Novo Banco – the ‘good bank’ that has declared nothing but losses since its inception – is said to be ‘expecting’ to ask the Resolution Fund for another €540 million.
Declaring losses this time round of €400 million euros, the latest ‘request’ will be going to a fund that has never actually had any money.
Thus the ultimate costs fall to the Portuguese taxpayer which has been hammered by this situation since Novo Banco’s ‘bad brother’ BES collapsed five years ago costing the State over five billion euros.
Then and since the Portuguese have been repeatedly told that no public money will be used to shore up the losses.
Unfortunately this has not been the case, explain reports this week, revisiting the sad and sorry mess which, up till now, has not even seen any allegedly guilty parties reach a courtroom.
Says ECO online, Novo Banco’s latest losses are almost double those of the same period in 2018.
CEO António Ramalho insists however on putting things slightly differently. He presents two sets of reports, one for the ‘good bank’, and another for ‘the legacy’ of the bad.
In this way, the good side of the ‘good bank’ has had some success: an apparent €113 million profit.
But the legacy has seen losses of 513 million euros, hence the likelihood of the bank ‘requesting’ another massive top-up.
PCP communists have thundered that it is high time the bank was nationalised. Owned as it is 75% by American equity company Lone Star, fears are that Lone Star are requesting State funds in order to get the bank ready for a sale in 2021.
