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5 EUROPE 22.9.2022 AS it celebrates 10 years of empowering women, local jewellery brand Mvintage will be hosting its first-ever Woman of the Year Award on Monday 3rd Octo- ber 2022. Seven nominees have been shortlist- ed for the title of 'Mvintage Woman of the Year 2022'. e winner will be de- termined by an online public vote and voting will be open until the eve of the award ceremony. e awards night will be streamed live on the Mvintage Facebook page, start- ing with a red carpet event at 7pm. Fol- lowed by a speech by the Honourable Miriam Vella, wife of the President of Malta. e winner will be announced at 9.30pm. e seven nominees are: Angele Cuschieri, president of chil- dren's cancer support group Puttinu Cares Foundation; she is passionate in her mission to alleviate the suffering of vulnerable children and their families. Gabi Calleja, an activist who was in- strumental in drawing up Malta's Gen- der Identity Bill and relentlessly pursued the need for more equality and accept- ance for the LGBTQI+ community. Helga Ellul, an outstanding business- woman with more than 48 years of experience in shaping Malta's employ- ment and industry landscape. Lara Dimitrijevic, founder of the Women's Rights Foundation, support- ing countless women and families as a legal practitioner. Maria Formosa, executive secretary of ALS Malta; she has played a pivotal role in spearheading its fundraising in- itiatives and in the management of Dar Bjorn, a nursing home for ALS, MS and neurological patients. Maxine Attard, an actress and certi- fied therapeutic play practitioner who co-founded the Jays of Sunshine Foun- dation, which is committed to helping the children and young people under- going treatment at Mater Dei's Rainbow Ward. Maxine has also raised awareness on miscarriage by publicly sharing her own experience. Shelley Caruana, a far-reaching so- cial media influencer who uses her platform to serve as an active player in mental health awareness. Introducing the Woman of the Year Award was a natural decision for Mvin- tage. Female empowerment lies at the core of the brand, so the idea of rec- ognising some of the brilliant women who have been shaping Maltese soci- ety flows perfectly with its aim to help women express themselves in their own individual way. Mvintage founder Krystle Penza's love for art and fashion, as well as her determination to leave a legacy for her daughter, has turned the brand into a safe and empowering community for women to be themselves and succeed. "We believe women should uplift each other," Krystle Penza commented. "ese Awards are a celebration of the perseverance, hard work and talent of the many women who leave a positive mark on our society." She went on to say that "because there are so many other women out there who inspire us, these Awards are dedicated to all of them, all of you – the women who are relentless in achieving great things on a daily basis". Now a household name, Mvintage started from humble beginnings in 2012. e brand has since expanded into six flagship stores around Malta and Gozo, as well as an online store that services customers worldwide. Seven nominees shortlisted for the Mvintage Woman of the Year Award 2022 BOV appoints new Chief Executive Officer BANK of Valletta has announced the appointment of Kenneth Farrugia is re- placing outgoing CEO Rick Hunkin. is followed an extensive process lo- cally and abroad to identify the execu- tive with the best possible fit to the re- quirements of the role at this stage. As CEO, Farrugia - whose appoint- ment will become effective upon receipt of regulatory approval - will also sit on the Bank's Board of Directors as an Ex- ecutive Director. Farrugia has vast experience in the banking and financial sectors. He joined Bank of Valletta in October 1985, and over the past 37 years has occupied var- ious senior positions across the banking group. He currently holds the post of Chief Retail Banking Officer. Farrugia, a Harvard Business School Alumni, is responsible for the Bank's personal and micro-business customer segments, and the corresponding suite of retail banking products as well as the respective service channels. Dr Gordon Cordina, BOV Chairman said the Board had expressed its con- fidence in Farrugia in selecting him to this demanding role. "It is ready to support him to ful- fil his mandate, for Bank of Valletta to meet and exceed the expectations of its shareholders, customers, employees and other stakeholders," he said. "e Board is also expressing its grat- itude to Mr Hunkin for his service over the past three years, especially for the governance and transformation im- provements achieved in extraordinarily difficult circumstances. It wishes all the best to him and his family." Hunkin said he was delighted for Far- rugia and wished him the very best as he takes BOV forward. "I will ensure my full support as we go through a handover period," he said. Commenting on this appointment, Farrugia said he felt privileged and ex- cited to have been entrusted with this post and was very much looking for- ward to work alongside the board of di- rectors, and the executive management team to sustain the implementation of various initiatives underpinning the Bank's regulatory, commercial, and op- erational priorities. "I am confident that together with our highly valued human resources, we will also be able to launch new growth driv- en initiatives across the Bank's personal and business customer segments aim- ing to deliver on the expectations of all our stakeholders," he said. Back in January, Cordina said that the decision not to renew Rick Hunkin's contract as CEO was taken by mutual agreement. "Rick Hunkin and myself meet regu- larly and we arrived at the conclusion that it is in the best interest of the bank and the CEO to initiate an early succes- sion process," he said. Cordina was coy about the reasons be- hind the decision to replace Hunkin but hinted that there may have been inter- nal tension over his management style. "ese stresses exist everywhere in any organisation… I wasn't here when Hunkin was appointed but it may be the bank needed a certain type of man- agement style when the transformation process started to get things going fast but going forward we may need a dif- ferent management style," Cordina said when asked whether the decision was the result of clashes with the board and management. But Cordina ruled out mismanage- ment and wrongdoing as the basis for the Hunkin's eventual replacement. "e board has no such evidence oth- erwise we would be taking a different course of action," he said. "We want to ensure we have the best talent to ad- dress the challenges going forward." Kenneth Farrugia

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