BCP legal case over sale model continues despite sale of Novobanco to BPCE

A legal case brought by Portuguese bank BCP in 2017 against the architects of the model of sale for Novobanco to US equities fund Lone Star will continue in the courts despite the fact that Novobanco was sold last year to French banking group BPCE.

BCP, which is led by Miguel Maya, has admitted that last year’s sale should not affect the case that it brought against the Novobanco model that served as a basis for its sale to fund Lone Star in 2017.

“Since the case has not seen any developments since the end of pronunciations (in 2018), a non-speculative expectation of its development and timetable for completion not possible, and it is not expected that the Novobanco sale agreement will influence this (sale) timetable,” states BCP’s annual financial report and accounts.

The basis of the lawsuit brought by BCP is the contingent capitalisation mechanism that allowed the Resolution Fund to capitalise Novobanco, even though most of its capital (70%) had been sold to the American fund Lone Star. In other words, the lawsuit was not against the bank, but against the model that allowed its capitalisation.

Source: ECO Online; Credits: YouTube