Bank of Valletta is Malta's longest established financial services provider and one of its largest. Domestic operations include a national network of 45 branches, 6 regional business centres, corporate centre, and a wealth management arm. It has representative offices in Australia (in Sunshine, Victoria), Libya (in Tripoli) and Italy (in Milan).

With the advent of British rule in Malta, a group of English and Maltese merchants set up the first commercial bank in the first decade of the nineteenth century during the governance of Civil Commissioner Sir Alexander John Ball. The Anglo-Maltese Bank commenced operations on 23 June 1809 in the 'Commercial Rooms', then also known as 'Le Stanze', on the ground floor of the University of Studies in Strada Mercanti, Valletta. These Commercial Rooms had a separate access from 113, Strada S. Paolo. The first Cassiere (Cashier) and General Manager of the Anglo-Maltese Bank was the Maltese John Vella and its President was William Higgins, an Englishman who set up business in Malta soon after the publication of the Order of His Majesty in Council of the 15th March 1809. This Order in Council had given Malta an especially favoured status for trading in the Mediterranean. At the same time, it decreed that two thirds of the cargo on ships leaving Malta was to be of British origin or imported from British dominions and that one third of the crew had to be composed of British subjects.

Valletta is the capital of Malta, colloquially known as Il-Belt (English: The City) in Maltese. It is located in the central-eastern portion of the island of Malta, and the historical city has a population of 6,966. The name "Valletta" is traditionally reserved for the historic walled citadel that serves as Malta's principal administrative district. However, Valletta, like many historical city centres, forms part of a larger continuous urban agglomeration; this is often referred to as "Greater Valletta."

Valletta contains buildings from the 16th century onwards, built during the rule of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem, also known as Knights Hospitaller. The city is essentially Baroque in character, with elements of Mannerist, Neo-Classical and Modern architecture in selected areas, though World War II left major scars on the city. The City of Valletta was officially recognised as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1980.

The city is named for Jean Parisot de la Valette, who succeeded in defending the island from an Ottoman invasion in 1565. The official name given by the Order of Saint John was Humilissima Civitas Valletta — The Most Humble City of Valletta, or Città Umilissima in Italian. The bastions, curtains and ravelins along with the beauty of its Baroque palaces, gardens and churches, led the ruling houses of Europe to give the city its nickname Superbissima — 'Most Proud'.