Bank of Valletta has signed a lease agreement for its new representative office in Brussels, which is located in the heart of the European quarter in Brussels, at 11 Rue Marie-Thérèse, in the premises that house the joint headquarters of the World Savings Banks Institute (WSBI) and the European Savings Banks Group (ESBG).
The lease agreement was signed by BOV CEO Charles Borg and ESBG managing director Chris De Noose.
Mr Borg said: “Through the opening of our EU representative office we are consolidating our market leadership as being the key financial intermediary for the local business community to avail itself of both centralised and decentralised EU funding opportunities and programmes to further grow their business and investment opportunities.”
Mr De Noose said: “The ESBG is delighted that Bank of Valletta is opening a representative office in Brussels. With the large volumes of financial regulation currently being released, it is important to have a representative present to see that all respective interests are being looked after. The ESBG looks forward to facilitating further and working alongside Bank of Valletta. Welcome to Brussels!”
The representative office, headed by Mark Scicluna Bartoli, will complement the array of services currently offered by BOV to SMEs in the areas of access to finance and financing engineering products such as the JEREMIE initiative. In addition, it will assist SMEs to maximise their trade and investment opportunities offered within the EU’s Internal Market.
As an active member of the ESBG for the last 10 years, BOV has acquired considerable expertise on the European Integration Project, particularly in the areas of access to finance and EU funding opportunities for SMEs and the implementation and associated lobbying in connection with the Single Euro Payments Area project.
The ESBG is a European banking association that represents the interests of its 28 members vis-à-vis EU institutions, with a specific focus on retail banking issues. To this end, it defines and expresses the position of its members in all matters related to the European financial services industry. ESBG delivers detailed research into the evolution of legislation and the retail banking market in Europe and also compares it with other regions of the world.
It is also a forum for cooperation between its members. It proposes cooperation projects and helps members identify consortium partners on a bilateral or multilateral basis. It also provides technical consultancy in partnership with multilateral agencies and offers training and consultancy to its members to increase their operational efficiency.
ESBG works in close collaboration with its members through a series of committees and task forces that allow for a permanent dialogue on all topics.