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4 NEWS 9.9.2021 THE Housing Authority and APS Bank have signed an agreement for the New Hope Guarantee Scheme. e event was held at APS Bank Head Office in Swatar and was presided by Roderick Galdes, Minister for Social Accom- modation who made the introductory speech. He was followed by speeches from Marcel Cassar, CEO of APS Bank and Leonid McKay, CEO of the Hous- ing Authority. e Scheme aims to assist aspiring home-owners who wish to acquire their primary residence but are unable to ob- tain a life insurance policy because of a disability, medical condition or history. Government will be assisting persons who have been declined a life insur- ance policy from two local companies or their request has been postponed by 12 months or asked for a very high pre- mium. e assistance will be in the form of a guarantee that will cover a maximum loan of €250,000 on property that will be used as a primary residence. "e Ministry for Social Accommo- dation, together with the Housing Au- thority, has pushed for a strong element of social innovation, but this would not have resulted in anything if we hadn't found partners, including banks, who believe in this vision and share social consciousness," Galdes said. "As a community bank active in the home loan market, we are saddened by those cases where persons with a medi- cal condition or history find themselves excluded from becoming homeowners. is is our latest collaboration with Government and its agencies devel- oping products helping those who are at the margins of society," Cassar said. "e loans under this scheme can truly change lives." Leonid McKay said the effectiveness of the scheme is that it addresses a small group of people who for many people should be invisible. "e vulnerability of these people is not necessarily linked to income but still prevents them from the property market," he said. "With such a scheme we are showing where the State should guide the market." If you would like to learn more about the New Hope Scheme please vis- it housingauthority.gov.mt/en/Pages/ Schemes.aspx, call 21226644 or visit your nearest branch. APS Bank kick-starts the 'New Hope' Scheme HSBC Malta and GEMMA launch fraud awareness booklet Front row, left to right: Leonid McKay (CEO, Housing Authority), Anthony Buttigieg (Chief Banking Officer, APS Bank). Back row, left to right: Robert Ducker (Chairman, Housing Authority), Hon. Roderick Galdes ( Minister for Social Accommodation) and Marcel Cassar (CEO, APS Bank) HSBC Malta and the HSBC Malta Foundation have teamed up with ĠEM- MA to publish the fifth issue of the Lit- tle Black Book of Scams and Fraud. e booklet is designed to help people iden- tify attempted online scams and teaches them techniques to protect themselves from fraud. In this issue, HSBC Malta and ĠEM- MA present twelve cases of scams and fraud as short stories. ese are based on real-life events that financial insti- tutions have encountered in Malta. e cases in the book elaborate on the breadth, scope and sophistication of fraud experienced in Malta via topics such as mule entrapment, elderly finan- cial abuse, fraudulent UK car imports and fake online bargains. Mark Drago, Head of Financial Crime Compliance at HSBC Bank Malta p.l.c., said: "Scams have been in the headlines so much in the past year that one would say 2021 has been the year of fraud. Scammers have become ubiquitous in the online world and harder to spot due to their sophisticated tools and ap- proaches. HSBC Bank Malta is glad to have collaborated with ĠEMMA on the 5th issue of the Little Black Book of Scams and Fraud, as it is in line with our commitment to educate the community on the best ways to protect their finan- cial interests online." David Spiteri Gingell, ĠEMMA Team Leader at the Ministry for So- cial Justice and Solidary, the Family and Chil- dren's Rights, said: "As people have increasing- ly moved to the online world during the worst days of the Covid-19 pandemic, the range of scams has expanded. Additionally, recently, we have seen customs related fraud, as Brexit and the United King- dom's treatment as a third country created a new opportunity. We would like to thank HSBC Malta for help- ing to turn their expertise into a book- let that will help educate people on the risks of fraud and what they can do to protect themselves." HSBC Bank Malta has also curated a regularly updated online Fraud Guide on its website where people can learn about the most common scam types and precautionary measures to protect themselves from both online and offline fraud. e website is available at www. h sb c . co m . mt / h el p / s e c u r i t y / f r au d - guide/. ĠEMMA launched the Little Black Book of Scams and Fraud in 2020 with the intention of educating the general public on emerging scams, simple but effective protection measures that a person can take against fraud, as well as on actions to take in case someone falls victim to fraud. e most recent booklet by HSBC Malta, as well as all the other editions, can be downloaded from ĠEMMA's of- ficial website gemma.gov.mt under the ebooks section. BANK of Valletta has recently set out a branch renovation project which will see the largest fleet of bank branches get a modernized look. Following the opening of the new Sliema flagship branch and the initiation of refurbishment works on Paola Branch, Zurrieq Branch will be the next to be renovated. Due to extensive works and mind- ful of the safety of its customers, BOV Zurrieq Branch will be tem- porarily closed as from the 20th September 2021 for approximately three months. Cashiering services will be provid- ed from Mqabba Branch from Mon- day to Saturday between 8:30am and 12:00pm. Non-cashier services such as home loans, personal loans, investments and applications for new services will be available by appointment from BOV Mqabba Branch. Customers are encouraged to use BOV Cards to effect payments and the BOV Internet and Mobile Bank- ing to carry out their daily banking requirements for a faster and more convenient manner. BOV Zurrieq branch to get a new facelift

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