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maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 1 AUGUST 2018 2 NEWS KURT SANSONE BANK of Valletta has put aside €75 mil- lion from its profits in "litigation provi- sions" over three pending cases, includ- ing the Deiulemar case in Italy, the bank said. The other cases are the La Valette Property Fund, over which BOV is appealing a decision by the financial services arbiter, and the Falcon Funds that involves losses suffered by Swed- ish pensioners. The announcement was made yes- terday when BOV presented its half- yearly results for 2018. BOV chairman Deo Scerri said the decision to set aside €75 million to cover these three cases meant the bank would not be giving its shareholders a dividend in 2018. "Conscious of the fact that we will be departing from a long-standing tradi- tion, the board is proposing not to give a dividend for 2018 and instead rein- vest all profits back into the bank to ensure financial sustainability, given the litigation provisions," Scerri said. The bank's profit for the first six months before the litigation provision was €88 million, which dropped to €13 million as a result of the €75 million charge. Scerri said that the bank was recon- sidering its risk appetite by taking all steps to close its trust business, while undertaking a strategic review of the custody business and an evaluation of its client base. "The bank will be un- dergoing a de-risking exercise by cut- ting down on non-core business that delivers very little profit for the risk involved." Bank officials said the bank's balance sheet remained very strong and the litigation cases did not have an impact on profitability. "The bank decided to strengthen its capital by setting aside €75 million from its record profits to safeguard its position for the future, which is why we decided against a cash dividend," Scerri said. BOV has deposits to the tune of €10 billion, issued loans to the tune of €4.5 billion and shareholder funds ap- proaching €1 billion. Scerri insisted depositors and in- vestors with the bank had nothing to worry about because the company was very liquid and strong. Deiulemar case Earlier this month a court in Torre Annunziata, an Italian town of 40,000 inhabitants, rejected BOV's appeal and upheld a precautionary warrant of seizure for the sum of €363 million. The Deiulemar case involves a failed shipping business in which almost half of the people in Torre Annunziata had invested. BOV was roped in legal pro- ceedings because it had held the trusts of the holding company. The bitten bond holders are seeking €363 million from BOV in what they claim are lost savings that were invest- ed in the shipping company. BOV legal representative Louis Dega- briele said yesterday BOV was facing a hostile environment in Torre Annun- ziata. He said the bank is asking for the case to be heard elsewhere in Italy on the bases that it is unlikely to get a fair hearing in a town where many have a vested interest in the case. Degabriele said the bank has asked the court in Torre Annunziata to refer its appeal to the Italian constitutional court. "The bank has strong legal argu- ments but it would be naïve to believe that this alone is enough to win a case because we are also up against a hos- tile environment in a town that has had to deal with social, economic and political ramifications from this case," Degabriele said. Degabriele refuted the €363 million claim made in Italy, insisting the bank had only received three sets of share- holding in trust worth €2,000 each. "The bank never received €363 million through its trust business," he said. ksansone@mediatoday.com.mt No dividends for Bank of Valletta shareholders as bank sets aside €75m for litigation MATTHEW AGIUS A man who fired two shots at his female partner's window during an argument has been convicted on weapons charges. Anthony McGahren, 43, had been accused of slightly injur- ing his partner, causing volun- tary damage to property, carry- ing a revolver without a licence, carrying the revolver during the commission of an offence against the person, breach- ing the peace, threatening the woman with the firearm and insulting her. Superintendent Josric Mifsud told the court that the man had fired shots into the air and then at the residence in Triq il-Fab- briki after a violent argument erupted between the two. But during McGahren's ar- raignment, the woman had withdrawn her criminal com- plaint, which meant that the police could not proceed on the charges relating to harm or threats against her. This left only two of the eight charges originally pressed: keeping an unlicensed firearm and carrying it during the com- mission of an offence against the person. The accused had pleaded guilty to those charges and was also found guilty of being a re- cidivist. In view of his admission, he was found guilty and was fined €700. The revolver used was confiscated and he was pro- hibited from holding a firearms licence. He was also made to pay the costs of the case, which amounted to another €1,128.30 Lawyers Michael and Lucio Sciriha were defence counsel. Man who fired shots at partner's window fined €700 CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 The government said in May, that a process of staff recruit- ment at the hospital had been in- itiated and that in the meantime, medical consultants engaged at Mater Dei Hospital would be performing their duties in Gozo on a roster basis. Industry sources who spoke to MaltaToday said, however, that no doctors had been recruited thus far, and that the agreement that was seeing Mater Dei con- sultants working in Gozo will be coming to an end today. They said that over the last months, the number of doctors working in Gozo had continued to decrease, leaving the hospital in a situation where it cannot operate effectively without new recruits or consultants from Ma- ter Dei. "The arrangement was meant to be a temporary measure in place until more doctors are re- cruited by the government, but so far this has not happened, and with the agreement coming to an end tomorrow, it is unclear how the hospital will get by," the sources said. They added that currently, roughly one third of the doc- tors working at the hospital were from Mater Dei. The shortage, the sources said, would mainly be affecting the hospital's medicine department, which deals with roughly three quarters of all patients walking into the hospital. Replying to questions from MaltaToday, Steward Health Care acknowledged that the current situation meant it was struggling to meet the hospital's demands. "We are hoping for the situ- ation to be rectified as quickly as possible through the public selection and appointment pro- cess," a spokesperson said. "We are doing everything in our power to adjust work sched- ules to ensure patients suffer as little disruptions as possible." Steward Health Care said it would also "consider employ- ment options", in order to con- tinue being able to offer the high standard of care it feels it owes its patients. When contacted, a spokesper- son for the health ministry said that over the past few weeks, a number of consultant posts had been issued for Gozo General Hospital. These posts include consultants in cardiology, neu- rology, emergency medicine, microbiology/bacteriology, gen- eral medicine, baromedicine and paediatrics. "Besides these consultants posts other specialist posts were issued for Gozo General Hos- pital. These include the posts of resident specialist in general/ internal medicine, anaesthesia and intensive care, as well as in emergency medicine," said the spokesperson. "The selection process for these posts is at an advanced stage. In the meantime Steward Health Care in collaboration with the Health Department have taken the necessary measures to en- sure adequate medical cover at all times to provide the best qual- ity of care at GGH." Selection process 'at an advanced stage'