As the country decides whether or not it will let apathy get the better of it on election day, the association of the indignant – the small investors who lost thousands in the collapse of BES – are planning a mega-demonstration in Belém to coincide with the new government’s taking of office.
It does not matter which party wins, writes national tabloid Correio da Manhã, “hundreds” of people joining together under the umbrella of the “indignant and mislead commercial paper holders” will be bussed to the capital in “various coaches” in order to show their plight “cannot be forgotten”.
Curiously, the news comes the day after Novo Banco announced that 80% of the Portuguese emigrants who had lost money in commercial paper investments in the former Espírito Santo group of companies had accepted the bank’s “commercial solution”, coming in formats dubbed Poupança Plus, Top Renda and Euro Aforro8.
Thus how many “hundreds” will really be involved in this preannounced mega-demo is unclear.
According to CM, Novo Banco’s solutions for investors will allow for the recovery of 90% of capital over the next six years.
Anyone who continues to insist on having all their money returned, however, will only get 60% of it.
Novo Banco is keen to resolve as many outstanding legal issues as it can as bank regulators continue in their efforts to sell it.
Earlier this week in Tavira, the bank took possession of a hotel (see UPDATE: Novo Banco accused of “stealing” Tavira hotel and “treating tourists worse than pigs”) in an apparent attempt to claw-back money owed. The situation hit the headlines for the fact that bailiffs acting for the bank turfed tourists out into the streets, leading to claims that they treated them “worse than pigs”.
