Portuguese bank to reimburse MA investors
Massachusetts Secretary of State William Galvin says a Portuguese bank has agreed to return money to hundreds of investors who bought unregistered securities through a subsidiary office in New Bedford.
The office had been set up by Lisbon-based Banco Espirito Santo to help Portuguese immigrants transfer money to relatives back home. Between 2004 and 2007, Galvin said customers were also offered securities that the bank was not authorized to sell in Massachusetts.
Galvin said on Tuesday that the bank agreed to reimburse as many as 700 Massachusetts investors. He commended the bank for alerting the state last month after its own investigation revealed the problem.
