Bop Portugal and stable shareholder to the New Bank – TVI24

Portugal wants to choose a stable shareholder to the New Bank, an institution that was with non-toxic assets BES collapsed, not aiming at a mere process of sale of capital of that bank, said the governor of the Bank of Portugal (BoP).

Carlos Costa stressed that the resolution of the former Banco Espírito Santo (BES) “was successful”, noting that, unlike what happened in other financial systems, no deposits breaks in the adjustment period, or financing the economy.

“We are not selling (just) the bank, we are in a process of finding a stable shareholder,” said the governor of BP at a conference.

On April 17, BP said it chose five of the seven candidates for acquisition of Novo Banco, who have until the end of June 2015 to submit binding proposals.

Sources and some press reported that Anbang and Fosun Chinese are candidates who have proposed higher initial prices to buy the New Bank, taking the lead over the other applicants.

In 2014, the Fosun, Hong Kong, bought Fidelity insurance – insurance leader in Portugal – and the number 1 of Portuguese private hospitals Espírito Santo Saúde, which belonged to the bankrupt GES. The fund acquired Apollo, also in 2014, Tranquilidade insurance company, which was also part of GES.

Anbang Insurance, the eighth largest life insurer in China, recently made acquisitions abroad, including insurance in South Korea and the Netherlands and a bank in Belgium.

Carlos Costa said that the idea that there is always redemption leads to the idea that it is always protected is not appropriate, and warned: “There is a kind of moral hazard.”

“Today we are going to the area to protect the deposits, but implies three things: quality supervision, which does not guarantee that there is no risk of redemption; a great effort to understand the client side, which has to realize that there are products with risk and no risk, “he said.

He stressed that must also be changes between the relationship between the financial institution and the customer with written confirmation that the customer knows what they are buying.

“Institutions are the primary responsibility of who manages, and shareholders have to hold and supervise those who generate” he said.

“There has to be accountability and control and audit mechanisms. If there is not, the regulator comes late, even later if the information has been tampered with,” he said.