium just before the collapse; it has been fined by the Malta Financial Services Authority; and, finally, had it not been for the tough involvement of a single stockbroker, it would not even have offered to buy shares at 75 per cent of their face value.

All this, however, in no way does it render BoV “a second-rate financial institution”. There is much more in banking than success in “investments” of people’s money: certainly BoV cannot boast much success even with its other funds without the “faults” of the Property Fund.

BoV’s fundamentals are strong. Except for the unfortunate Property Fund mishap, which really should have disclosed offers of resignation at some level, it should be allowed to continue growing. Without its “investments” business, naturally.