Hardship fund to help pay employee salaries of Satabank account holders

Employee salaries of companies with corporate accounts at Satabank are to be paid by The Hardship Fund, the Malta Financial Services Authority said in a statement on Thursday.

The Hardship Fund will be assisting the bank in contacting account holders to set off a controlled release of funds, the MFSA said. All local and personal account holders with deposits between €50 and €15,000 have already been contacted.

"The Central Bank of Malta and the FIAU are working very closely with the MFSA throughout this process. It's in the interest of Satabank customers and the Maltese financial services sector that we demonstrate our ability to work through this in a professional manner," the MFSA said.

The authority described the situation as "unprecedented" and said that a careful and calibrated approach was required to safeguard the integrity of Malta as a financial jurisdiction.

Satabank said that all personal account holders not resident in Malta with balances between €50 and €15,000 will be contacted next week.

"The bank continues to fulfill all its capital and liquidity requirements. Safeguarding depositors has and continues to be the priority for the MFSA," the bank said.