The former shareholders of the National Bank of Malta have said they were prepared to continue waiting “as long as it takes for justice” shortly after the Attorney General accused them of delaying court proceedings.
“We have been waiting 49 years for justice and we will wait as long as it takes while making sure we are not again cheated of due compensation,” lawyer Max Ganado, who is representing the shareholders, said.
The National Bank of Malta saga started back in November 1973 when the then Dom Mintoff government took over the bank.
A few months later, Bank of Valletta was set up and took over the business of the National Bank of Malta. During the process, shareholders were not given any form of compensation, triggering off a long-drawn out legal battle.
In a letter published in The Sunday Times of Malta former shareholder George Sclivagnotis said Attorney General Peter Grech was deliberately delaying court proceedings.
Deliberately delaying court proceedings
He said that after litigation that lasted nearly 40 years, “due to the unnecessary delaying tactics of the past and present governments”, the bank had finally won the case and then an appeal.
All that remained now, he wrote, was for two reputable accounting firms or individual arbitrators to be appointed to determine the amount the bank was actually worth, for shareholders to get their dues.
“However, following several court sittings, the AG, quite according to form, persistently refuses to accept any of the accounting firms or individuals suggested by the judge and the bank,” he wrote.
Read: Impasse over National Bank valuation
In a reply, Dr Grech’s office said in the course of the discussion about possible court experts, the government had proposed many independent international experts.
These included former heads of the Bank of England, the Banque de France and the Banca d’Italia as well as other international experts on bank resolution to act as court experts in the National Bank case, the statement read.
These, it said, were always opposed tooth and nail by the former National Bank shareholders in the same way they vehemently opposed and attacked all Maltese banking experts suggested by the government.
Meanwhile, Dr Ganado said his team had suggested twice as many names of experts as the Attorney General.