In a timeframe that has become long and bendy, Portugal’s Finance Minister, Mário Centeno, said today that he hopes the process of selling Novo Banco will be completed "in the coming weeks."
"The expectation is that this process will take place in the coming weeks, but I would not like to set a date because there are negotiations that involve not only the European Central Bank but also other relevant actors in this process," the minister said in Lisbon at a joint press conference with the French Minister of Finance, Michel Sapin, in which they addressed the future of the European Union.
Asked by journalists about Novo Banco, whose sale to Lone Star "is only waiting for the decision of the ECB," Centeno said that the process of selling the bank is in a "crucial phase" and is limited by the Bank of Portugal to Lone Star which is in exclusive final talks.
The sale proposed is not a clean one with the State retaining 25% of Novo Banco, but only if Brussels says this is acceptable.
Despite significantly higher offers coming in after Lone Star gained exclusive status, Aethel Partners has suggested it would pay upto €4 billion for 100% of Novo Banco, the terms of the sale process mean that these bids must be rejected. Taxpayer and the Resolution Fund potentially are missing out on billions of euros as the Lone Star bid is just €750 million, with the same again at a future date if refinancing is needed.
But the negotiating team has reached an agreement with Lone Star and would like to close the transaction by March 17th. The European Commission and the European Central Bank must accept that 25% of the bank remains in public ownership, thus exposing the Portuguese taxpayer to unquantifiable losses on its quarter share.
The row over the governor of the Bank of Portugal’s performance and his truthfulness, continues but Centeno is backing Carlos Costa by saying, “that there is no institutional tension between the Government and the Bank of Portugal.” This, clearly, is far from the truth.
Mário Centeno praises Carlos Costa's willingness to provide clarification to parliament on his behaviour leading up to the collapse of Banco Espítrito Santo in 2014 during which he ignored warnings from his own staff that the BES chief executive, Ricardo Salgado was not a fit and proper person to be leading the bank which was already in deep trouble.
The prime minister, when leader of the Socialist Party in opposition, was highly critical of Carlos Costa and was incensed when the Bank of Portugal governor's term of office was extended by 5 years just before the 2015 general election.
