The Malta Financial Services Authority has been investigating various allegations of practices and activities which have proved detrimental to investors in the La Valette Multi Manager Property Fund („the Fund‟).

On the 15th June 2011, the Authority imposed an administrative penalty of €197,995 on Bank of Valetta plc („BOV‟), as custodian of the Fund in terms of article 16A of the Investment Services Act. BOV was found to have failed to act with the level of care and diligence required of licence holders with regards to the conduct of their business, to have wrongly applied and wrongly monitored the application by others of investment restrictions and to have failed to maintain sufficient records.

On the same date, an administrative penalty of €149,821 was imposed by the Authority on Valletta Fund Management Ltd („VFM‟) as Managers of the Fund in terms of article 16A of the Investment Services Act for breaches of various requirements.

The Authority is also investigating allegations of mis-selling of the Fund to investors not qualifying as “experienced investors” and allegations that persons connected with the Bank or with the Fund took advantage of privileged information to redeem their shares in the Fund prior to Fund redemptions being suspended. The reports on these investigations are nearing completion but it is not possible to give exact conclusion dates.

The Authority has sent a copy of the report on its findings and conclusions resulting in the sanctions imposed on 15th June, 2011, to all those that have to date filed a complaint with the Authority.

A copy of the report has also been mailed to persons who appear to the Authority to have an interest in the matter to which the report relates, as provided in Article 19 of the Malta Financial Services Authority Act.