The fresh new management of BES II, or Novo Banco as now it is called, is to change the BES branding to distance the new bank from the ancien régime.
Part of new chief Vítor Bento’s restructuring plan is to change the familiar green livery of BES to anything but green.
Teams are working without rest on re-branding the old, discredited BES and aim to be able to roll out a fresh paint job in two months time.
The Vítor Bento team wants to recruit new customers to replace those who fled BES with their money as the old family-run bank sunk into insolvency and recrimination.
Meanwhile, it has been revealed that BES Angola accounts for two-thirds of the €4.9 billion injected into the Novo Banco by the Resolution Fund.
Dubious, dodgy and high risk loans made by BES Angola total €3.3 billion and for reasons best known to the Bank of Portugal, which arranged and oversaw the rescue of BES, the Angolan loans were placed in Novo Banco, rather than the ‘bad bank’ set up to hold all the loans that were unlikely ever to be repaid.
Novo Banco therefore has had to make a provision of €3.3 billion from the €4.9 billion advanced, just to cover BES Angola.
Much of the remaining €1.6 billion injected into Novo Banco now will have been taken up by impairment charges for the rapid depreciation of various assets such as shares in Portugal Telecom and the BES Group insurance subsidiary, Tranquilidade.
If there is a move in Angola to walk away from loans due to the developing BES/Novo Banco mess in Lisbon, now is the time for the Angolans to default en masse.
The Angolan government and President José Eduardo dos Santos (pictured) may be inclined to a bit of sport with their old colonial masters.
See also:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/francescoppola/2014/08/09/banco-espirito-santo-the-angolan-story/
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