Portugal's government expects the sale of Novo Banco to go through "as soon as possible"
At issue are concerns for the country's finances, said the Minister of the Presidency, Marques Guedes (pictured), at a press conference that followed today’s meeting of the Council of Ministers.
Guedes said that the government wants the sale to go through asap so as to reduce the burden on the financial system.
Mentioning the Resolution Fund’s need for the sale proceeds to enable it to pay off the banks that had contributed, and of course the taxpayer who chipped in €3.9 billion, Guedes went on to distance the government from the final decision as to which of the contenders would end up with the bank.
Leaks from the Bank of Portugal suggest that the Anbang Insurance company from China will soon own Novo Banco have yet to be confirmed but Guedes reiterated that the decision was for the Bank of Portugal alone and not the government, although the Minister of Finance Maria Luís Albuquerque was interested in the outcome and was ‘monitoring the process’.
Guedes insisted also that the completion of the sale of the New Bank will be good for everyone involved.
"Novo Banco is a bridge bank" and therefore must be sold and "returned to the market with a quick sale at the highest value possible, the sale surely will be positive for all parties."
Guedes did not speculate on the inevitable arguments and recriminations that will follow any sale figure that leaves the taxpayer or the Resolution Fund nursing a loss.
The leaked figure that Anbang Insurance has offered is around €4 billion with €1 billion of this figure going to shore up the bank’s capital.
With just €3 billion left to share out, the government will be hard pressed to explain why the taxpayer and the Resolution Fund have ended up €1.9 billion in the red.
There remain also some massive liabilities to be resolved with Goldman Sachs and the Association of Pissed Off BES Depositors which between them claim they are owed a further €1.297 billion.
