Veteran businessman Albert Mizzi will leave HSBC Bank at the end of the month after serving for 14 years as its chairman.
Mr Mizzi said it was a decision he took with regret but his immediate priority was his wife, Elda.
HSBC helped change the landscape of banking in Malta
“Now is the time to look after her and give her my support,” he said.
Mr Mizzi spoke of the privilege to have worked with the HSBC Group since its arrival in Malta.
He noted that the Malta venture was an important part of the group’s European operations.
“The arrival of HSBC in 1999 helped change the landscape of banking in Malta and to have been part of this process has been one of the highlights of my career,” he said.
Mr Mizzi, 85, set up numerous businesses ranging from hotels to luxury apartments to the importation of foodstuffs. He was the first chairman of the national carrier, Air Malta.
In a rare interview he gave The Sunday Times of Malta last year, Mr Mizzi admitted he maintained a very visible presence in the business world, despite his age, because he “lives it”.
He was chairman of at least nine entities, including the Midi group, Mizzi Associated Enterprises, HSBC Malta, Plaza Centre plc, Mellieħa Bay Hotel, Consolidated Biscuits Company Ltd and Supermarkets (1960) Ltd.
Mark Watkinson, HSBC chief executive, said the bank was grateful for Mr Mizzi’s “dedicated and loyal service”.
“I know that both myself and the previous four CEOs of the bank have relied on his wise counsel and support over the years,” Mr Watkinson said.
HSBC announced that the former chairman of the Malta Council for Economic and Social Development, Sonny Portelli, would replace Mr Mizzi as non-executive chairman.
Mr Portelli is currently non-executive director of the bank and chairman of the audit and risk committee.