Bank employees unite against OTP Bank’s takeover of HSBC Malta

The Malta Union of Bank Employees has issued a press release stating it has serious reservations over OTP Bank buying HSBC Malta. The press statement referred to the Finance Minister’s comments to uphold Malta’s reputation and also said that called upon the State “to intervene if necessary to protect the interests and reputation of the country and to ensure that transparency and fairness, in the widest sense of words, are tangibly practiced. MUBE also pledges its full co-operation with everyone who shares the same values.”

You can read the full statement here.

First of all, this is a significant statement because the MUBE is the main and majority trade union at HSBC Malta and Bank of Valletta. The union has a good relationship with the major banks and has a relatively long history. The MUBE rarely issues statements on developments in the banking sector making its statement even more significant.

This was also very predictable. As outline in my article on OTP Bank, Maltese banking culture is highly conservative. Also, just to clarify some points that were made about the article, Malta’s regulations and standards in the local banking culture are distinct and much higher than the standards imposed on the rest of the financial sector, or banks which exclusively cater for foreign investors. Local banking is considered as a strategic pillar of the economy and is ruled and operated by a very tightly-knit conservative rulebook. This rulebook is only growing even more conservative and strict as time goes by. The only scenario in which a reputational disaster like OTP Bank could take over HSBC Malta is if we were a Russian colony.

OTP Bank must have known that Maltese banking culture is very conservative. They would have done extensive research before submitting their bid. The fact that they submitted a bid despite the fact that Malta has a very conservative banking culture may raise the suspicion that they may have submitted their bid in bad faith, either to disrupt Malta’s reputation, or to gain access sensitive information during the bidding process. APS Bank is currently reviewing HSBC’s internal data as part of the bidding process.

OPT Bank also sent a right of reply which I may reply to later on.

Mark Camilleri

Website Editor
Historian and Publisher