Santander Totta: “It is good that State note warning the judge” if swaps – TVI24

President of the Santander Totta considered this legitimate Monday the Portuguese State resources in the English justice in the case of swaps contract between the bank and a number of public companies, but stressed that the judge said that hardly the sentence would be changed.

“it is good that the state has in mind the warning of the judge” , launched António Vieira Monteiro during the presentation press conference of Santander Totta accounts in the first quarter of the year.

the process ran in London and the seat of the Spanish capital He won the legal battle, but the Portuguese State decided to wait for the recognition of the judgment in the Portuguese courts.

However, on 24 March, the Commercial Court of London authorized public companies transport Metropolitano de Lisboa, Carris, Metro do Porto and STCP to ask against the decision on the dispute with Banco Santander Totta contracts swap .

Although it has shown reservations about the probability success of the application, judge William Blair understood that “to reject the application would only delay the process,” recognizing the interest and importance of reaching a final conclusion as soon as possible.

“I will take a pragmatic view,” justified. The case must now be reviewed by the Court of Appeal.

The last instance is the Supreme Court of British justice, which only accepts a limited number of cases, may the case still follow to instances European, and in particular Court Justice of the European Union.

Moreover, this Monday, Vieira Monteiro assured that the entity at the head has a “strategy” to ensure victory in this case, but refused to release it, putting this asset to “the right time”.

the trial in the Commercial Court in London, part of the Superior Court [High Court, equivalent to the Supreme Court in Portugal], dates back to early 2013 , when those public passenger transport companies considered invalid contracts swap signed with the bank, suspending the respective payments.

on March 4 a decision was issued by Commercial Court of London in favor of Santander Totta.

the court case aimed at determining the validity of nine contracts swap of interest rate derivatives complex interest rate the hired companies to reduce the burden of debt.

swap is a hedging contract is to fix an interest rate for a loan with the obligation of a party pay the difference between the fixed rate and rate that varies according to the reference interest rates.

in the summary of the given court decision, judge William Blair said he found plausible arguments on the side of the bank and the side of the transport companies, but gave global reason the first.

according to estimates presented to the court relating to October, the four public transport companies accumulate losses related to these ‘swaps’ of 1326 million, which will accrue about 300 million installments (quarterly flows), whose payments were suspended.

to this expenditure should be added tens of millions interest of euros of arrears of benefits and costs with their own lawyers and court costs.