In the first session of the trial of the appeals filed by Amílcar Morais Pires and Ricardo Salgado, ex-president of Banco Espírito Santo (BES), against the fines imposed by the Bank of Portugal (BdP) in May 2017 of €150,000 and €350,000, respectively, the former director stated that he never had any responsibility in the area of 'compliance' [regulation], which "had all the power" in terms of preventing money laundering and terrorist financing.

The trial began after the Lisbon Court of Appeal revoked, last April, the decision rendered by the Competition, Regulation and Supervision Court (TCRS) which, in December 2017, had declared the accusation null and void as it considered that the BdP had not guaranteed the "effective right of defence" of the defendants, returning the case to the supervisor.

At a session at which Ricardo Salgado was also present, Morais Pires reported in detail on his career at BES, until in 2012, the international development department, which he headed until his departure in 2014.

Morais Pires explained that it was at this final stage that the international area came under his remit, assuring, however, that he never had any responsibility in the management of branches and subsidiaries of the bank.

On the situation of BESA (Angola), one of the banks to which the BdP points out shortcomings in control measures, Morais Pires reaffirmed that he found resistance to the changes he decided to introduce in the bank's governance, especially the difficulties raised by Álvaro Sobrinho, replaced as president by Rui Guerra, in 2012, in a process that included the hiring of a new compliance officer.

Morais Pires also reaffirmed that he did not understand the accusation regarding ES Bank Miami, because it was supervised by the US authorities, which never reported any anomaly, and in the case of Macau, said that the bank's internal control system was certified.

Morais Pires said that, given the frequent use of foreign investors, there was "great concern" about the bank's reputation, so internal control mechanisms were being implemented.

The former manager of BES said that the internal control reports submitted to directors never reported any failure in the mechanisms operating in branches and subsidiaries of the bank.

Questioned by the judge about his current activity, Morais Pires said that, due to the "stigma" caused by the cases involving him, he has no occupation.

The trial continues on the 23rd with the hearing of Paula Gramaça, who was responsible for the compliance department.