I received with great sadness the news that Joe was called to eternal rest. Joe and I shared a long and pleasant friendship as banking colleagues. I was privileged to have him join a small team which I headed in 1956, soon after he joined Barclays Bank DCO as a junior clerk, when the  bank’s Malta Manager’s Office was established at 233 Kingsway, Valletta with the particular task of centralising expertise in the control of the bank’s advances to customers spread among the then expanding branch network in Malta and Gozo.

Joe quickly distinguished himself as a very intelligent person with a clear and analytical mind. His other attributes were his calmness in working even under pressure and an ability to produce a concise and clear exposition of the merits, and risks, pertaining to loans and overdrafts proposals put forward by branch managers for amounts in excess of their discretionary powers.

Joe was the first of a number of other staff members who, over the years, joined my department and who, eventually, made it to top banking posts.

Joe was the first of a number of other staff members who, over the years, joined my department and who, eventually, made it to top banking posts

Joe’s talents were put to good use also when he was seconded to the Investment Finance Bank as chief executive and also when a small number of Mid-Med Bank senior executives were loaned to Bank of Valletta to shore up their top management team soon after that bank took over from the Council of Administration of the former National Bank of Malta.

Throughout his various postings, Joe and I kept in touch and, by the time I myself resigned in 1980 from the post of Mid-Med Bank’s first general manager, he was already manager of the bank’s main branch in Merchants Street, Valletta.

Joe even made further headway when HSBC Bank Malta bought out Mid-Med Bank. The last time I met Joe in person was some years ago at a time when he was grieving the sudden loss of his brother Fr Charles Caruana SJ, then provincial of the Jesuits in Malta. Before that I had the pleasure of meeting Joe monthly when, after his retirement from banking, he joined me on the board of a company in the private sector.

To Marie and his daughter Stephanie, my deepest condolences. May the Lord grant my good friend Joe eternal rest.