Under the deal, those who accept it would give up any legal action against Novo Banco and its staff.

The investors in question were sold the commercial paper by Banco Espírito Santo, which was wound up by the Bank of Portugal in August of 2015 after it declared massive first-half losses.

The announcement of the agreement was made by the group, AMELP, on Wednesday on its Facebook page, after a meeting on Tuesday with the chief executive of Novo Banco, António Ramalho, and a representative of the government, Mariana Egídio. At the meeting, the group said, they had come “with great satisfaction (…) to an understanding”.

The solution was not detailed in full in the post but, according to AMELP, it will mean investors getting back 75% of the capital they invested, in cash, within an average of three years in the case of the non-resident clients who were sold the products Euro Aforro 8, Poupança Plus 1, Poupança Plus 5, Poupança Plus 6, Top Renda 4, Top Renda 5, Top Renda 6 and Top Renda 7.

As for two other products, Euro Aforro 10 and EG Premium, according to AMELP the government and Novo Banco "guaranteed that there will also be a solution” but that it was still being worked on. In these cases, a source close to the negotiations told Lusa, the amount recovered by investors could be less than 75%.