Bank of Valletta plc - Petition for Right to a Fair Hearing

On 2 February 2021, Bank of Valletta plc announced that further to its application before the European Court of Human Rights (“ECHR”) in respect of the Bank’s complaint that the Italian law does not provide a remedy for a fair hearing in relation to the Deiulemar case before the courts of Torre Annunziata in Italy, the ECHR decided that BOV’s application is, at this stage of the proceedings, inadmissible. The basis of the ECHR’s decision is that BOV still has remedies to exhaust in Italy regarding its fair hearing concerns and not because it considered the Bank’s complaint unmeritorious.

BOV reiterated that the claim against it by the curators of the Deiulemar Group is entirely without any legal or factual basis, as has been unequivocally confirmed by opinions provided by independent legal experts. The Bank will continue to pursue its defence vigorously, including its fair hearing concerns, before the Italian courts and, if those prove unsuccessful, it will petition the ECHR again once the Italian remedies will have been fully exhausted.