Press Release: State aid: Commission opens in-depth investigation into payment of dividends by Caixa Geral de Depósitos

The European Commission has opened an in-depth investigation to examine whether a payment of dividends in September 2012 by Caixa Geral Finance Limited, an affiliate of Caixa Geral de Depósitos (CGD), is in line with EU State aid rules.

In June 2012 CGD received a rescue capital injection from the Portuguese State amounting to €1.65 billion. The Commission had authorised the capital increase, subject to commitments including, in particular, a ban on the payment of dividends and coupons on hybrid capital. The Commission will investigate whether the dividend payments involve a misuse of the rescue aid that CGD had received and whether they constitute, in turn, state aid to the recipients.