According to a recent report by Jornal de Notícias,’ Banco Espírito Santo’s (BES) debt has practically tripled since 2014, while the “bad bank” assets can only cover 2.8% of its creditor liabilities. However, it continues to pay millionaire pensions and salaries. According to the newspaper report, the BES ‘pension fund still pays €90,000 gross a month to the banks founder, Ricardo Salgado, as well as ‘large’ pensions to other former directors. It’s estimated that the average salary at the “bad bank” is more than four thousand euros a month.
To make matters worse, the banks “debt” stands at 6.4 billion euros, almost triple the 2.6 billion reported in 2014. With the asset covering only less than 3% of liabilities to creditors, it is becoming apparent that they will require the State to pay for their shortfalls through a resolution fund.
Samantha Gannon
info at madeira-weekly.com
