Another 32 investors in the La Valette Multi Manager Property Fund filed a judicial protest today against La Valette Funds Sicav, Valletta Fund Management and Bank of Valletta claiming that they had suffered significant damages as a result of a breach of the investment restrictions in the supplementary prospectus issued by the fund.

Similar protests were filed on August 4 and October 6 by Finco Treasury Management on behalf of 72 beneficial owners of shares in the fund. Other protests were filed on August 17 and September 16 by a total of 155 investors.

The investors who signed the judicial letter today reiterated the claims made in the previous actions. They, however, also quoted what the Malta Financial Services Authority said in its Consumer Complaints Unit Annual Report for 2009 relating to property funds being for experienced investors.

They pointed out that one of the claimants is a 95-year old investor who was made to sign that he was an experienced investor in spite of him being hard of hearing and without good eyesight. This man could not even distinguish between a bond and a share and this fund was intended only for experienced investors and thus not suitable for a large majority of the claimants.

The investors also referred to and disputed comments by the chairman of Bank of Valletta at a press conference on October 29 regarding the level of redemptions in the La Valette Property Fund not being abnormal. A comparison of the redemptions with the HSBC Property Fund was made.