CMVM President Heared Today at the TAP Inquiry Panel

The Chairman of the Securities Market Commission (CMVM) will be heard this Thursday before the TAP Inquiry Committee to clarify information sent to the market by the company about the departure of Alexandra Reis.

Luis Laginha de Souza was the sixth person heard by the parliamentary commission of inquiry into the TAP cases, out of a list of about six dozen, following the departure of former administrator Alexandra Reis from the airline with half a million euros in compensation.

The responsible person of the financial market regulator should be questioned again about the information sent by TAP to the market, about the departure of Alexandra Reis.

In Parliament on Tuesday, TAP Chairman Manuel Beja said that CMVM has filed a case against the company in connection with the announcement of the departure of former administrator Alexandra Reis.

However, the still “chairman” of the airline said that he did not yet know the contents of the notice, as he had received it on his way to the Assembly of the Republic.

In February 2022, the company announced that the former director had resigned, adding that she had decided to “close this chapter of her professional life” and take on “new challenges”.

Following the revelation of the €500,000 compensation, in December, Alexandra Reis stated in a written statement to Lusa that the agreement to terminate “as administrator of the TAP universe companies” and withdraw her “contract to work with TAP SA, as requested by the company, as well as its public communication, were agreed between the legal teams of both parties, who are tasked with ensuring the implementation of best practices and strict adherence to all legal requirements.

Two days later, on December 28, in a CMVM clarification, the airline mentioned that the resignation submitted by Alexandra Reis “came after a negotiation process initiated by TAP in the sense of reaching a consensus by an agreement to terminate all existing contractual relations between Alexandra Reis and TAP.”

In January, CMVM announced that it was evaluating information provided by TAP about Alexandra Reis’s departure with “great caution”, adding that in the event of an administrative offense, it would be reported “as soon as possible”.

In an interview with radio Antena 1 and the magazine Jornal de Negócios on March 18, Laginha de Souza did not want to say at what stage the CMVM oversight action is, limiting himself to making sure that the institution is attentive to everything that is published and that can be of added value to process.

At the first hearing before the Parliamentary Committee on Budget and Finance as President of the CMVM in January, Laginho de Souza was asked several times about the information provided by TAP about the departure of Alexandra Reis, but the vague answers of the person in charge displeased several MPs who insisted on the question of the actions of the CMVM on case and whether PTP is considered to have provided false information.

“The information available was not what it should be. Then the consequences that may or may not have in terms of an administrative offense is an analysis that needs to be carried out with great care,” said Laginha de Souza, adding that he cannot enter the case precisely because of the secrecy to which the CMVM is subject. but that it would “not take more time than is strictly necessary” to reach a decision.

TAP Executive President Christine Urmier-Widener said in Parliament in January that the messages sent to CMVM about compensation for Alexandra Reis were advised by lawyers and guaranteed documents and “written evidence” of the entire process. .