Government and supervisors are going to court because of the BES – TVI24

Government and supervisors are going to court because of the BES – TVI24

The Government and supervisors Bank of Portugal and CMVM are the target of lawsuits by about 20 international funds holders of subordinated bonds of Banco Espírito Santo. These foreign investors BES had already done the same against the resolution of the bank, which divided it into two. But now go further. Before taking the case to court, requested access to administrative information, without obtaining answer or having their applications rejected because in the time it considered useful.

According advanced Lusa source close these institutional investors, the new processes relate to the claim of the right of access to administrative information related to public intervention in the institution.

The processes that, about two months were started, were admitted to the General Court of the European Union (TGUE) and the Lisbon Administrative Court against the European Commission and the Bank of Portugal (BoP) requiring the annulment of the measure of resolution applied to the BES.

Now, the complainants further extended the scope of their lawsuits. The targets are the Ministry of Finance and the Committee on Securities Market (CMVM), first. The goal is to have access, under Portuguese law, all information that enable them to understand a number of issues that led to the BES division into two entities, the bad bank – or toxic – and the New Bank.

These investors are essentially foreign investment funds that make capital from various investors such as public pension funds and university , which hold subordinated bonds issued in BES end of last year and whose value amounts to EUR 750 million.

In these new lawsuits, the group of investors, which is represented by an international law firm, complains access to administrative information that is held by the Ministry of Finance, the bop and the CMVM , whose knowledge is public under the Portuguese Constitution (Article 48 paragraph 2) and the law that regulates access to administrative information (LADA).

They claim that the information is necessary to defend the courts for his actions against the BES divestiture decision in two, said Lusa the same source, adding that before coming to the court proceedings, these investors have already driven administrative requests for access to information to the Ministry of Finance, the bop and the CMVM, without having achieved so far to obtain any required information.

“Some of these applications were refused, leading to subpoenas. Others were requests for extensions of the deadline to reply object for which are still in progress “

The plaintiffs seek to obtain the Portuguese courts the green light to have access to documents and information that was denied in pre-judicial administrative headquarters.

What do these funds know

– If it was made, and on what terms, the proper consideration of the possibility of using private investors or shareholders of BES alternatively via BES recapitalization;

– If it was made, and on what terms, the proper consideration of the possibility of public funds of any kind as an alternative route recapitalization of BES;

– If there was, and on what terms, external constraints, national and international, decisive for the adoption of the resolution measure and not adopting alternative measures;

– What are the methods and times for the BoP knowledge of the problems and irregularities BES and undertakings to which it was exposed;

– What are the ways and supervision moments that the BOP had on the BES and other companies the GES.

It’s been almost five months since the collapse of the BES and Espírito Santo Group. 2014 became irrevocably marked by the fall of the bank, the group and the Holy Spirit family . The inquiry commission to the case in Parliament have heard some of the main protagonists. There are few who assume guilt and There are very different versions of what happened .