Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/404410
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 26 OCTOBER 2014 5 The National Bank of Malta was hit by a run on its reserves back in December 1972, and its original shareholders claim the Central Bank of Malta had refused to act as lender of last resort, and even blocked at- tempts by Barclays Bank to loan money to the NBOM. In four days, the run on the bank saw enormous withdrawals totalling at least Lm2.5 million. Around 350 shareholders lost their shares after they were forced to sign them over to the government, with- out compensation. Micovic, whose firm once owned the Tagliaferro bank, one of the in- stitutional owners of the National Bank, was 27 when soldiers and policemen – not bank employees or shareholders – went to her un- cle's home at 3 a.m. to demand the handover of the bank's keys, under pain of arrest. Prime Minister Dom Mintoff had threatened in parliament that if the bank's directors refused, he would remove the limited liability of the bank's shareholders, extend it be- yond the bank's capital to their per- sonal assets, and withdraw the four million pounds in parastatal funds which were deposited at the bank. mvella@mediatoday.om.mt million offer came five before March 2013 election 'Shareholders' committee discussed the financial and legal implications of the offer so close to the election, and its morality' The National Bank of Malta insignia, still affixed to BOV's Republic Street, Valletta branch serves as a reminder of the 1972 run on the private bank's reserves, shortly before being nationalised News