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The deputies of the Budget and Finance Committee rejected the request this Wednesday of the Left Bloc for immediate and complete public disclosure of the special audit report to Novo Banco sent by the Government to Parliament.
The request was rejected with the votes against by PS and PSD, abstention from CDS-PP and Liberal Initiative (sole deputy) and favorable from PCP and BE.
Both the PSD and the PS stated that, as a general rule, they are in favor of these matters being disclosed publicly, helping the public debate, but that they cannot do so if legal doubts persist that there are matters covered by bank secrecy. that would be disclosed.
Regarding the requests for clarification of the parliament’s legal services, the president of the COF, Filipe Neto Brandão, said that they have already stated that it is not possible to say “with a comfortable margin” the elements that are subject or not to secrecy.
From the CDS-PP, Cecília Meireles criticized the Ministry of Finance for having classified the document as confidential when it sent it to parliament, since there would be no discussion if it had not done so, and considered that large debtors that motivate capital injections in the banks should be disclosed.
But he said that, according to Novo Banco, losses could occur as losses are reported on assets that are in the process of being sold. “I cannot go ahead and vote in favor, because it can open the door to the victimization of Novo Banco and I’m not available,” he said.
The only deputy of the Liberal Initiative, Cotrim Figueiredo, said that bank clients have the right to privacy and that he refuses that someone who has a bank debt is a criminal.
“If there are issues that concern the identification of operations or people, I do not feel comfortable being the parliament to raise bank secrecy,” he stressed.
For BE, Mariana Mortágua said that the document that is voted to make known is the one that the Government sends to the parliament in which the names of the debtors are not included, but the codes (the separate document that followed for the deputies, in whoever finds the relationship between the debtor codes and their names, would not be revealed – he said).
For the PCP, Duarte Alves criticized the Government for not having released the document (when it was he who ordered the audit) and noted an “itchy difference” regarding similar matters, saying that in the past the PSD soon showed itself to Please disclose the audit to Caixa Geral de Deposit (CGD), unlike what is happening now with the audit of Novo Banco.
On September 1, the Government (Ministry of Finance) sent the audit of Novo Banco (carried out by the consulting firm Deloitte) to parliament with the mention of ‘confidential’.
However, Novo Banco also sent the audit report, but cleaning materials that it considered confidential (there are around 17 pages with truncated information, with names of debtors and transactions that resulted in significant losses), this version of the audit being the one that it was published by parliament.
Regarding PS’s request that Novo Banco and Banco de Portugal be requested (albeit confidentially) for the letter from the European Central Bank with the analysis and response to the special audit, this was unanimously approved.
Two weeks ago, the COF deputies unanimously approved the urgent hearings of the Minister of Finance, João Leão, and the Governor of the Bank of Portugal, Mário Centeno, on the audit of Novo Banco, in the framework of a request presented by the CDS -PAGES.
Today, the president of the parliamentary commission said he had difficulties scheduling hearings approved by the deputies.
During the week, periodic hearings are held by the Superintendency of Insurance and Pension Funds (ASF) and the IGCP – Treasury and Public Debt Management Agency.
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