By Neville Borg
Copyright timesofmalta
Two top executives at BNF Bank will be leaving their roles in the coming weeks, the bank announced, describing the departures as “unrelated”. The news comes shortly after the bank’s CEO told Times of Malta that it was back on track after a botched system upgrade that cost over €1 million to fix. On Friday, BNF announced that chief financial officer Mark Micallef will be stepping down from his role in late October, with chief commercial officer George Debono to follow at the end of the year. “These departures are unrelated and have arisen for different reasons,” the bank said in its statement. When approached by Times of Malta, the bank declined to answer whether the resignations were linked to the system upgrade and the expenses left in its wake. Replying to questions, CEO David Power said that “with the most challenging phase of the transformation now successfully behind us, both leaders felt this was the right moment to seek new challenges”. “Leadership transitions are part of every organisation’s journey, with change also creating space for renewal and fresh perspectives,” Power added. While thanking both Micallef and Debono for their service, the bank said it had kicked off the process to find a replacement for both roles. Earlier this month, Power spoke about the tumultuous upgrade which left many of the bank’s customers in the lurch last spring, with some taking to social media to describe being locked out of their accounts or unable to process payments. Power argued that while the upgrade was an “immensely stressful time,” it had ultimately left the bank in a stronger position, with only a handful of issues left to be resolved. However, the departure of two of the bank’s six-strong top management is likely to come as a blow. Micallef, an auditor by profession, was responsible for overseeing the bank’s financial governance and reporting to regulators. Meanwhile, Debono led the bank’s retail, commercial and business banking operations, among other things. Nevertheless, Power said that despite the departures, “the vision we have set for the bank remains unchanged”.
