Finance

Crédit Agricole sues Salgado, Morais Pires, and Rioforte for one billion euros

Crédit Agricole and Predica have initiated legal action against key figures from BES, seeking one billion euros in compensation.

2 September 2026Tagblick Newsdesk

AI-generatedWritten by an AI system, editorially responsible — how we work

Archive photo: Crédit Agricole sues Salgado, Morais Pires, and Rioforte for one billion euros — Archive photoPhoto: User:Kolossos · Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 3.0

The Crédit Agricole group and the insurer Predica have filed legal actions in the Portuguese courts targeting Ricardo Salgado, Amílcar Morais Pires, and Rioforte, the non-financial arm of the Espírito Santo Group. The lawsuits exceed one billion euros, reflecting the losses faced by the group following the resolution of Banco Espírito Santo (BES) over a decade ago.

These actions were registered in July 2023, twelve years after the intervention of the Authority for Insurance and Pension Funds, which resulted in the liquidation of BES and led to significant losses for several of its shareholders, with Crédit Agricole being the second-largest shareholder of the bank at the time of its collapse.

Crédit Agricole and Predica allege that their financial losses are connected to the management of BES and the repercussions of its insolvency. Rioforte, which was part of the group, is mentioned in the context of the claims due to its ties to the Espírito Santo group.

Ricardo Salgado, former president of BES, and Amílcar Morais Pires, former financial administrator, are prominent figures associated with the bank's collapse, which had a profound impact on the Portuguese financial system. Both are now facing lawsuits aimed at compensating the losses of Crédit Agricole and Predica.

This situation involves a complex history that traces back to the bankruptcy of BES and the subsequent asset restructuring of the Espírito Santo group, the ramifications of which have been the subject of scrutiny and legal disputes over the years.

The legal actions mark a new chapter in the long saga of the BES case, reflecting the ongoing difficulties faced by former executives of the bank and their financial responsibilities.

This item was written by an AI system on the basis of the headlines and short teasers of the independently operating newsrooms named below. We disclose this under Art. 50(4), second subparagraph, of Regulation (EU) 2024/1689 (AI Act). Before publication we check origin and verifiability — anything that appears in only one place is not published — as well as language, substance and legally sensitive content. No separate substantive review of each individual item by a natural person takes place; we therefore do not rely on the exemption in Art. 50(4), second subparagraph, of the AI Act. Editorial responsibility for this publication rests with the person named in the imprint (§ 18 Abs. 2 MStV). Please report errors to [email protected] — we will correct or remove the item. Full reports are available from the sources listed.