Bank of Valletta (BOV) has responded to an article appearing in the Times of Malta today called "BOV plans to shed staff" appearing today, arguing that it 'contains a number of misstatements'.

"Firstly, BOV has always had retirement schemes in place, and these 'new' schemes are simply a renewal of past schemes, with more flexibility factored in. We have no intention of 'shedding staff'. Our aim is simply to continue offering such schemes in order to ensure that the Bank is resourced with the skills it requires in the current situation. We will not be declaring any redundancies. Indeed, we are recruiting staff as we speak, and will continue to recruit more."

"The Bank had committed itself with the Union, during collective agreement negotiations earlier this year, to renew its retirement schemes, in response to requests made by members of staff. The Bank has now delivered on its promises. These schemes have always been, and will remain, voluntary."

"The CEO spoke of a 'smaller bank', in an article published last week, not in terms of lower staff numbers, but in terms of the exiting of businesses and customer relationships. This should have been obvious from the context he was speaking in, ie of de-risking the Bank."

"The article concludes by alleging that Goverment appoints 'the majority of directors on the Board'. The reality is that, in terms of the Memorandum and Articles of the Bank, Government appoints two directors, one of which is the Chairman. Two directors are executives who are appointed ex officio, namely the CEO and the Chief Risk Officer.  A further two directors may be co opted by the Board in consideration of their expertise.  The rest of directors are appointed by Annual General Meeting.  All must be approved by local and international regulators."