The Prime Minister’s rant about the Bank of Portugal dragging its feet over a settlement for the ripped-off BES depositors seems to have hit the spot.
A meeting at the Bank of Portugal has been arranged for tomorrow evening (Wednesday) by its governor Carlos Costa.
The Government already has proposed a conciliation mechanism including mediation and arbitration in an attempt to get the matter sorted out.
With the evaporation of €550 million, Carlos Costa has not been willing to compensate those affected with a single cent, blaming the fiasco on the Stock Market regulator CMVM which in turn blames the Bank of Portugal for failing to regulate BES, a claim that few deny.
Those affected, grouped together under the catchy name of Associação dos Indignados e Enganados do Papel Comercial do Grupo Espírito Santo, are those BES customers who were persuaded by trusted BES staff to move money on deposit into supposedly safe investments, which turned out to be shares in failing Group Espírito Santo (GES) companies.
The breakthrough meeting was meant to be a secret but is scheduled for 17.00 tomorrow evening at the headquarters of the Bank of Portugal in Lisbon.
The problem of the BES customers who bought commercial paper in GES companies in BES branches was the subject of a meeting last Thursday between the Bank of Portugal, the Stock Marlet regulator (CMVM) and representatives of the Government.
The day before this meeting, the prime minister António Costa accused the Bank of Portugal of "dragging out a decision" on the case, saying it is preventing a solution already agreed by the parties involved.
Asked if the governor Carlos Costa, should resign, PM António Costa said that "the Bank of Portugal enjoys independence and the governor enjoys a separate status," adding,
"I have to lament how the administration of the Bank of Portugal has been putting off a decision on this matter, to prevent the quick solution proposed by the Government and accepted by the majority of the victims at BES, which could already have been implemented."
The PM expressed hope that "as soon as possible the Bank of Portugal takes the responsible attitude that all public and private entities are there to take."
With luck, the meeting tomorrow will at least be the start of a resolution to this problem that dates back to the Summer of 2014.
