The investigations into former managers of Caixa Geral de Depósitos (CGD) responsible for bad loans have not yet had any consequences, despite possible liabilities being assessed since at least 2019.
In response to Lusa, who was asked about the stage of the investigation into former public bank managers, the Attorney General’s Office replied that “the investigation is under investigation”.
An official source at CGD told Lusa that “Caixa is awaiting court decisions” as it has decided to only proceed with civil liability proceedings in cases where criminal cases are being investigated by the prosecution.
Last week, the executive chairman of CGD, who was heard in parliament about the closure of branches, was questioned by BE deputy Mariana Mortágua on the subject, but Paulo Macedo did not respond.
Also questioned by Lusa, neither the Ministry of Finance nor the Bank of Portugal have so far provided any clarification.
Controversy surrounding CGD arose in early 2019 following an audit commissioned by the government of EY that found, for the period between 2000 and 2015, unwarranted granting of loans, awarding bonuses to managers even with negative results, state interference and approval of loans with an unfavorable or conditional advice from the risk department of the public bank.
The audit assessed seven severe or high-risk lending operations with estimated losses in excess of €1,000 million in these operations alone, led by the financing operations for the La Seda plant in Sines. High-loss operations also include loans to Investifino (from Manuel Fino), for the purchase of shares in Cimpor with shares in BCP and Cimpor, Fundação Berardo, Auto-Estradas Douro Litoral and Vale do Lobo Resort as collateral.
The disastrous credits that damaged the public bank then became a ‘hot’ topic and despite the public outcry, the government and CGD were quick to say that the bank was analyzing the past (and not just the management actions referred to in the audit ). to eventually bring civil liability claims against former managers, while at the same time a judicial investigation was ongoing (since the audit findings were sent to the Public Prosecution Service).
The then finance minister, Mário Centeno (current governor of Banco de Portugal), said in parliament on January 30, 2019 that he had given “all instructions” to the board of directors of CGD to “take all the necessary steps for the final actions”. to hold accountable those who have harmed the public bank.
A few days later, on February 1, CGD’s non-executive chairman (“Chairman”), Rui Vilar, stated that the bank was “complying with all the obligations established by the shareholder and Banco de Portugal” and resorting to lawyers to the “cases in which it will be possible to act to investigate civil liability”.
Also on 11 February 2019, then-Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Finance Ricardo Mourinho Félix (currently at the European Investment Bank) said the government was demanding that CGD identify the responsibilities of “all those involved” and apply the consequences “without looking at who” .
In these investigations, CGD hired three law firms (Vieira de Almeida, Linklaters and Serra Lopes), justifying it with a conflict of interest.
However, the statements of CGD’s Executive Chairman, Paulo Macedo, were already stirring: on February 7, 2019, Macedo said that anything CGD does “will be duly considered” and that he will not accept “public judgments”.
“Caixa will be compensated for whatever it may be, Caixa is not a court, it will not do the work of the Public Prosecution Service, the Banco de Portugal or any other authorities,” he said.
Macedo stressed that CGD should not be as fast as other authorities: “Don’t wait until Caixa [o] going to do it in a few months and light”.
On May 2, 2019, Macedo again said that the trials will take time and that the bank “is not a judge or court” and that it will not behave in this way towards former managers.
In July 2020, a year and a half later, Macedo said the file was complex — he mentioned that it included legal analysis of the cases, financial analysis, analysis of information on criminal proceedings and administrative violations and adversarial proceedings — and that it would take some time before he could come up with proposals for accountability to the shareholder (to the government, on behalf of the State).
Caixa “is not a criminal court, it is not a judge. It will do its job, but not because of a news report in the newspaper,” Macedo said at the time.
In November 2021, the chairman of CGD announced that the bank, after advice from the advisory board of the PGR and approval by the Ministry of Finance, will only initiate civil liability proceedings against former directors in cases where the Justice Department concludes that crimes have been committed.
According to the advice of the Consultative Council of the Public Prosecutor’s Office, the civil liability of CGD directors expires after five years, except for unlawful acts that are punishable by law.
Since then, the subject has been forgotten and the CGD’s decision to act only in cases where the judiciary decides to act has postponed the case indefinitely.
The EY audit covered the period between 2000 and 2015, during which CGD was led by António Sousa (2000-2004), Carlos Santos Ferreira (2005-2008), Faria de Oliveira (2008-2010) and José Matos (2011- 2016).
After delivering the document, Paulo Macedo admitted in 2019 the existence of “bad practices” and “mistakes”, but underlined that CGD now has better governance and risk management than in the past and expressed outrage at “it is being assumed that anyone who has passed through Caixa is automatically guilty and has a criminal record”.
Of the directors of CGD who were in the affected administrations, Maria João Carioca returned to CGD, who is now a director and also served between 2013 and 2016 (she was in charge of the technology area at that time).
According to the social network Linkedin, former executive director Rodolfo Lavrador (he held the position between 2008 and 2013) also works at CGD, no longer as an administrator.
Source: DN
