BES filed for liquidation with a 5.6 billion capital shortfall
Even after selling all the bad bank's assets, there is still a shortage of 5,600 million in order for the bank's liabilities to be cleared.
The capital shortfall of Banco Espírito Santo (BES) is worth around 5.6 billion euros, discloses this Friday the Portuguese newspaper Jornal de Negócios after having access to the liquidation process taking place in Lisbon’s Commercial District Court (Tribunal do Comércio da Comarca).
Data goes back to the beginning of the liquidation process, which began in July, 2016, by order of the Bank of Portugal. By then, the bad bank was worth 152 million euros, but its liabilities were worth around 5,750 million, states the newspaper. These are data which are in line with the latest accounts disclosed by the bank, in the end of 2015, when it was already 5,300 million in the red.
Liabilities worsened increasingly more until July, partly because of the amount of judicial proceedings, which by then were worth more than 1.5 billion euros, in order to pay the costs of legal actions both in Portugal and abroad. The sovereign debt which was left in the bad bank after Novo Banco was created and senior bonds represent, however, most of those liabilities.
Only when the summon period of the bank’s creditors is over — including those who do not live in the European Union — will BES’ liquidation process move to the next stage.
