Kevin Cardona named new BOV Chief Financial Officer

On Friday (today), Bank of Valletta plc (BOV) announced that Kevin Cardona has been appointed Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of the bank.

BOV confirmed that regulatory approval for his appointment has already been granted.

Mr Cardona had been serving as Acting CFO since the departure of Izabela Banas from the position back in February. Ms Banas has since been announced as MeDirect Bank (Malta) plc’s new Group CFO and Executive Director.

In his new position, Mr Cardona will “assume a strategic role in the overall management of the bank and take responsibility for all aspects of finance and balance sheet management,” BOV said in its statement.

His appointment represents a significant step for BOV, coming just a few weeks after it announced a record pre-tax profit of €251.6 million in 2023, the best-ever posted by a Maltese listed company. This prompted CEO Kenneth Farrugia to dub the bank’s performance in 2023 as “undoubtedly one of the best experienced during its 50-year history.”

Mr Cardona is a Certified Public Accountant with over 23 years of experience working in the banking industry, having worked at BOV since 2000. Over the course of those years, he accumulated extensive experience in risk management and commercial banking, spanning more than 17 years. Mr Cardona’s primary focus areas encompass credit portfolio management, corporate finance, data analytics, regulation, budgeting, forecasting, as well as financial and credit risk management.

Mr Cardona has been heading the Credit Portfolio Reporting and Control function within BOV’s Business Banking section since December 2010. In that position, he has dealt with strategy-related matters, functional risk management, reporting, finance and performance management, specialised credit management, as well as being the first line of defence from a risk and compliance perspective.

He holds a Masters in Financial Management from Heriot Watt University, specialising in finance, risk management and quantitative methods. Additionally, he is a Fellow member of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA), and also holds first degrees in taxation and accounting.