PS asks Banco de Portugal to urgently send the documentation on the case of Carlos Costa to BIC

The PS Parliamentary Group has asked Banco de Portugal to forward urgently to the Assembly of the Republic the documentation regarding the involvement of former Governor Carlos Costa in relation to BIC Portugal/EuroBic.

In a request sent to the central bank through the Parliamentary Committee on Budget and Finance, the Socialists believe that after the prime minister responded to questions posed by the PSD on the matter, “however, the basic principles that motivated the time and the way that the former governor Banco de Portugal stepped in with well-known connections and such delicate temporality.”

PS believes that the responses given by António Costa to the PSD “should raise concern in the Assembly of the Republic” as “they indicate that there has been a high-risk intervention by the Bank of Portugal that has called into question the agreement reached between the shareholders of BPI in April 2016 ”, which led to the departure of Isabelle dos Santos from the shareholders of BPI and the strengthening of the positions of the Spanish CaixaBank.

In July 2017, BIC Portugal was renamed EuroBic after a court decision forced a brand change.

The Socialists are asking the central bank, now run by Mario Centeno, to provide parliament “as a matter of urgency” with information on “the nature and substance of the intervention of the former governor of Banco de Portugal, Carlos Costa, in the EuroBic process, focusing on the facts that occurred during the week of 10 to 17 April 2016 of the year”.

The PS Judicial Division also requests “information on the technical background, supporting documentation and exchange of correspondence in relation to this interference, namely the time and manner” in which it took place.

In a text dated Wednesday, subscribers refer to the fact that on April 10, 2016, “after an intense negotiation process, BPI shareholders publicly announced that an agreement had been reached to ensure that Banco BPI would solve the problem of exceeding the large risk limit and thus avoid sanctions measures that would put jeopardized the bank”, just “however, a week later the agreement collapsed”.

“Three days after the announcement of the agreement, on April 13, 2016, the Government became aware that the “English” Isabel dos Santos questions the agreement reached by the shareholders of BPI” and that “this was the result of interference by the governor of Banco de Portugal in relation to EuroBic,” they add.

For PS, it was “clarified that the ‘faithful, direct and informal – and without publicity'” contact between the Prime Minister and the then Governor of Banco de Portugal was only to share information about the imminent collapse of the shareholder agreement and to analyze the “serious risks to stability financial system” resulting from this failure.”

The only thing that remains unclear is the intervention of Carlos Costa in this process, which, according to the socialists, will jeopardize the shareholder agreement in BPI.

“It is important to know what new or urgent facts or what result of the deadline or process caused the intervention of Banco de Portugal Governor Carlos Costa at this moment, which jeopardized the difficult agreement reached by BPI shareholders,” the statement said. .

The subscribers write that “The Bank of Portugal is under an obligation to inform the Parliament of the nature, content and grounds of such interference, since this clarification is of obvious public interest”, and acknowledge that in the face of “possible restrictions on banking or professional secrecy”, the bank headed by Mario Centeno ” may send to Parliament the necessary clarifications with a note of their confidential nature.

The request was signed by PS parliamentary leader Eurico Brillante Diaz, bench vice-president Jamila Madeira and socialist coordinator in the Budget and Finance Commission Miguel Cabrita, as well as MP Miguel Costa. matos,

On November 23, the PSD Parliamentary Group sent 12 questions to the Prime Minister to clarify statements made by former Banco de Portugal Governor Carlos Costa both about the Banif resolution and about expelling businesswoman Isabel dos Santos from the BIC.

Part of the PSD’s questions focused on the alleged government intervention in Banco de Portugal following the accusations of Carlos Costa outlined in the book “O Governador”.

At stake, according to the former governor, and in a version disputed by the prime minister (who has already announced legal action against Carlos Costa for “false and offensive” statements), is a phone call to António Costa on April 12, 2016, in which the prime minister allegedly told him that “the daughter of the president of a country friendly to Portugal should not be treated badly”, which he understood as a request to the Bank of Portugal not to dismiss the Angolan businesswoman Isabel dos Santos (daughter of the then President of Angola, José Eduardo dos Santos) from the BIC administration.

In his PSD responses, António Costa stated that he never took steps with Banco de Portugal “or anyone else” in favor of the suitability of Isabel dos Santos, ensuring that he only acted to remove the blockade of shareholders in the BPI.

In a letter to Parliament, the Prime Minister emphasized that EuroBic “has not been the subject of any action” by his government and that “only Banco de Portugal can assess the grounds for its interference in the determination of the Board of Directors” of this bank, “about which has never been publicly reported or communicated” to his management.

“At that time, there was another process involving the engineer Isabel dos Santos, related to the stability of the financial system and the national economy, which required the most attention from the government: the situation with the blockade of shareholders, which was checked by the BPI. bank,” said the head of the executive branch.

JPS (PMF) // SLX

Lusa/The End