(Ecofin Agency) - The Portuguese banking group Banco BPI announced, in a communiqué published on 30^th September, that it is considering consolidating its African activities in a new separate unit, in order to limit the risk exposure in its operations in Angola.

Banco BPI fait l’objet de pressions de la part des autorités de régulation européennes depuis l’adoption l’an dernier de nouvelles règles selon lesquelles les crédits servis aux entreprises angolaises et les titre de dette souveraine de l’Angola constituent des actifs risqués qui doivent être intégralement provisionnés.

Banco BPI is under pressure from European regulatory authorities since the adoption last year of new rules which state that credits granted to Angolan companies and the Angolan sovereign debt securities are assets under risk which must be fully provided for.

The new entity will hold 50.1% shares in Banco de Fomento Angola (BFA), the leading Angolan bank, 30% in Banco Commercial e de Investimentos in Mozambique and 100% in BPI Mozambique.

The board of Banco BPI explained that it would call for a general meeting to submit to approval the demerger with the African activities, indicating that shareholders will receive one share in the new company for every share in Banco BPI group.

The Managing Director of the Portuguese group recently described Banco de Fomento Angola as “an absolutely extraordinary project” despite the decrease in solvency ratio of this bank since the exclusion of Angola from the list of countries with a banking regulation equivalent to that of the European Union.