Salgado Fights for Family Honor as Espirito Santo Case Drags On
- Portugal’s central bank fined ex-CEO, who denies wrongdoing
- Lone Star was picked to buy parts of the Espirito Santo bank
Ricardo Salgado
Photographer: Mario Proenca/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Three years after the bailout of the near-century-old Portuguese lender Banco Espirito Santo SA, the man who led it for over two decades is writing a memoir and rejecting blame for the rescue of his family-controlled bank.
“I’m fighting for the honor of being who I was and for the honor of my family,” Ricardo Salgado, who was chief executive officer until July 13, 2014, said in emailed responses to questions. His family owned 20 percent of the bank when it was bailed out. “To apologize would have been the easiest formula to free myself from responsibility publicly. I think I have the responsibility to fight for truth to be restored.”