Bank of Valletta

Bank of Valletta is Malta's oldest bank and one of its largest.

History

In 1809, William Higgins established the Anglo Maltese Bank. Three years later, George Thomas Jackson established Banco di Malta. Also in 1812, Biagio Tagliaferro, a Genoese merchant, shipowner and ship-chandler established B. Tagliaferro and Sons, which in time would become Tagliaferro Bank. Then in 1830, the Scicluna family, also shipowners, established Joseph Scicluna et fils, which in 1926 became Sciclunas Bank.

In 1946, just after the end of World War II, Anglo Maltese Bank and Banco di Malta merged to form the National Bank of Malta. Three years later, Sciclunas Bank became affiliated to the National Bank, which changed its name to National Bank of Malta Group. The last addition to the group occurred in 1969 when B. Tagliaferro and Sons became part of the Group.

A crisis hit National Bank Group in 1973 when it faced a run on the bank. In a political move, Bank of Malta refused to act as a lender of last resort and blocked Barclays and other banks from supporting the Group. The next year Malta's government established Bank of Valletta (BOV) to take over the business of the National Bank of Malta. BOV then sold 9.6% of its shares to the Maltese public.

With a change in political attitudes, in 1975 BOV sold 20% of its share capital to Banco di Sicilia, and the next year acquired all the National Bank Group's assets and liabilities.

In 1987 BOV started to internationalize its operations by opening an office in London. Then in 1990, the bank moved closer to privatization when BOV issued 4,900,000 ordinary “B” shares to the general public, which brought the public's ownership to 28.2%. Two years later, BOV became the first public company to be listed and its shares quoted on the Malta Stock Exchange.

Internationalization continued as BOV established a representative office in Catania in 1993, and another in Toronto in 1994.

BOV was finally privatized in 1995 when the government sold 12,000,000 shares to the public, thus reducing its stake from 51.2% to 25.2%.

In 1996, BOV established a representative office in Milan. Four years later, BOV crossed the Mediterranean by opening one representative office in Tunisia and another in Libya.

Bank of Valletta also has a network of representative offices in Australia. Bank of Valletta is a founding member of Mediterranean Bank Network (MBN), established on the 28th November 1996 in the spirit of the European Union's 'Barcelona Declaration: Euro-Mediterranean Partnership' (28th November 1995) whose objective was and remains the creation of a Mediterranean area of shared prosperity with a strong private sector driven economy, a stable financial services sector and ubiquitous free trade. [http://www.medbanknet.com]

List of Bank of Valletta's Branches in Malta and Gozo

Malta

*Attard: Mosta Road
*Balluta Bay: Manwel Dimech Street
*Bir id-Deheb: Bir id-Deheb Place
*Birkirkara: Naxxar Road
*Birżebbuġa: Pretty Bay
*Bormla: Gavino Gulia Square
*Buġibba: Islet Promenade
*Fgura: Hompesch Road
*Fleur-de-Lys: Fleur-de-Lys Road
*Floriana: St. Anne Street
*Gżira: The Strand
*Ħamrun: St. Joseph High Road
*Luqa: Dun Pawl Street
*Malta International Airport: Hal Far Road
*Marsa: Racecourse Street
*Marsaskala: Dun Tarcisio Agius Square
*Marsaxlokk: Zejtun Road
*Mellieħa: Dr. George Borg Olivier Street
*Mosta: Constitution Street
*Mqabba: Our Lady of Lilys Street
*Msida: Marina Street
*Naxxar: Labour Avenue
*Paola: Ġużè D'Amato Street
*Qormi: St. Bartholomeo Street
*Rabat: Saqqajja Square
*San Ġiljan: Dragonara Road
*San Ġwann: Naxxar Road
*San Pawl il-Baħar: St. Paul's Street
*Santa Venera: Fleur-de-Lys Road
*Siġġiewi: St. James Street
*Sliema: Tower Road
*Swieqi: Ta' l-Ibraġ Road
*Tal-Qroqq: Students' House, University of Malta
*Valletta: Republic Street; and Palace Square
*Valletta Waterfront: Forni Complex
*Żabbar: Sanctuary Street
*Żebbuġ: St. Philip's Square
*Żejtun: Republic Square
*Żurrieq: St. Bartholomew Street

Gozo

*Nadur: St. Peter and St. Paul Square
*Sannat: St. Margaret Square
*Victoria: Republic Street
*Xagħra: Victory Square
*Xewkija: Church Street

Bank of Valletta's ATMs in Malta and Gozo

Near every branch of Bank of Valletta (BOV) one can find an ATM, but apart from these one can find an ATM also in these locations:

Malta

*Birkirkara: Thomas Fenech Street
*Bulebel: St. Leonard Street
*Dingli: Main Street
*Ħal Far: Playmobile Factory
*Marsaskala: Qaliet Street
*Msida: Junior College
*Paceville: St. George's Road; and St. Augustine Street
*Paola: Main Street Complex
*Pietà: St. Lukes' Hospital
*Portomaso: Portomaso Tower
*Qawra: Coral Reef; and Horatio Nelson Street
*Qormi: Manuel Dimech Street; and Ta' Farsina
*Safi: Dun Guzepp Street
*San Ġiljan: Dragonara Casino; and Mayfair Complex
*San Ġwann: San Ġwann Industrial Estate
*Senglea: 4th September Avenue
*Sliema: Dingli Street; High Street; and The Strand

Gozo

*Marsalforn: Marina Street
*Victoria, Malta: Arcadia Complex

ources

Consiglio, John A. 2006. "A history of banking in Malta, 1506-2005". Valletta: Progress Press.

Frendo, Henry (2002) Ports, Ships and Money: The Origins of Corporate Banking in Malta. "Journal of Mediterranean Studies" 12 (2), 327-350.

External links

* [http://www.bov.com/ Bank of Valleta plc website]