The Malta Union of Bank Employees on Friday insisted “only genuine bidders” should be shortlisted to take over the Malta operations of HSBC.
In a statement reacting to Times of Malta’s latest report that Armenian bank Ardshinbank has submitted a bid for HSBC Malta, the MUBE insisted that so far the consultation process related to the sale of the bank has been limited to one of “update” rather than identifying a preferred bidder.
“It is not easy to replace a global bank such as HSBC in Malta, which makes it more relevant for both the local banking sector and the Maltese economy to have only genuine bidders shortlisted. … Anything short of being fit and proper will leave MUBE no other option but to act accordingly in line with local and European legislation,” MUBE president William Portelli said.
Ardshinbank is believed to be one of two Eastern European banks currently vying for HSBC’s Maltese operations. The identity of the other bank is not known. Hungarian bank OTP was one of the early frontrunners but it backed down from the deal after reputational concerns were flagged. APS also withdrew its interest.
HSBC was originally scheduled to select its preferred bidder by the end of spring with a total of six bidders believed to have expressed their interest.
The MUBE reiterated that the selected bidder should be “one that pledges to apply high standards to governance and is ready to promote best practice at all times”.
The union insisted it wants to be “involved in a timely manner and not when it is a fait accompli” in the process and pledged “full cooperation” with those bidders “who are ready to share the same values and are open to exchanging useful information to facilitate due diligence where it relates to resources and their terms and conditions.”
Portelli added that the union has kept in contact with both the local bank’s management team and the international HSBC group. It has also engaged with those bidders “who have been receptive to the Union’s approach, engaging with the regulators, especially once information became scarce while media reports publicised different potential scenarios”.