Passport fund head doesn’t exclude selling NDSF shares in Lombard Bank to public

The possibility of selling the National Development and Social Fund’s shareholding in Lombard Bank to the public is one of a number of options which are being evaluated, the passport fund’s head said.

NDSF chairman David Curmi, asked whether he agreed with the suggestion made by Lombard Bank’s board of directors that the passport fund’s shares in the bank be sold to the public, said that while this option wasn’t being excluded, it could raise certain issues.

In the bank’s annual report for 2018, released on Monday, Lombard Bank chairman Michael Bonello said that the bank’s directors believed that shares held by the fund financed from the sale of citizenship should be divested to the public.

Curmi, however, said this option “sounds nice” but would also raise questions connected to future ownership, strategy and long-term partnership.

“We were clear [last year] when we said that the NDSF is going to dispose of its shares at the right time, in a orderly manner, and to the right persons – this position hasn’t changed,” Curmi told MaltaToday, “But you can’t hurry when undertaking this disposal, and we are evaluating all options.”

“Selling the shares to the public is one possibility, and we are not excluding this, but there are other options… While divesting the shares to the public sounds nice, it also raises certain issues, such as those relating to future ownership, strategy and long-term partnership. It’s quite a complex matter,” he emphasised.

Questioned on which stage the process had now arrived at, Curmi said headway was being made in this regard.

“The process is advancing, and we are evaluating the pros and cons of each of the possible routes we can take to dispose of the shares,” he said.