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Events 43 maltatoday, Sunday, 31 auguSt 2014 L-Istrina and WaterAid Ghana Project will be the beneficiaries of a fund raising triathlon involving some of Malta's leading athletes and organised by the HSBC Malta Foundation. This will be held on Sunday 7 September. On the day, HSBC Bank Malta staff members together with HS- BC UK Contact Centre Malta col- leagues, families and friends will team up with the athletes, includ- ing Sicily to Malta swimmer and world record holder Nicky Far- rugia. Nicky is committed to complet- ing the 70km Triathlon, linking the Maltese Islands. HSBC's well known marathon runner Jonath- an Balzan will be leading the run with Nicky, together with the Bank 's senior management who will be supporting throughout the 4 disciplines on the day. "While I look forward to com- pleting this triathlon, everyone is invited to join in and set their own personal goals," said Nicky Farrugia. "Our ultimate purpose is to raise funds for l-Istrina and WaterAid projects activities un- derway in remote communities of Ghana. This will help ensure that such Ghanian families have access to clean water which will dramati- cally improve their lives by ensur- ing better hygene and sanitation, increase life expectancy, enable more time and resources for chil- drens' education. Improved access to clean water can save thousands of lives, especially those of chil- dren, due to diseases emanating from contaminated water." HSBC Istrina & Water Aid Ghana Project - Gozo to Malta Challenge Triathlon 2014 starts at 07:00hrs in Għarb Gozo and will finish at San Anton Gardens in Attard at 5.00pm. Participants can select their preferred activit y ranging from swimming, cycling, running, walking including a kids bike ride. More information about the event is available on HSBC Mal- ta's website www.hsbc.com.mt SPUrred on by enthusiasm of the GO Cares team, GO employees joined up to undertake voluntary work at Mount Carmel Hospital. dedicating time and personal ef- fort, they helped renovate the liv- ing, dining and visitors' rooms of the Male rehabilitation Ward, and helped out with cleaning the green areas of the visitors parking and entrance roundabout. Josephine Grima, Senior Manag- er Hr Operations at GO, said, "Fol- lowing a number of informative and interactive sessions on mental health and mental well-being to our employees, by one of Mount Carmel's senior psychologists, the GO Cares committee took the ini- tiative of coordinating with Mary rose Meli, Public relations Officer at Mount Carmel, voluntary work at the hospital. "We believe in the importance of promoting awareness on the sup- port services available at Mount Carmel and in the importance of contributing towards creating a positive environment to facilitate the rehabilitation of those who re- quire these services." In addition to performing gar- dening, sanding and painting work, employees also contributed €1,000 through the employee GO Cares donation fund. The money, which was then dou- bled by GO, was used to provide sanding and painting materials, as well as suitable tables and chairs for the dining room of the Male rehabilitation ward. The living room's old television set was also replaced with a f lat screen 47" tele- vision, coupled with a subscription for GO Sports, to improve patients' overall comfort while staying at the rehabilitation centre. Clifton Grima, Chief Opera- tions Officer of Mount Carmel Hospital, thanked GO for taking the initiative to raise awareness amongst their employees about the importance of taking care of their Mental Health both at home and at the workplace for their optimum wellbeing. Grima congratulated and thanked the GO employees that were involved in this activity for dedicating some of their free time to carry out work to improve the environment of patients. He hopes that GO has set the example for other companies to follow suit. "The project was well supported by employees who freely gave their time and money to provide better living conditions, which patients deserve. Our efforts helped to im- prove the working environment for all the doctors, nurses and support staff who do such a great job at the hospital and in delivering commu- nity services," concluded Josephine Grima. GO employees volunteer at Mount Carmel Hospital Central Bank Financial Stability Report 2013 The Central Bank of Malta is pub- lishing the sixth edition of its Fi- nancial Stability report, covering the year 2013. The report covers developments in the Maltese fi- nancial system, identifying poten- tial risks and vulnerabilities and evaluating the system's resilience to such risks. The report mainly concentrates on those banks which have significant links to the Maltese economy, referred to as the core domestic banks. developments in the non-core domestic and inter- national banks, as well as insurance companies and investment funds are analysed separately. The report first sets, as a back- drop, the local and international macroeconomic and financial envi- ronment within which the financial system operates. It proceeds to ana- lyse the financial stability risks and vulnerabilities identified in the fi- nancial system and assesses the re- silience of the core domestic banks against these challenges, even un- der stress scenarios. The report then continues with an analysis of the other components of the financial system. It concludes with an assessment of the identi- fied risks and highlights the meas- ures addressing them. The report also contains several special articles namely on State Aid; developments in the eCB's Asset Quality review and Stress Tests; the Bank Lending Survey results; the revised Banking rule 09; the Credit risk Threshold Model and on Macro-prudential Policy. despite the fragility of the exter- nal macroeconomic environment and a fragmented euro area finan- cial system, the report concludes that in 2013, the domestic financial sector remained sound with risks remaining broadly stable. This was supported by economic growth as well as regulatory developments. during 2013, the balance sheet size of the overall banking system contracted from 774.8% of GdP to 697.3% of GdP. This was mainly the result of voluntary reduction in operations of a small number of international banks owing to con- solidation of activities. The balance sheet of the core domestic banks expanded by 2.5% reflecting to a large extent a rise in deposits which resulted in higher holdings of secu- rities, and an increase in placements with the Central Bank of Malta. The loan portfolio, which re- mained the main asset compo- nent, rose marginally, as lending to households increased, partly offset by higher net loan repayments to the non-financial corporate sector. The core domestic banks continued to maintain prudently diversified investment portfolios. Customer deposits remained the main funding source for the core domestic banks, rising by 5.8%, reaching almost 85% of total liabilities. As a result, the loan-to-deposit ra- tio stood at 66.5%, significantly be- low the euro area average of 105.8%. Wholesale and euro system funding declined and remained low. Credit risk remained a key chal- lenge for the banks arising particu- larly from specific weak performing sectors. Non-performing loans of the core banks reached 9.2% of to- tal loans by the end of the year. In response the banks increased their provisioning levels further, result- ing in improved coverage ratios. In addition, the introduction of the re- vised Banking rule Br/09 as at end- 2013, mitigated further credit risk. The Financial Stability report can be downloaded from www. centralbankmalta.org or obtained in printed form from the Central Bank of Malta. Download the MaltaToday App now Island Buses Malta Limited Island Buses Malta Limited (IBML) would like to refer to sev- eral queries submitted to it by various sectors of the media as to whether it intends to appeal the decision declaring Autobuses Ur- banos de Leon S.L. as 'Preferred Bidder' in terms of the expression of Interest Notice for the Provi- sion of Scheduled Bus Services in Malta And Gozo (l-eOI). IBML would like to note that, while it is of the opinion that it has the right and the grounds to appeal this decision, it does not deem it appropriate and in the interest of the general public to seek this route, in view of the fact that such an appeal may hinder the authorities in their negotia- tions with the 'Preferred Bidder'. IBML, being a company whose members have a long and exten- sive experience in the sector of passenger transport, feels that the Maltese public has the right to have access to an efficient and top quality public transport service, as dictated by the eOI. It is for such reason that IBML submitted its detailed offer in response to the eOI in the be- lief that it would have been and is able to provide a service which the Maltese general public truly deserves. HSBC Malta Foundation holds Challenge 2014 in aid of L-Istrina and WaterAid Ghana Project Triathlete Nicky Farrugia (right), who will be completing the entire 70km fund raising triathlon, with (from left) HSBC's Gym Manager Charles Demanuele, HSBC Malta VRC & Operations Manager Andre` Catania and HSBC Malta CEO Mark Watkinson.