The Bank of Portugal and the stock market regulator CMVM only now are investigating in detail what was said and done at the key BES management meetings at which the creation of the now notorious ‘commercial paper’ investment scheme was approved.
The two regulators want to find those responsible for the decision to create the financial products sold in BES branches that caused the loss of €720 million of euros, leaving about 2,500 depositors stripped of their savings.
The supervisors, after 13 months of doing as little as possible, only now are asking about the management meetings held on September 4, and October 3 2013.
Why the regulators have picked two meeting at which the key suspects Ricardo Salgado, Amílcar Morais Pires and Jose Maria Ricciardi were not present itself needs clarification.
This selective investigation leaves Joaquim Goes as the man under scrutiny for allegedly taking the lead role in the approval of selling dodgy securities in failing Grupo Espírito Santo companies.
Goes says he had nothing to do with the scheme and promises the Bank of Portugal that he did not know the amounts involved or the real financial situations of the businesses associated with the commercial paper foisted on hapless BES depositors and can he go now please.
Goes publicly has accused Ricardo Salgado and Morais Pires of "deliberately hiding" the true risks of the investment products, as reported last week -
The two financial regulators are trying to gather data and evidence for a report to be sent off to the public prosecution service, which may then prosecute, but at this speed those in the frame for one of the largest scams perpetrated on customers in a high street bank may be incapacitated by advancing years and incontinence before there is a conclusion.
The reason for the lack of interest from the two regulators is that they were meant to be regulating BES and its investment products, they clearly were not and have spent much of the last year blaming each other while the customers affected have had to take to the streets to protest at their treatment at having been conned out of their money.
