FIMBank senior management meets in Malta

FIMBank Group, a global provider of trade finance services based in Malta, recently held its annual Senior Management Meeting on the Island, during which executives from the Group's offices in New York, Sao Paulo, London, Moscow, Istanbul, Dubai, Cairo, Mumbai, Singapore and its Malta head office met to review the Group's performance and recent developments affecting the Group.

FIMBank Group Chairman John C. Grech welcomed the participants and explained the process that led to last January's Extraordinary General Meeting, where an overwhelming majority of shareholders approved the acquisition of over 50% of the Bank's issued share capital by two major Middle Eastern banks, both of which form part of the premiere investment holding company KIPCO Group.

Referring to this landmark development for FIMBank, Grech stated that "Although we live in a period of uncertainty we have always had a clear understanding of what we are trying to achieve, this has also been understood by our new shareholders.

With the increased resources that will be at our disposal, our performance measure will remain that of maximizing shareholder value."

Welcoming the senior managers, FIMBank President Margrith Lütschg-Emmenegger updated them with the Group's performance in 2012 and provided a review of the budget and targets for 2013.

She congratulated those present on their achievements during what turned out to be another successful year, despite challenging economic and market conditions.

Lütschg-Emmenegger's presentation focused on the planned increase in capital and future opportunities for the Group. She stated that "An equity injection of USD160 million and the support of investment grade shareholders will not only increase our capability and allow us to pursue opportunities for growth, but will also accelerate the execution of our strategic factoring joint venture expansion."

The FIMBank Group President's address was followed by a creative workshop session with the theme 'The Quality of your Thinking will determine the Quality of your Future' led by Donna Pace, a Master Trainer of the de Bono Thinking Systems Tool which is concerned with process improvement, organisational innovation, strategic leadership and personal creativity.

Apart from allowing participants the opportunity to network, the meeting also had its fun side, with a team building exercise held at the Limestone Heritage in Siġġiewi, where participants learnt how to sculpt and develop their creativity.

The teams created works of art which will be embellishing the Bank's new head office in St. Julian's.