Portugal’s president has welcomed an audit of troubled Caixa Geral de Depósitos and called for "common sense" from policy makers to ensure Caixa can continue to be "Portuguese, public and strong."
Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa (pictured) said on Thursday that he appreciates the request for an audit of the bank which, due to suspect lending decisions in the past, needs €5 billion of public funds to carry on trading within European banking guidelines.
The president today met Prime Minister António Costa in Oporto and commented, "I think this audit can be very enlightening, it is forensic research of some depth because it covers the period covering various administrations and various governments and if it reaches the conclusion that there were illegal acts, this may lead to eventual prosecution."
For Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa "this clarification is important for the avoidance of doubt that there the government is not attempting to evade the full clarification of the past at Caixa Geral de Depósitos."
As for the refinancing plans put forward by the bank’s management, the head of state said he understood that for the future it is necessary to get wide political agreement, “because everyone wants a Portuguese bank, a public bank and a strong bank."
The Government today confirmed that it had asked the new board of Caixa Geral to commission an "independent audit" to look at the bank’s management as from the year 2000.
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