KPMG Angola official says BESA credit borrowers were identified
The head of KPMG Angola told the Competition Court in Santarém today that the credit portfolio of the Angolan branch of BES (BESA) had identified all borrowers, the auditor not knowing whether these were the actual beneficiaries
Inês Filipe, one of KPMG’s partners who appealed the fines imposed by Banco de Portugal in the context of the BES / BESA case, underlined that the identification of the beneficial owners of the credits was not relevant to the auditor and that she only knew that they were different from the borrowers when it became aware, in January 2014, of the minutes of the General Meeting of BESA held on 03 and 21 October 2013.
“Until then, there has never been any evidence or communication that the borrowers were not the UBO (final beneficiaries)”, he said, stressing that this information was also not relevant for the credit analysis, since the borrower was the borrower and these never were called into question by BESA’s management, which started up in 2013.
Inês Filipe stated that BESA’s credit portfolio (which was the source of the issuance of a sovereign guarantee by the Angolan State in December 2013) focused especially on the granting of credit to the real estate sector and to areas in which Angola was betting to obtain a diversification of its economy.
Stressing that BESA was, at that time, “very prestigious”, the head of KPMG Angola since 2011 stated that the bank was “at the forefront” in financing companies with roots and projects that aimed at diversifying investment, but above all to the real estate sector.
Inês Filipe stated that BESA’s loan portfolio was “young” and “highly concentrated”, with a small number of clients, noting that the credit granted increased by more than 60% from 2011 to 2012.
The auditor stated that many of the real estate projects that were financed at the time, “a reference” for Angola, “today are there and were financed by BESA”.
Inês Filipe said she was “very surprised” with what happened at the BESA General Assembly held in June 2013 (which led to the departure of Álvaro Sobrinho from the board of directors, after having already been replaced by Rui Guerra as chairman of the Commission Executive at the end of 2012).
Stressing that this meeting represented “the greatest revolution within an organization of these characteristics” that he had ever known in almost 30 years of profession, Inês Filipe highlighted the fact that, in one go, “more than 20 key people” came out. , that is, all directors, except for accounting.
According to the auditor, in this “atypical” situation, all of her interlocutors at the bank disappeared overnight, which would have caused serious difficulties to her work if, on that date, the report that came out in early August 2013 did not was already so advanced.
In her testimony, the person in charge of KPMG Angola assured that the BdP’s accusation that “from 2011 to 2013, it had no information to be able to issue the information it issued about BESA in terms of credit and that from 2014 was aware of the existence of high value bad debts.
In the decision of January 2019, Banco de Portugal ordered Inês Filipe to pay a fine of 375,000 euros for committing an offense for breach of the duty of statutory auditors in the service of a credit institution and external auditors to report facts that are likely to cause a reserve issue to the auditing entity’s accounts.
At the trial, which takes place in the auditorium of the Polytechnic Institute of Santarém, it is at issue that the Bank of Portugal condemned KPMG to pay a fine of three million euros, from its president, Sikander Sattar, of 450,000 euros, of Inês Neves (425,000 euros), Fernando Antunes (400,000 euros), Inês Filipe (375,000 euros) and Silvia Gomes (225,000 euros), all of whom appealed.
The trial started last Thursday with the testimony of the legal representative of KPMG, Vítor Ribeirinho, who concluded his testimony today by stressing that “at the time of the facts”, the BdP’s relationship with KPMG was “exemplary”, reason why the facts pointed out in the administrative condemnation “do not make any sense”.
For Vítor Ribeirinho, “it is difficult to see that Banco de Portugal admits in this process to have made untrue statements [alegadamente para não lançar o pânico e levar a uma corrida aos depósitos]. I prefer to believe that, at the time, it provided the correct information to the market ”, he said, stressing that KPMG was“ in complete harmony ”with the positions then announced by the supervisor.
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