Goldman Sachs faces Lisbon court over €90 million fees tied to BES collapse
Goldman Sachs will be tried in Lisbon over more than €90 million in fees and interest linked to a 2014 financing deal that preceded the collapse of Banco Espírito Santo.
In a Lisbon court trial beginning October 6, Goldman Sachs will defend against claims that it earned about €90 million in fees and interest from a 2014 Oak Finance financing that was used by Banco Espírito Santo (BES) just before the bank’s collapse. Oak Finance, a Luxembourg vehicle, raised close to $835 million to fund an oil-refinery redevelopment in Puerto de la Cruz, Venezuela, involving PDVSA and Chinese firm Wison.
BES obtained the loan on July 3, 2014, and was placed into resolution a month later, causing the loan to default. BES liquidators argue the fees and interest reduced the pool of assets available to other creditors and that Goldman Sachs either knew or should have known about BES’s deteriorating finances. Goldman Sachs counters that arranging a doomed deal would have been absurd, that it never received the interest payment, and that the bank was still perceived as financially sound at the time. The court will decide whether the €90 million demand is valid and if the liquidators acted within the legal deadline, with proceedings expected to run daily until December.
Why it matters
The ruling will determine if a major bank must return fees tied to a failed Portuguese lender, affecting creditor recoveries.
In this story
