Those customers that have been financially disadvantaged by the loss of their savings in the BES 'commercial paper' scam, carried out by staff on the orders of the old hierarchy, refuse to go away and die even though this would an ideal solution for the Bank of Portugal's governor Carlos Costa.
Around 100 BES depositors who have had their money snitched away on the orders of disgraced Espírito Santo chief Ricardo Salgado, gathered today in front of the Novo Banco head office in Lisbon.
The protestors' objective was to continue to highlight the lack of action from Novo Banco's high-handed management which, coupled with the governor of the Bank of Portugal's failure to accept even a modicum of responsibility for this fiasco, has led to €500 million of hard-earned savings vanishing into thin air.
The police today had to re-route the traffic in the area of the protest and gently removed certain protestors to enable bank staff to enter the office to begin their day's work.
Die-hard protestor Rui Falcão of the Association of ripped-off depositors said he expected many members to arrive today because “indignation has been rising.”
The police, wary of any further video records being made showing officers wielding riot batons, were on extra good behaviour today and were rewarded by cooperation from the depositors.
Carlos Costa denies any of this sorrowful situation is down to him despite being head of the authority that was meant to be regulating the financial sector.
Costa was happy to rely on verbal assurances from Ricardo Salgado that all was well at BES, the bank collapsed last August and the depositors found their money in fact had been placed in dodgy high risk commercial paper from failing Espírito Santo Group companies and was not covered by the normal €100,000 deposit guarantee scheme.
The depositors have lost the lot and want the Bank of Portugal to arrange recompense, which is refuses to do, blaming instead the stock market regulator.
This impasse suits everyone but the depositors, many of who are suffering financial hardship as a result having lost their life savings in what they assumed was a well regulated bank.
Costa's reward from the government for not paying out the estimated €500 million is an extention of his contract for a further 5 years despite nearly half of the financial service sector's companies saying that he is not the right person to lead Portugal's financial services regulator.
Novo Banco's chief, Stock da Cunha issued a statement later in the day to inform the protestors that the bank will be taking legal action against those who have been rude to staff and who have jostled employees as they have been trying to get to work: da Cunha threatened to take action in May but now has had enough of these protests and is to press ahead to get the protestors into court.
Court action by a top banker against those who have been stripped of their savings by the banking system will gain the publicity it deserves.
Comments
As what usually paralyses any kind of protest in Portugal is the misuse of the Defamation Law (Lei Difamaçao) and related to this Illegal Photography (Illicit fotografia). Both penal, not civil crimes so involving police officers. If only to warn off any positive witnesses to the wrong doing.
Used to control the 'little people' and this being Portugal no actual communication is needed for the defamation claim to be processed through the courts as 3 (imaginary) witnesses can be conjured up to claim the event happened.
So what will the bank do - photograph the crowds and have staff identify who 'jostled' them ?
But what then ? Could a judge be found to take the protesters side or would Novo Banco screen out any 'soft' judges and insist on a 'hanging' judge whose family money had already been squirreled away safely off-shore ?