Bank of Valletta was extensively used by the Joseph Muscat administrations as a facilitator to the government’s corruption such as in the case of Steward Health Care in which Bank of Valletta gave a €36 million to Steward. Its previous Chief Risk Officer, Miguel Borg, was fired over the incident and he was subsequently awarded by the government with a six-figure salary at Malta Enterprise.
Bank of Valletta employs several professionals in its risk department, but its risk officials are often associated with the government in order to reduce scrutiny over government and ministerial activity. Old habits die hard at BOV, and even under the current administration, BOV is still embroiled in the corruption and degeneracy of current government expenditure.
The government seems to be retaining control over Malita Investments even from the bank’s side. The BOV’s Director and Chair of the Risk Committee is Robert Suban, who also happens to be a board member of Malita Investments. In addition, Robert Suban is also a Chair of the Audit Committee and Member of the Investments Committee of Malita Investments. Complicating this very bizarre conflict of interest even further, Miguel Borg, previously fired by BOV, is also a board member of Malita Investments.
Robert Suban also happens to be the Head of the Department of Banking, Finance and Investments, truly collecting all the possible iced-buns as a banking bureaucrat to all of the relevant government and public posts: BOV, a government board and the University of Malta.
Yet, even a College student studying risk in finance and banking would have understood that Robert Suban position as a risk director at BOV is in direct conflict with his position as a risk director at the same public and government-owned company that is facing serious liquidity issues, and most probably, needs further liquidity from the same bank that Robert Suban represents.
Indeed, Roberty Suban’s case is even more serious when considering that Minister Roderick Galdes is being accused of using Malita Investments to curry favour with contractors and take bribes as a consequences: specifically he is suspected of getting a free penthouse from a contractor who was awarded a €27 million contract by Malita Investments. Malita Investments will now be run by the previous corrupt tax man Marvin Gaerty.
It’s incredible how blatantly and unashamedly BOV is facilitating the government’s sleaze and corruption. This kind of sleaze and grift is so low that it is only typical in third-world countries where private banks are run by Ministers, warlords and banana-plantation owners.
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