If the President of the Republic signs off the law allowing the naming of large debtors to banks, the parliamentary committee of inquiry into the past behaviour at Caixa Geral de Depósitos will be able to access information on problematic bank loans, despite ‘banking secrecy’ which has been used to hide many of the details.
The ruling Socialist Party executive says it will request a new inquiry into the ‘ruinous management’ at the state owned bank which led to losses of €1.2 billion between 2000 and 2015.
A preliminary version of an EY audit points to "major organisational shortcomings" that contributed to poor credit decisions.
Socialist MP, João Paulo Correia, said that if the final report of the EY audit is delivered to Parliament and if Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa signs off the new law, the Parliamentary Inquiry Commissions will review the information on the disastrous bank loans.
A version of the EY audit, dated December 2017, highlights the appalling behaviour of the bank’s directors and named seven loans where huge losses resulted.
On the ball as ever, the president of the Social Democrats, Rui Rio, revealed on Monday, that he was "evaluating" the possibility of requesting a parliamentary commission of inquiry into CGD, noting that the last one was halted, "before it hurt someone."
Rio recalled that the last commission looking into CGD, was abruptly cut off by the Communist Party, the Left Bloc and the Socialist Party when they closed the commission down.
The CDS wants "the whole truth" as it is a "serious issue for all taxpayers," stressing that the party will continue to oversee government action as there clearly have been abuses.
MPs did managed to approved, in early January, a motion to force the disclosure of large debtors of those banks that have benefited from state support in the last 12 years.
