PN calls on BOV to clarify position on €36 million loan to Steward

The Nationalist Party has called on Bank of Valletta to clarify its position on its €35.9 million loan to Steward Healthcare following the latter's bankruptcy filing.

On Monday, Steward, which owns 30 hospitals across eight American states, filed for bankruptcy in Texas.

A day later, the PN noted that hundreds of thousands of Maltese citizens have trusted their savings and even invested their funds in BOV.

The party said that it is in the interest of the citizens and the Maltese financial system that BOV clarifies its position on the court case which annulled Steward's hospital concession. 

"The institutions that have a duty to regulate the bank should assure that laws are abided by in this case," the PN concluded. 

A CBS News investigation into Steward revealed that private equity investors had siphoned hundreds of millions of dollars from community hospitals with devastating public health consequences. The company's bankruptcy filing lists 30 creditors who are owed a total of more than $500 million, including the U.S. government, which is owed more than $32 million to the federal government in reimbursements for insurance overpayments.

Last year, BOV's top management stood by the bank’s decision to loan €36 million to Steward Healthcare, insisting that its loan approval procedures are of high standard.