“Caixa is not Caixa,” and today Banif and Popular will not be sold to a foreign bank for one euro, says Paulo Macedo.

The CGD president said on Tuesday that the bank’s size and current profits make it an active operator, and had that been the case in 2015, Banif and Banco Popular would not have been sold for one euro.

CHD is not the leader in everything [em todos os segmentos de negócio] or it would be the imperial bank. But what is demonstrated is that today Caixa is not a small box, it is profitable, it has autonomy. Precisely because Caixa is what it is today, a foreign bank would not buy Banif and Banco Popular for one euro.”said Paulo Macedo, president of the state bank, during a hearing before the parliamentary committee on budget and finance.

According to the manager, it is now “completely clear why there are banks that have grown in their market share beyond their merit.”

Paulo Macedo stated that this was because CGD could not be an active operator at the time. “CGD had no capital, was on the brink of resolution, and had a six-year history of losses,” he said.

Former PSD/CDS-PP government minister of health Passos Coelho had in mind the acquisition of the Spanish banking group Santander.

In 2015, Santander Totta (owned by Santander) bought Banif banking (in accordance with its decision). In 2018, as part of the aforementioned operation, he also took over the management of Banco Popular Portugal.