Bank of Portugal gives green light to Banco Atlântico Europa sale

The Bank of Portugal is to give the green light for the sale of the Banco Atlântico Europa to the Well Link group headquartered in Hong Kong.

In anticipation for the sale, which was previously blocked, the bank has had a shakeup in its executive leadership.
Diogo Cunha, who presided over the bank for 10 years resigned in favour of Nuno Vaz who is the new CEO for the term 2023-2026. Cunha has become the chairman of the new board which was appointed in March, and reflects the sale currently underway of the bank, which has Angolan capital, to the Chinese-owned Well Link Group.
According to Jornal Económico the new board has been given the green light by the Bank of Portugal.
Atlântico Europe was founded in 2009 with a mission to provide its clients with new ways of controlling expenditure, of making saving easier, and living better according to the bank’s website.
Headquartered in Lisbon, the bank has a presence in the Portuguese capital and in Windhoek, Namibia, with clients from around 60 countries.
Under the shakeup, José Carlos Burity is the new Chief Institutional Banking Officer, Sofia Rodrigues is the Chief Business Officer, and Pedro Lourenço is the Chief Risk Officer.
The financial board, headed by Dário Sousa, comprises José Maria Wanassi and Bruno Castro Henriques, The ROC is Deloitte.
The Banco Atlântico Europa, which has Angolan capital, is held by the holding Atlântico Financial Group owned by the Angolan investor Carlos Silva. It is being sold to the same Hong Kong financial group that in 2017 bought Novobanco Asia for €146 million.
The Atlântico Financial Group currently has 96.5% of the bank and the company Nasoluma has 3.5%. Details of the amount the bank will be sold for have not been revealed, but in September the bank’s liquidity stood at around €80 million.