“Incalculable damages” caused by last year’s controversial Banif Bank resolution has prompted 40 investors to lodge a court action against the Bank of Portugal (BdP).
The “ação de impugnação” seeks to outlaw the resolution and see the bank returned to Portuguese hands.
As Económico website explains, the complainants – mainly investors based in Madeira – demand “that instead of Resolution, the BdP should remove Banif’s banking licence and advance with the liquidation of the bank”.
According to the extensive document that entered Lisbon’s administrative court on Friday, the resolution undertaken by BdP “could not be justified” under Portuguese Law or the European Resolution Directive, as it implied a “very much greater loss” to shareholders and creditors than if the bank had immediately entered liquidation.
Witnesses due to be called include former Banif ‘boss’ Jorge Tomé, the president of the Portuguese Order of Accountants António Domingues de Azevedo and other banking heavyweights.
Alleging “dark business dealings”, the action frequently refers to what it stresses were “absolutely illegal” decisions which now will be analysed, point by point, by Portugal’s lawmakers.
As Económico explains, the BdP “surprised the market” on December 20 with its announcement that Banif and the bulk of its business was being sold to Santander Totta for €150 million.
“The operation involved State support estimated at €2.255 million”, adds the site.
The sale was variously criticised as “disastrous” and “catastrophic” in its immediate aftermath, with leftwingers blaming the mess on the centre-right government of the time, and calling BdP’s resolution “a crime against the interests of the State and of the country”.
natasha.donn@algarveresident.com
