Bank of Valletta said today that in view of the overwhelming acceptance of its offer to shareholders of the La Valette Property Fund, it has, together with Valletta Fund Management, decided  not to proceed with the intended appeals against the conclusions of the MFSA report on the Fund.

"This decision has been taken without prejudice to the views of both BOV and VFM that the MFSA conclusions were wrong and misconceived, both in fact and at law," the bank said.

"In particular, BOV and VFM do not accept that their executives carried out their
work without due diligence, professionalism and care."

The bank said it had decided not to appeal the MFSA conclusions as it saw little practical merit in an extended adversarial dispute with the MFSA given the 98% response rate to the BOV Offer, and the desire of the parties to bring closure to this matter.

"The decision not to appeal is taken without prejudice to BOV and VFM in the event that any of the investors who have not accepted the Offer (or otherwise disposed of their shares) elect to proceed to litigation."

After making its offer, Bank of Valletta acquired 97.9% of the outstanding shares in the Fund previously held by 98.0% of investors.