Bank of Valletta

Bank of Valletta (BOV) is Maltese bank and financial services company with headquarters in Santa Venera. It is oldest established financial services provider in Malta and one of the largest. As of 2014 the bank had 44 branches, 6 regional business centres, a head office, and a wealth management arm located around the Maltese Islands. It has representative offices in Australia (in Victoria), Belgium (in Brussels), Libya (in Tripoli) and Italy (in Milan).

History

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 15 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

Valletta (/vəˈlɛtə/; Maltese pronunciation: [ˈvɐlɛ.tɐ]) is the capital city of Malta, colloquially known as Il-Belt (IPA: [ˈil.bɛlt]; English: The City) in Maltese. Geographically, it is located in the South Eastern Region, in the central-eastern portion of the main island of Malta having its western coast with access to the Marsamxett Harbour and its eastern coast in the Grand Harbour. The historical city has a population of 6,444 as of March 2014, while the metropolitan area around it has a population of 393,938. Valletta is the southernmost capital of Europe.

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, particularly the destruction of The Royal Opera House. The City of Valletta was officially recognised as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1980.

Bank

A bank is a financial institution that creates credit by lending money to a borrower, thereby creating a corresponding deposit on the bank's balance sheet. Lending activities can be performed either directly or indirectly through capital markets. Due to their importance in the financial system and influence on national economies, banks are highly regulated in most countries. Most nations have institutionalized a system known as fractional reserve banking under which banks hold liquid assets equal to only a portion of their current liabilities. In addition to other regulations intended to ensure liquidity, banks are generally subject to minimum capital requirements based on an international set of capital standards, known as the Basel Accords.

Banking in its modern sense evolved in the 14th century in the rich cities of Renaissance Italy but in many ways was a continuation of ideas and concepts of credit and lending that had their roots in the ancient world. In the history of banking, a number of banking dynasties — notably, the Medicis, the Fuggers, the Welsers, the Berenbergs and the Rothschilds — have played a central role over many centuries. The oldest existing retail bank is Monte dei Paschi di Siena, while the oldest existing merchant bank is Berenberg Bank.