Clients of defunct Portuguese bank Banco Espirito Santo (BES) will receive compensation for lost fortunes after it collapsed in July 2014, the country's Public Ministry said Tuesday.
The ministry said that former BES clients claiming lost investments are in fact entitled to their money and who gets what and how much is yet to be determined. Around 500 million euros in total will be paid to clients for lost investments and the amount may rise as the ministry begins to hear more claims against BES.
Around 400 former clients say they are entitled to their lost fortunes as a result of the bank's collapse last year and seek restitution and punitive damages for money lost in their investments with the bank. Authorities conducted raids last year in several parts of the country, confiscating assets belonging to BES.
The resulting seizures from the BES group have resulted in 1.8 billion euros. Assets seized by the ministry include monetary funds in cash and material possessions such as works of art. Hundreds of buildings have also been repossessed, including resorts in the Alentejo region of Comporta worth an estimated 100 million euros.
Included in the repossession of property by the ministry are Hotel Tivoli in Vilamoura and 230 apartments in the Algarve region in Southern Portugal. Novo Banco emerged after BES was bailed out in a 4.9-billion-euro bailout package and split into a new bank called "Novo Banco" and a bad bank which holds the bank's exposures.
BES was the largest private bank in Portugal and a family-operated business dating back to the 19th century. Its former boss Ricardo Salgado Espirito Santo resigned in June 2014 and is currently under house arrest. (one euro euqal to 1.139 U.S. dollars)
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