Development bank director resigns

The Director of Compliance at Portugal’s development bank Banco Português de Fomento, João Martins, put in a formal notice of resignation at the start of June.

According to ECO, he did so on the same week that the bank’s General Assembly approved its accounts for 2020. Internal pressure and lack of resources are said to be behind the resignation.
The Banco de Fomento’s audit which was published last week states “the lack of human resources at the Banco de Fomento is recognised, namely at a level of internal control, and that deficiency has not been resolved to date”.
The audit commission adds that it does not know when the situation can be expected to be overcome, but that in its opinion, this situation has considerably conditioned the ability to meet its strategic objectives”.
The bank has already posted job offer adverts on its website recruitment page including one for a new compliance director whose job description will be to prevent money laundering, coordinate regulatory compliance, keep pace with legislative and regulatory changes, and monitor supervisory guidelines, advising the bank’s administrative and fiscal bodies on matters pertaining to regulations compliance.
Moreover, he or she should identify and map out compliance risks, as well as the procedures and controls to be implemented.
In its 2020 report, the Banco de Fomento recognises that its “internal control processes need improvement”, not just at the level of the bank, but as a group as a whole, strengthening its credit policies, monitoring mechanisms and three-line defence system (business, compliance and internal audit), to guarantee prudent risk management”.