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Statistics divulged by Bank of Valletta CEO Tonio Depasquale show that the currency in circulation amounts to around Lm518 million or Lm1,250 per capita.
Addressing BOV’s management team during a discussion forum focusing on wealth management, Depasquale urged customers to come forward and deposit excess cash well in advance of the day when Malta adopts the Euro.
“Once Malta adopts the Euro, possibly by 1 January 2008, currency notes in Maltese Lira will have to be exchanged to Euro anyway and so, it would make more sense to use the idle cash to build a portfolio that would leave a better return to the customer,” Depasquale said.
The discussion forum focused on wealth management and the bank’s strategy in this regard.
“Bank of Valletta’s investment in Wealth Management is leaving the desired results with BOV today positioning itself as the leading provider of Wealth Management services in Malta. Indeed, Wealth Management is one of the key growth areas at Bank of Valletta with the number of medium to high net worth customers increasing daily,” Depasquale said.
The bank CEO said that a number of external factors also contributed to the success the Bank was achieving in this area including the relaxation of exchange control regulations and the various investment registration schemes launched by Government over the past years. The latter resulted in over Lm500 million worth of assets being registered and regularised by Maltese people.
Depasquale said that BOV’s Wealth Management strategy addresses all the financial planning needs of all segments of the customer base through authorized Savings and Investment officers and Financial Planning Advisors throughout its Branch network. All Financial Planning Advisors as well as Relationship Managers at the Wealth Management Centre are authorised to advise clients on a wide range of investment solutions adopting an open architecture approach. BOV’s Wealth Management Centre is also positioned to offer discretionary portfolio management and trustee services.
The discussion forum was also addressed by Mario Pullicino, Executive Head of Wealth Management, Lawrence Micallef, Head of Strategic Planning, Joe Zammit, Head of Product & Business Development, Edith Cachia, Manager Quality, Simon Azzopardi, Head of Wealth Management and Victor Zammit, Head of Investments. |
