Portugal: Shareholders victims of BCP 20 years ago to pursue class action

Login

Register

http://www.clubofmozambique.com/

Portugal: Shareholders victims of BCP 20 years ago to pursue class action

7:45 CAT | 15 Dec 2023

File photo: Lusa

A group of former shareholders who bought BCP shares around 20 years ago and suffered losses as a result of the fall in the shares has launched a movement to create an association of injured parties and take legal action against the bank.

“We’ve had a lot of contacts, about 200, of which unfortunately there will be a large number who won’t be able to go ahead, in many cases because people no longer have the documents. We already have 100 to 120 cases that can go forward to class action and more should appear by January,” one of the movement’s promoters, António Lima, told Lusa.

This former businessman has already taken BCP to court because he believes he was cheated when he bought shares between 2001 and 2003, because the bank provided false information when selling its own shares, and the case ended (became final) this year with the bank ordered to pay him more than €400,000.

António Lima explained that for his lawsuit to be successful it was essential that the courts proved that former BCP directors (Jorge Jardim Gonçalves, Filipe Pinhal and António Rodrigues) committed the offence of market manipulation between 1999 and 2007 and he believes that this will also be essential for the movement they have now started.

He also said that the judgement in their case explains that investors have 20 years to claim compensation, determining this time because the financial intermediary committed a “breach of information duties” with “serious guilt”.

António Lima told Lusa that he won’t be claiming anything more and that the compensation will make up for the difference between buying and selling shares, but it won’t make up for the fact that, because of this, his life has been in the doldrums for years (company bankruptcy, property seized, his name on the Bank of Portugal’s ‘blacklist’) and that he decided to lead this movement to help other people in the same situation.

“I woke up to life in 2014 [with a news story about a company in the Azores claiming compensation from BCP for having bought shares], until then I didn’t know what to do. My comrades and I in misfortune are very keen to publicise it as much as possible, some people have already passed away but there are heirs, to give these injured people a chance,” he said, explaining that this is why they decided to pay for advertising in newspapers announcing “Prazovinte – Associação de Lesados do BCP” with a contact email and announcing “There are 20 years to claim” and “Join us”.

The association doesn’t formally exist yet, but the backers are hoping to set it up at the beginning of next year and launch a class action.

They are counting on the help of lawyers to sort through the cases that come to them and identify those that are suitable for a class action.
In 2008, there was a mediation process between BCP and shareholders who considered they had been harmed by the bank, with the intervention of the Portuguese Securities Market Commission (CMVM).

Asked if this mediation could jeopardise the movement’s actions, António Lima said that the lawyers’ opinion was that it wouldn’t, because then only small shareholders with certain conditions could take part, leaving out many who might be interested.

Lusa contacted an official BCP bank source, who declined to comment on the matter.

BCP was founded in 1985, promoted by a group of businessmen and led by Jardim Gonçalves. The bank has experienced great growth, starting with acquisitions (it bought Banco Português do Atlântico, Pinto & Sotto Mayor and Banco Mello).

Jardim Gonçalves stepped down in 2005 (he was succeeded by Teixeira Pinto) and a few years later there was a power struggle at the bank, with rival shareholder factions.

Jardim Gonçalves was charged in several cases, the most serious of which was for the offence of market manipulation (for events that took place between 1999 and 2007) by using offshore companies owned by the bank to influence the volume and value of shares. BCP’s founder has always maintained that he is innocent and that there was a “takeover” of the bank, including by the political powers.

BCP’s main shareholders are currently the Chinese group Fosun (29.95%) and the Angolan oil company Sonangol (19.49%). The bank is widely quoted on the stock exchange, with more than 100,000 shareholders.

In addition to Portugal, the bank led by Miguel Maya has an important operation in Poland and is present in Mozambique.

Source: Lusa