Ricardo Salgado spoke to reporters outside the courthouse in Santarém today, refusing to take any blame at all in the collapse of Banco Espírito Santo.
The former banker made it clear that the person primarily responsible for the collapse of BES was Carlos Costa, the banking supervisor and governor of the Bank of Portugal.
"Let's wait, the truth will emerge and then we will see who was really responsible for what happened to BES," said Salgado.
Last summer, the former BES chief executive was handed a fine of €4 million by the Bank of Portugal and was banned from banking for ten years.
This case starting in Santarém involves the sale of commercial paper through BES branches which, far from being a copper-bottomed investment as described by staff, was in fact an investment based on shares in other of Grupo Espírito companies, many of which already were in trouble and which later collapsed along with the rest of the group.
Ricardo Salgado appealed the fine and is pleased that the matter now has come to court, saying "we are truly in the house of justice, unlike the previous situation when a distorted judgment was made by the Bank of Portugal which hid fundamental elements."
Asked what these elements were, Salgado cited a study commissioned from the Boston Consulting Group which revealed failures in the Bank of Portugal's performance during the BES resolution and which the supervisor had refused to hand over to the parliamentary committee of inquiry, claiming "professional confidentiality."
This trial in Santarém involves more than 50 witnesses. Ricardo Salgado did not have to be present today but he turned up anyway, having a bit more time on his hands these days.
Comments
What is happening now in Portugal is that the rich and powerful are falling out with each other. It might be an interesting spectacle, but it will not be beneficial to anyone else.