Bank of Valletta International Corporate Centre has introduced new fees tied to its corporate services, including a €200 fee for the opening of new accounts and an annual maintenance fee of €250.
The bank has already been criticized this week for drastically increasing its safe deposit box fees almost fourfold.
In a letter to customers the bank said it had introduced an account opening fee of €200 for each and every new Corporate Entity, Fund, Partnership, Trust or Foundation. The fee is tied to the relationship and not to the number of accounts opened.
It also introduced an annual maintenance fee of €250 for each and every Corporate Entity, Fund, Partnership, Trust or Foundation that holds a relationship with the bank. The new fees were introduced on 1 June 2015.
BOV said it reserved “the right to increase these fees to reflect the complexity of the structure and operations thereto.”
Bank customers were also advised that a €35 fee is applicable for all bank references. The International Corporate Centre will be applying the above fee to all official letters issued to the competent authorities at the customer’s request.
Bank of Valletta told The Malta Independent earlier this week that it had increased its safe deposit box charges in what was a “long overdue review” and a bid to cover the costs and risks involved. A customer pointed out that the price of the smallest safe deposit boxes, measuring 10,000 cubic centimetres had suddenly gone up from €35 a year to €120 a year. The bank has also introduced a “one tie setup fee” of €50.
The fee for safe deposit boxes from 10,001 cm³ to 20,000 cm³ has been increased from €50 to €180, the price for a box between 20,001 cm³ to 40,000 cm³ has been raised from €70 to €240 and the fee for a box between 40,001 cm³ to 80,000 cm³ has been raised from €80 to €360.
A BOV spokesperson said the old fees did not reflect the high risks and costs involved. The bank also said customers were free to choose the most competitive offers on the open market.
The Malta Competition and Consumer Affairs Authority said yesterday it was investigating whether the bank was infringing the Consumer Affairs Act in terms of unfair terms, meaning that contracts would be unbalanced in favour of the ‘seller.’ MCCAA said the MFSA was responsible for dealing with the drastic increase in the price of the service.
It was also announced yesterday that BOV is planning to issue a 12-month subordinated debt programme of up to €150 million. The funds will form an integral part of the BOV’s capital plan and are aimed at further strengthening its Tier 2 Capital as required by European banking regulations.
The net proceeds from the issue will also be used by BOV to meet part of its general financing requirements.