George Portanier was yesterday confirmed as board director although he had been declared “unfit” for re-election in an internal exercise by Bank of Valletta.
Alicia Agius Gatt, who served on the board for the past year and who was also declared “unfit for re-election”, withdrew her candidacy at the eleventh hour. This meant there was no need for an election to be held at yesterday’s annual general meeting.
Dr Agius Gatt, the daughter of Parliamentary Secretary Chris Agius, told the Times of Malta she decided to pull out because she wanted to dedicate more time to her work.
Chairman John Cassar White told shareholders the directors had now to be cleared by the joint supervisory team, composed of officials from the European Central Bank and the Malta Financial Services Authority. Asked by shareholders what would happen if the supervisors did not give their blessing to all directors, Mr Cassar White said the bank would continue to function until the way forward was decided.
“Although we have passed on the results of the self-assessment of candidates months ago, neither the MFSA nor the JST have yet come back with their decision”,,Mr Cassar White informed the AGM.
“So far, the only approved director is Gabriele Simonetti, who represents Italian bank UniCredit, which has a stake in BOV. All the other directors, including myself, still need JST clearance,” he said.
The bank will continue to function until the way forward is decided
According to new ECB rules, directors of main banking institutions have to undergo a suitability test every year. Since there was no time for the new rules to be implemented before this year’s AGM, Mr Cassar White asked the directors to do a self-assessment. This led to two members being declared “unfit” but the process was frozen by the court following an application from Mr Portanier.
The court deemed the internal exercise “an antithesis of banking regulation”.
Mr Cassar White told shareholders that, despite the court’s comments, the exercise was done in full respect of the new rules and the methodology was endorsed by the JST.
Shareholders yesterday approved a dividend of 8.5 cents per share. BOV last year posted pre-tax profits of almost €118 million, up 13 per cent over the previous year.