The unique €260,000 early retirement package that Bank of Valletta granted Parliamentary Secretary Michael Falzon was “a hybrid solution to cater for the unique circumstances involved in the case”, the bank said.

Bank of Valletta said its main aim was to free Dr Falzon, as a member of government, from any potential conflict of interest when taking executive decisions. 

BOV has granted early retirement to 117 employees over the past five years but none of them received the special arrangement given to the parliamentary secretary, who retained the right to return to his job at the bank.  

Asked why he wasn’t given leave without pay instead of the payment of €260,000, since he has the right to return to his job, the bank said its remuneration committee had a different opinion.

“Leave with or without pay would have implied that Dr Falzon would still have been a BOV employee while serving in Cabinet. This could be construed as creating a conflict of interest whenever a BOV client or the bank itself approached his ministry for an executive decision,” the bank said. 

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