Banif’s injured parties will propose to the Government a compensation claim of 169.6 million euros, to respond to 1,900 credit claimants, in a solution similar to that found for the injured parties of BES’s Commercial Paper.
According to a source linked to the process, Banif’s injured parties estimate total losses of 242 million euros among about 1,900 credit claims with the bank’s Liquidation Commission that ended in 2015.
Following a meeting with the current Government, led by Luís Montenegro, at the beginning of the month, Banif’s injured parties are finalising a proposal to be presented to the executive, which provides for the creation of a fund in which investors would recover 50% of the credits for amounts invested above 500,000 euros and 75% for amounts invested less than 500,000, with a maximum of 250,000 euros.
All in all, and taking into account the weighting of the investments lost in these intervals, this would mean that a fund to compensate all claimants would be around 169.6 million euros.
The injured parties believe that there are conditions to close a solution by the end of this year.
In December 2015, Banif (which had already been nationalized, being then majority-owned by the State) was the subject of a resolution measure by the decision of the Government and the Bank of Portugal.
Part of the banking activity was sold to Santander Totta, and the vehicle company Oitante was also created, to which the assets that Totta did not buy were transferred. In Banif – in liquidation – shareholders and subordinated bondholders and ‘toxic’ assets such as Banif Brasil, sold in 2023 for one Brazilian Real.
Samantha Gannon
info at madeira-weekly.com
