Banif Bank started operations in Malta in 2008. Photo: Darrin Zammit Lupi

The Malta Union of Bank Employees has been pushing to get the collective agreement for Banif signed – before the bank’s acquisition goes through.

Sources said that the negotiations were concluded some time ago and that all that was pending was the management’s signature.

The Portuguese bank has been up for sale for over a year, as its parent company was forced to sell its overseas assets as part of the country’s bail-out. However, its workforce of 160 has so far held out and very few staff have left, the sources said.

It was announced a few weeks ago that Banco Internacional do Funchal reached an agreement to sell its 78.6 per cent shareholding for €18.4 million but no information has been given about the acquirer.

Nothing has been said by any of the other Maltese shareholders about what they intend to do with their shares, split equally between Mizzi Capital Projects, PG Holdings, SAK Ltd and Virtu Investments, but other sources said there were no indications that they intended to sell.

The identity of the purchaser is important as it would give a clue as to their intentions.

“Do they want to increase Banif’s share of the market? Do they want more staff? Do they want to pursue the retail branch strategy? All that has yet to be revealed,” the sources said.

Irrespective of that, the MUBE clearly wants to ensure that the workforce is protected by the collective agreement it has negotiated with the present management, rather than having it subjected to pressure from new owners once they take over.

“The agreement would ensure that, if there is a transfer of business, it would have to be lock, stock and barrel.

“Having said that, the new owners must be aware of the collective agreement as it would have formed part of the due diligence carried out prior to the acquisition. And they must be aware of where the union stands on it,” the sources said.

“If the acquirers are genuine in their approach, they would want to buy a going concern and, if they are happy with the performance of the bank, then I don’t think they would change things just like that.”

Banif Bank started operations in Malta in 2008. It has established a retail network of 12 branches in addition to developing three corporate and business banking centres.

In 2014, the bank registered a profit before tax of €1.4 million (2013: €0.3 million), with assets of €619 million.