Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1546283
7 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 23 AUGUST 2026 COMMERCIAL BOV opens its first home finance hub in Mosta BANK of Valletta has inaugu- rated its first Home Finance Hub in Mosta, marking an im- portant step in the Bank's drive to make home financing faster, simpler and more personal. The Hub brings together dedicated specialists under one roof, sup- porting customers from their first enquiry to sanction, re- ducing handovers, improving communication and giving cus- tomers greater clarity and con- fidence throughout the home loan process. The initiative responds to the continued demand for home loans, the importance of home finance within the Bank's prod- uct offering, and the significance of this junction for customers, particularly first-time buyers. The Hub will provide focused support for customers seeking a wide range of home financing solutions. The first BOV Home Finance Hub was officially opened in Mosta, within the PAMA com- plex, by the Bank's CEO Ken- neth Farrugia. Also present were Director Deborah Schembri, Chief Personal & Wealth Officer Simon Azzopardi, and Chief Operations Officer Ernest Agi- us. Located on the same floor as the BOV Investment Centre, the Hub serves customers from the northern region. It brings together home loan specialists, Relationship Officers and ana- lysts in one dedicated team, ena- bling applications to be handled more efficiently and with greater focus. Kenneth Farrugia said, "BOV already has a strong home loan proposition, with competitive interest rates and a comprehen- sive range of financing solutions. Through the Home Finance Hub model, we are strengthen- ing another critical part of the customer journey: time-to-sanc- tion. Buying a home is a major life decision, and customers rightly expect speed, clarity and expert guidance. These Hubs al- low us to deliver that experience in a more focused and consistent way." Adding to the CEO's com- ments, Simon Azzopardi high- lighted that, "The Hub model is an important part of our om- nichannel approach. Custom- ers increasingly expect choice, and here we are putting them in the driver's seat. They may start their journey online, meet a specialist at the Hub, and then move back to digital channels as needed. Our focus is to make that journey connected and seamless, giving our customers the flexibility to engage with us in the way that works best for them, without losing the person- al guidance that matters when financing a home." BOV Director Deborah Schem- bri congratulated all those who worked to bring the project to life, saying, "From a Board per- spective, this initiative demon- strates how our strategy is trans- lated into tangible action. We are investing not only in prod- ucts and capabilities, but also in the quality of the experience we provide to our customers. In today's environment, success is defined not simply by what we offer, but by how we deliver it. Trust, transparency and respon- siveness are increasingly im- portant differentiators. A home loan is often the beginning of a long-term relationship between a customer and the Bank. It is therefore essential that every interaction reflects the profes- sionalism, expertise and care for which Bank of Valletta is known. The Home Finance Hub model places those qualities at the cen- tre of the customer experience." The opening of the Mos- ta Home Finance Hub marks the next phase in BOV's home lending strategy, reinforcing the Bank's focus on offering compet- itive products, faster service and a more personal customer ex- perience. BOV will be introduc- ing three more Home Finance Hubs over the coming weeks and months, enabling more cus- tomers to benefit from the same dedicated service experience. Artsy, Frieze – MICAS'S Reggie Burrows Hodges: Mela is summer's top five exhibition TOP accolades from interna- tional contemporary art mag- azine Frieze, as well as Arsty, the world's largest online art marketplace, have confirmed Reggie Burrows Hodges: Mela as one of Europe's top five art exhibitions this season. The listing is yet another con- firmation for the Malta Inter- national Contemporary Art Space's artistic programme, which this summer hosted the first European solo exhibition ever for the Californian artist Reggie Burrows Hodges. The authoritative Frieze list- ed the exhibition as one of Au- gust's must-sees for the way Hodges' monumental as well as small-scale works appear to float intuitively amongst the vast galleries, unfolding across four floors of MICAS's historic limestone, glass and steel. "The exhibition's hang feels bold yet organic: works like Mammajamma (all works 2025) are visible from all four floors, creating sightlines that evoke the scale of a stadium, while oth- ers, such as Les Capotées, reveal themselves gradually," writes art historian Melissa Baksh – her full review describes Hodg- es as having created "worlds within worlds in which faceless figures emerge from the dark- ness only to dissolve back into it, like forms glimpsed beneath the surface of an oil-like sea. His complex, incandescent paint- ings ask us to linger in these moments of suspension, in which the everyday is rendered timeless. What emerges is a liv- ing meditation on Malta's spirit: distinct, enduring and wrought by the tide." Artsy, the art buyers' platform with over 3.4 million collectors and enthusiasts, listed Reggie Burrows Hodges: Mela as one of the Mediterranean's "stunning" must-sees for summer 2026. Listed alongside Barcelona's Casa Battló and Marseille's Vielle Charité, Artsy said MI- CAS was "a place not to miss", situated as it within the Sicu- lo-Arabic fusion of Malta's cap- tivating light. "From Marseille, France, to the Greek islands, some of the most compelling shows of the year are taking place in Medi- terranean destinations," Artsy says in listing Malta as an essen- tial destination for art lovers in the summer. "What's inside this summer earns the journey twice over: 'Mela', American artist Reggie Burrows Hodges's first Europe- an solo show. The survey fills all four gallery floors with 30 new paintings made after the artist relocated his studio to Malta for two years, absorbing the island's coastline, its construction work- ers, and its quality of light. "The centerpiece is a monu- mental canvas painted in direct response to Caravaggio's Be- heading of Saint John the Bap- tist (1608), which hangs across the harbour in St. John's Co-Ca- thedral, and is a must-see once there."