Monday, August 6, 2012 by Martyn Attard, Mosta

Aftermath of National Bank takeover

I wish to inform Joseph Pace Ross (National Bank: Two Sad Stories, August 1) that at the time of the banks takeover (December 1973) I had just started working as an audit clerk with the auditing firm Diamantino, Manfre and Co. This firm had as its main clients about 90 per cent of all parastatal companies, including the Drydocks, Air Malta, Sea Malta, etc. This firm had three partners, the third one being a certain Christopher Mayl, a true gentleman I had the honour to work under at the time. One morning Mr Mayl approached me (I was a semi-senior audit clerk) at work and told me he would like me to visit various bank branches of the newly set-up Bank of Valletta (successor of the National Bank), so as to prepare flow charts of their banking systems. He said that I was later to form part of the audit team of our new parastatal client.

... there was a mega problem with Bank of Valletta...

- Martyn Attard, Mosta

I worked on this job for a few weeks until Mr Mayl called me in to his office and told me that there were objections from the new bank arising from the fact that my mother was a shareholder of the National Bank of Malta, especially since my parents had refused to sign over their shares to the government. I was therefore asked not to carry on with my Bank of Valletta work. A few months later I was again called in to the office by Mr Mayl who this time told me that the boys have grown up and that I was to resume my Bank of Valletta work the following Monday. I woke up early that Monday and, living in Sliema, walked down to High Street near Joinwell to what was called the Tagliaferro Centre, and having taken the lift to the fourth or fifth floor, I was greeted at the door by a Bank of Valletta employee who asked me to wait outside till he got the manager. I realised something was amiss. The manager came out and informed me that he was under strict orders not to let me in. I asked him if I could at least phone my office from there but he repeated that he regrettably was under very strict orders not to let me inside the bank premises. I thus went back home and phoned Mr Mayl at home to update him. Mr Mayl told me to go straight to the office and that he would be there shortly to sort things out. Once in the office I realised that other audit staff were returning there from different parastatal bodies. These apparently had been given the same treatment I received. I soon found out that there was a mega problem with Bank of Valletta which I had nothing to do with, as apparently Mr Mayl had refused to drastically increase some bad debts provision and unless he changed his decision we would lose all our government clients. These clients accounted for the very greater part of the firms income. Apparently Mr Mayl was also declared persona non grata but was not expelled from the island within 24 hours (as was the case with the Italian Nato commander, Admiral Birindell) since he was a Maltese citizen. The next thing we witnessed was Mr Mayls sudden departure from the partnership and the Attorney Generals two sons (both employed as senior audit clerks with the firm) being promoted to partners in his stead... and the firm got all its government clients back, including Bank of Valletta. I trust the above throws more light on life under the Mintoff government in the 1970s.

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