Those whose savings were wiped out or severely depleted in the disastrous Banif ‘rescue’ are to sue both the Bank of Portugal and the Stock Market Commission.
The Defense Association of Injured Parties is already taking action against TVi and the European Union.
The president of the association, Jacinto Silva, today announced the two new lawsuits, "We've already lodged actions concerning the Banif ‘resolution’ and made a criminal complaint at the Attorney General's Office about the information broadcast by TVi.”
On May 17th, Jacinto Silva informed the parliamentary commission of inquiry into the Banif affair that the association would proceed with lawsuits for negligence against TVi and against the European Commission, which it holds partly accountable for the resolution that saw the bank sold off to Santander for just €150 million.
The TVi report on December 13, 2015 announced that Banif would be subject to a ‘resolution’ and this news precipitated a run on deposits or around €1 billion over the subsequent few days.
On December 20th, 2015, the Government and the Bank of Portugal announced a 'resolution' for Banif with the sale of the banking business to Santander and the transfer of toxic assets to a new company.
The president of the association said that his members did not want to start demonstrations and would prefer to come to an agreement with Santander over the missing money.
"We, at any time, are available to Santander if Santander wants to contact us soon," said Silva, adding that obviously his affected members will not wait forever for a solution, because people are "desperate."
In February, the President of the Executive Committee of Santander said that the situation was being studied and that the amount in question was €263 million.
In late 2012 and early 2013, the Bank of Portugal convinced the government to inject €1,100 million into an ailing Banif, arguing that the bank was viable based on the restructuring plan that was on the table - a plan that the bank of Portugal's governor Carlos Costa knew would never be accepted by the European authorities. This money was never repaid.
Costa's 2015 'resolution' left the taxpayer picking up an open-ended tab for Banif's losses which will rise over time to between €3 billion and €4 billion, according to the financial sector's commentators.
Comments
This current issue, dressed up as a ex-BANIF shareholder / investor revolt shows the Portuguese Mafiosi elite at work. Any attempt to blame TVi for broadcasting news that BANIF was 'not fit for purpose' was not TVi's fault, The Bank was known by insiders to be faulty several years before which was already causing capital flight. Given so many previous Portuguese Bank failures that were not reported in time - TVi even had an enhanced Duty to report the news.
The real danger behind this is to muzzle the 'investigative press' in Portugal. Drive it back under ground and make it too risky or expensive, as in the Salazar period, to be digging too deep into the cesspit.