PS Request Approved to Request BdP Documents on Carlos Costa’s BIC Action

The Committee on Budget and Finance approved this Wednesday, after a controversial vote, PS’s request to the Bank of Portugal to urgently send to Parliament the documentation of former Governor Carlos Costa’s participation in BIC Portugal/EuroBic.

PS requested the potestative right to vote in the Commission on Budget and Finance (COF) on the already announced on Friday request of his authorship, that the central bank, now headed by Mario Centeno, provide Parliament with “a of urgency”, information on “the nature and essence of the intervention of the former Governor of Banco de Portugal Carlos Costa to the EuroBic process focusing on the events that took place during the week of April 10-17, 2016”.

The application was approved with an abstention by the PSD and a positive vote from the other parties after an attempt by the PCP to keep it from being voted down and going directly to the Bank of Portugal (BdP).

PS justified the request as “the best way” to “respect the Banco de Portugal and fulfill its obligations” and MP Miguel Matos argued that by being sent on behalf of the commission, the regulator would be able to send documents to parliament that are confidential and therefore treated as such, which would not have happened if they had been requested through a parliamentary group.

Deeming it a “political manoeuvre”, Social Democrat MP Hugo Carneiro immediately rebutted the Socialists’ argument, stating that the model used by Prime Minister António Costa could be used to explain statements by the former governor of Banco de Portugal, Carlos Costa, as regards the decisions of Banif, as well as in relation to the exclusion of businesswoman Isabel dos Santos from BIC,

On the other hand, Hugo Carneiro said that “if the BdP is going to answer this, it should do so with all the answers as to what is being asked”: “It’s not about being selective. It must be in full. We do not agree that the responses are selective. Pay attention to navigation,” he said.

“If the answer of the BJP touches on issues or topics related to bank secrecy, we know – and we even look at it, perhaps willingly and with pleasure, that it will be from now on – that the parliament was out of the context of the commission of inquiry, it has the right to ask the BJP everything she wants, which is protected by banking secrecy,” he stressed.

In a request to be sent on behalf of the Parliamentary Committee on Budget and Finance, the Socialists believe that after the Prime Minister responded to the questions posed by the PSD on this issue, “however, the main principles that motivated the time and the way in which the former governor Banco de Portugal stepped in with well-known connections and such delicate temporality.”

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

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

The PS Judicial Division is also requesting from the BdP “information on the technical basis, supporting documentation and exchange of correspondence in relation to this intervention, namely the time and manner” in which it took place.

In the text, 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 that ensured that Banco BPI would solve the problem of exceeding the limit on high risks and, thus, it avoided sanctions measures that could jeopardize the bank”, only that “however, the agreement collapsed after a week”.

“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, jeopardizing 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 by former Banco de Portugal Governor Carlos Costa both about Banif’s resolution and the exclusion of 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, reportedly told him that “you can’t mistreat the daughter of the president of a country friendly to Portugal”, in what he understood to be a request to the Bank of Portugal not to fire Angolan businesswoman Isabel dos Santos (daughter of then Angolan President 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 Isabel dos Santos’ suitability, stating that he only acted to try to remove the blockade of shareholders in the BPI.

In a letter to Parliament, the Prime Minister emphasized that EuroBic “has not been the object 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.