HSBC field candidate for BOV board of directors

Matthew Vella

Shaun Wallis, the chief executive of HSBC Malta, has seconded the nomination of a board director at its rival Bank of Valletta in a highly unexpected move for BOV, this newspaper can confirm – leaving astounded BOV shareholders who are aware of this nomination seriously concerned over the news.
As a representative of HSBC, Wallis seconded the nomination by Rizzo and Farrugia Stockbrokers of Paul Testaferrata Moroni Viani for election to the BOV board of directors.
The move is being closely watched by BOV insiders.
Moroni Viani is a director on the board of Maltacom, the telecoms company where only last week fel­­low director Sonny Portelli was appointed to the HSBC board following the resignation of Louis Farrugia.
His brother Peter Testaferrata Moroni Viani is also an HSBC board director.
Paul Moroni Viani’s nomination brings the number of candidates this year to seven.
As a minority shareholder with 530,000 shares in Bank of Valletta, HSBC has every right to nominate directors to the six-person board. But news of the candidature can be expected to raise eyebrows over HSBC’s attempt at fielding its candidate on the BOV board, especially over issues of confidentiality and access to price-sensitive information.
Normally, shareholders voting in Dec­ember’s AGM are not informed of who nominates the candidates to the board.