Lisbon, July 31, 2024 (Lusa) - The chairman of BPI on Wednesday accused those involved in the economic and political "fall" of BES 10 years ago of having memory problems and that it is necessary to remember and take responsibility, also pointing to the supervisor at the time.
"People have to remember the things they do and take responsibility, [...] but everyone, not just those who were in the economic area, but also those who were in the political area, who then also had a very significant memory problem," said the chairman of BPI, João Pedro Oliveira e Costa, at a press conference in Lisbon, on the occasion of the release of the first half results.
BES disappeared ten years ago, news that, on Sunday, 3 August 2014, fell with a thud despite the succession of scandals involving the group and led to strong criticism of the Bank of Portugal for acting too late.
According to calculations made by Lusa, the BES resolution has so far cost the public coffers around €8 billion, mainly as a result of the initial capitalisation of Novo Banco (the transition bank created on the same day as the BES resolution) and the recapitalisations subsequently made by the Resolution Fund (FdR), but the accounts are still far from closed.
"Fortunately, BPI in direct terms was very little affected, we had no connection, but it had an impact, we're still paying the Resolution Fund," emphasised Oliveira e Costa, considering that what the banking supervisor could have done at the time “was not properly classified”.
The chairman of BPI said that what happened with BES "was a huge lesson" for everyone and that "it's important to remember what happened".
"The great advantage we have learnt from this case is that nowadays, the supervisory rules are much more effective, more efficient, and more intrusive, and we even have much better prepared supervisory agents," he said.
Oliveira e Costa said that the Bank of Portugal currently has a "very positive" and "pedagogical" intervention and said that the banks' managements themselves are now more competent and credible.
"There's a whole new generation in banking that thinks differently and is more professional. We're less bankers and more bankers and I think that's good, it's positive," he said.
Ten years after the collapse of BES, the main criminal case against Ricardo Salgado, who spent more than 20 years at the head of Banco Espírito Santo (GES) and Grupo Espírito Santo (GES), in which he is accused of 65 crimes, is due to start on 15 October.
MPE/ADB // ADB.
Lusa
