During an executive board meeting of the Mediterranean Bank Network (MBN) held in Verona, Italy, Bank of Valletta, together with another nine banks from various Euro-Mediterranean countries, approved and signed a Memorandum of Understanding that seeks to formalise the working relationships between the MBN banks with a view to increasing business co-operation further.

Charles Borg, executive head of CEO’s Office at Bank of Valletta, attended the meeting and signed the agreement on the Bank’s behalf.

Commenting following the signing of the agreement, Mr Borg said, “We are delighted to witness this renewed level of cooperation within the Mediterranean Bank Network. Through this agreement, the members of the Mediterranean Bank Network will be implementing the concept of “preferential business partner”. What we will be achieving through this new level of co-operation is, effectively, the creation of an extended virtual presence for the MBN member banks in all five continents of the world through the use of each other’s branches, subsidiaries and/or representative offices,” said Mr Borg.

The memorandum of understanding covers banking and financial services areas of business in an innovative and efficient manner. “BOV, together with all the other banks, stand to benefit from the new arrangements that have been put in place for the benefit of their business customers,” concluded Mr. Borg.

The Mediterranean Bank Network was conceptualised and set up by BOV in 1996 together with three other founder members, namely Garanti Bank, Banque Internationale Arabe de Tunisie and Nova Ljubljanska. Since its inception, the network has grown from strong to stronger and today aspires to attract one bank from each Med-country thus achieving complete Mediterranean representation. This objective will enable the MBN to act as a voice for the Mediterranean in the world of financial services.