Bank of Valletta p.l.c has announced that it is organising a physical meeting for shareholders in the presence of the Board of Directors and the Executive Committee.

The bank said that in this question and answer session, BOV shareholders can field questions regarding recent developments concerning the Bank’s business, including the latest developments leading to the out-of-court settlement in the “Deiulemar" case.

This session, which will be held on Wednesday 15th June 2022 at the Hilton Hotel in St. Julians, will give shareholders the opportunity to obtain a clear picture of the bank's business.

In a lengthy question and answer document on the Deiulemar case, the Bank explained that it had settled the case – where it will now have to pay €182.5 million – because, amongst other things, it feared that the local hostile environment would condition the appeals court in Naples to rule against the Bank.

This would have meant that the Bank would have been consigned to paying €370 million to the Deiulemar bondholders.

The full question and answer document can be read here.

 “The Board of Directors is sensitive to the requests made by shareholders, and it was a discussion with the Malta Association of Small Shareholders that led to this session being organised,” the Bank said.

Shareholders who would like to attend the information session can register their intent by sending an email to [email protected] by not later than Friday, 10th June. Shareholders are kindly asked to provide their personal information in the email. They are to present their identity card on the day for entry to the venue. Attendance will be limited to the venue capacity. Parking will be provided. For more information shareholders can call on 2275 3556 or send an email on [email protected].

The Bank also clarified that the Annual General Meeting (AGM) will be held as planned in a virtual format on 2 June 2022.

“The organisation of an AGM for an institution of the size of Bank of Valletta, which is the largest locally quoted company with approximately 20,000 shareholders, requires several months of preparation and activities which, once committed to, cannot be reversed. This involves not only the selection of a venue that is suited to the occasion, but also the preparation, printing and posting of official documentation including the Proxy Form, Notices and Circulars to Shareholders in line with the statutory requirements and timings established for such an event,” the Bank said.

The Bank said that requests over the past days for the AGM to be held physically came at a time when preparations for the Annual General Meeting to be held in a virtual manner were well advanced and could not be changed.

“The AGM could not be postponed and changing from a virtual AGM to a physical one was not possible at that stage.”