Changes may start to be made at the Bank of Portugal with the resignation of Dr. João José Amaral Tomaz, the man whose speciality was in "areas of punitive action and conduct supervision," leaving a choice vacancy at the banking sector's regulator.
According to the Bank of Portugal's announcement today, "The request for termination of service was presented by Dr. João José Amaral Tomaz, for personal reasons" and accepted by the governor.
There were kind words of appreciation for Dr. Tomaz’s contribution from his start date in September 2011, “in particular for the areas of punitive action and conduct supervision, and enhanced inter-institutional cooperation with various entities."
Tomaz was a Secretary of State for Fiscal Affairs in the socialist government led by José Sócrates. He then worked as a credit manager between 2009 and 2011 before joining the Bank of Portugal.
Fellow director, the principled and perceptive António Varela, left the bank in March this year, saying that he had failed to get on with the policy and management of the Bank of Portugal.
Tomaz's expertise in conduct supervision seems largely to have been ignored by governor Carlos Costa who consistently has shown his unwillingness to supervise the conduct of bank after bank which subsequently have gone bust, leaving the taxpayer footing the bill.
The Bank of Portugal directors are allowed a maximum of two five year terms, the Governor is well into his second term, and choices for Topaz’s replacement include the socialist MEP Elisa Ferreira and the current president of the BES 'bad bank', Máximo dos Santos.
