Bank of Valletta’s Internal Audit Department has been instructed to conduct an internal investigation over comments made in Parliament on lending malpractices at the bank.

Nationalist MP Kirsty Debono said yesterday that certain people within ‘the circles of power’ regularly approached BOV personnel dealing with credit facilities to expedite credit requests.

She also claimed that these people also approached bank staff to approve credit facilities even when such approval was not indicated.

This, Ms Debono said, was a very worrying situation and the bank could not allow a return to the time when the approval of credit facilities depended on acquaintances rather than merit.

The bank said in a statement this morning that there were serious allegations and the internal audit department was instructed to investigate as a matter of urgency to determine whether they were founded.

“The bank will also cooperate fully, as it always does, with the banking supervisors should they decide to carry out their own investigations on these allegations,” it said.