According to the law firm José Maria Calheiros e Associados, this is the “first time in Portugal that in a case of financial applications in bonds, the Appeal Court and the Supreme Court have sentenced a bank that sold these financial products to compensate private clients who lost money”.
Banco Popular had been found guilty at the lower court and Appeal Court for breach of the duty of information and client protection, but the bank appealed to the Supreme Court, which rejected the appeal.
Following this decision, the bank has paid compensation to three clients, the lawyers said.
The case involved investments in bonds issued by the Icelandic bank Kaupthing, which the clients said the Banco Popular, which sold them, had the capital guaranteed, but the investment was lost when the Icelandic bank became insolvent following the 2007/2008 financial crisis.