The chairman of the Securities Market Commission (CMVM), Luís Laginha de Sousa, assured this Saturday that there are no direct impacts on Portugal from the Crédit Suisse crisis and bank failures in the United States.
In an interview with Antena 1 and the Business JournalLaginha de Sousa said that “there is no reason for concern” with the direct impacts of the bankruptcy of American banks and the crisis in the Swiss bank, warning, however, of the need to maintain vigilance, because trust has to be preserved.
“We have to be aware that we do not live in a world made up of islands and, sometimes, there are second-order phenomena, especially in matters where what is at stake are intangible elements — we are talking about trust. point of view, the authorities, whether at national or European level, have to act in order to contribute to preserving this asset”, he said.
The former director of Banco de Portugal who, since November, has presided over the capital market supervisor, added that the CMVM is monitoring the situation, adding that the matter should be addressed at the regular meeting of the National Council of Financial Supervisors, which takes place on Monday -fair.
“What is important to point out is that we follow these matters and, at this moment, in what has to do with these direct effects of direct exposure, we do not see at this moment any reason for concern”, stressed the official.
On Thursday, Crédit Suisse became the first large bank worldwide to receive emergency public aid since the 2008 financial crisis.
Regarding the increase in interest rates by the European Central Bank (ECB), Laginha de Sousa said he believed that the decision was taken “in the light of the best information available”, considering it to be a “healthy evolution”, since sees itself in a model in which access to financial resources comes at a cost.
“In the context of the normal functioning of an economy, it is normal that whoever needs financing has to pay for it and does not have negative interest rates”, he noted, noting, however, that it is important to ensure that there are ways to support “those who do not manage to deal with the consequences of that”.
The chairman of the CMVM also defended the need to make capital investment “more attractive”, considering it essential to “channel incentives or eliminate disincentives” so that companies may have “the will to invest”.
“Taxation is an unavoidable point, but it is not the only one and there are political choices that have to be made, and those who make those choices have to look at a much wider range of equilibria than those who are alone in the market perspective of capital”, he concluded.
On Thursday it was announced that Crédit Suisse would receive a loan of up to 50 billion Swiss francs (50.7 billion euros) from the central bank of Switzerland to “strengthen” the institution’s accounts.
At the same time, the second largest Swiss bank announced a series of debt repurchase operations worth around 3 billion Swiss francs (3.04 billion euros).
The help came a day after Credit Suisse faced its darkest session on the stock exchange, losing a quarter of its value, with the shares falling to a historically low level, below two Swiss francs (2.03 euros).
This period of turbulence in the banking sector began earlier, with the collapse of the Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) in the United States, after which there was a sharp drop in the stock market on Wednesday by Credit Suisse.