Lombard Bank Malta plc held its Annual General Meeting today 28 April, where all Ordinary Resolutions on the agenda were approved. This included the approval of the dividend, which the majority of shareholders elected to receive in the form of shares rather than in cash. During the meeting the Chairman, Michael C Bonello, gave an overview of the environment within which banks operated during 2015. These included historically low interest rates, ever increasing regulations that dictate a one-size-fits-all rules and competitive market conditions both in terms of business as well as human resources. Within this challenging environment it was reported that Lombard Bank continued to strengthen its financial position as evidenced by the solid capital and liquidity ratios well above the regulatory minimum, and a consolidated Group profit before tax of €7.8 million. In 2016 the Bank will continue with its prudent approach to lending and assess new proposals that are in strict conformity with the interpretation of banking regulations. The Board of Directors is composed of Michael C Bonello (Chairman), Graham A Fairclough, Kimon Palamidis, Joseph Said, Christos Stylianides and Michael Zammit.