No matter how vociferously he supports the thousands of commercial paper holders who lost their savings in the BES ‘carve up’, the leader of Portugal’s CMVM banking regulator Carlos Tavares cannot get any joy.
His counterpart at the Bank of Portugal Carlos Costa has yet again reiterated the “unviability” of a proposal to reimburse damaged investors through Novo Banco, the ‘good bank’ that sidestepped the fallout from the collapse of BES.
Tavares submitted his proposal yesterday (Tuesday) in an impassioned speech that talked about the extent of hardship of many thousands who have lost everything in the sweeping “good bank/bad bank” reorganisation.
His suggestion was for Novo Banco to assume responsibility for the €432 million lost by 2084 investors – some of them people who are now “without jobs or enough money to feed themselves” – by issuing debt which would allow for gradual reimbursement over time.
But Costa continued to bang the drum that Novo Banco has no legal obligation to come to the aid of commercial paper holders, and to do so would severely compromise the ‘value’ of Novo Banco (which BdP is desperately trying to sell to the highest bidder).
Thus the ‘war’ continues, with the association supporting commercial paper holders vowing to continue with increasing high-profile protests.
