New EuroBic directors await green light from BdP

The new senior management directors appointed to run bank EuroBic are still waiting to take the helm despite their appointment because the Bank of Portugal has yet to give the green light.

The bank’s new corporate management figures were approved at Monday’s EuroBic general meeting which elected José Azevedo Pereira to the position of CEO and Pedro Maia as Chairman.
But, says Jornal Económico, the current team led by Fernando Teixeira dos Santos remains in office because they cannot assume the functions they were elected to without the authorisation of the Bank of Portugal.
The due diligence process of ‘fit & proper’ to accept the posts (i.e., the background checks) of the new administrators has not been concluded and therefore only when these have been done and the Bank of Portugal has given its authorisation can the administration change.
“The current team remains in office until then, so we do not yet know when that will occur,” says a source at EuroBic.
That was the bureaucratic reason that led to the consideration of postponing the agenda item regarding the replacement of the EuroBic administration.
Eco online news says that José Azevedo Pereira, a former director of the Portuguese tax authorities, succeeds Teixeira dos Santos, whose term ended at the end of 2019.
In addition to Azevedo Pereira, the bank’s new executive committee will comprise José Antunes, who remains on the previous team, Susana Nereu Ribeiro (currently chairman of the supervisory board, which will be dissolved and reformed into a new audit committee) and Filipe Dias Meneses, advances Eco.
Therefore, José Azevedo Pereira and Pedro Maia are already formally executive chairman and non-executive chairman of the bank which is owned 42,5% by Isabel dos Santos and 37,5% by Fernando Teles, replacing Fernando Teixeira dos Santos and Diogo Barrote, current CEO and Chairman, respectively.
But this election still has no practical effects; in practice the replacement has been postponed.
The outgoing administration of directors is still on the website which has not been updated. Rui Pedras, Pedro Almeida e Silva and Bernardo Espírito Santo will also leave at a date to be announced.
The process for the sale of EuroBic is ongoing, and the administration elected on Monday may end up staying on for a short time, since, if the bank is sold, a new change in the governing bodies would be expected.