I share the disaffection aired by Arnold Cassola in his Talking Point ‘Directors must share responsibility’ (February 1).

While I endorse his plea that directors should be held personally accountable for any lack of responsibility, it may well prove rather difficult to identify gross negligence. The question arises as to who will bell the cat. If it were not for the initiative of financial consultant Paul Bonello, of Finco Group, those of us who participated in the Multi Manager Property Fund would have forfeited our entire holdings. Thanks to him we have recovered a substantial part of our holdings.

One would have expected the Malta Financial Services Authority to start calling the shots but, very surprisingly, it hardly entered the fray.

The issue, now, is whether it is justifiable that the dividend is withheld again in May. I wonder whether the MFSA is competent to investigate this matter.

The directors, I am sure, are fully aware of their moral responsibility towards shareholders and it would be useless harking back to past issues that have long been dead and buried. It amounts to no less than seeking our pound of flesh, which, in the end, leaves us more or less where we are.

This in no way invalidates the issue Cassola raised. On the contrary, the bank directors should shoulder their moral responsibility, as Cassola forcefully contended, in the present scenario by seeking the shareholders’ interests, forgive the unintended pun, and declare a dividend. The past two omissions, should never constitute a precedent.

Once the Bank of Valletta has made a contingency reserve for court litigation in Italy, it becomes morally incumbent on the board to declare a dividend once the bank posts a profit. I would like to see more contributions like Cassola’s spurring the board to bear in mind the hardships of the small shareholders.

Withholding dividends is tantamount to sacrificing the shareholders’ interest to shield the directors’ past lack of foresight, which may or may not constitute gross negligence, even though they remain at all times morally responsible.

Cassola rightly affirmed the directors should answer for damages caused: in this case non-distribution of dividends may indeed constitute damages.