Maputo — The Bank of Mozambique (BM) has claimed that it is carrying out monitoring in order to understand the evolution of the international financial market, following the bankruptcy of the American Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) and the sale of the European Credit Suisse to its one-time rival, UBS.

The demise of Credit Suisse is of particular interest to Mozambique, because this bank was deeply involved in the corrupt scheme known as the "hidden debts'.

On the basis of illicit guarantees issued in 2013 and 2014 by the government of the day, under the then President Armando Guebuza, Credit Suisse and the Russian bank VTB lent over two billion US dollars to three fraudulent, security linked companies - Prondicus, Ematum (Mozambique Tuna Company) and MAM (Mozambique Asset Management).

Three Credit Suisse bankers (Andrew Pearse, Detelina Subeva and Surjan Singh) admitted to taking millions of dollars in bribes from the Abu Dhabi based group, Privinvest, which was the sole contractor for the three companies.

The Mozambican Attorney-General's Office (PGR) is suing Privinvest and Credit Suisse in London, and hopes to have the loan guarantees of the Guebuza government declared null and void.

The Bank of Mozambique is not worried by the sale of Credit Suisse to UBS. "Although the national financial market is dominated by banks controlled by international laws, the risk for contagion does not exist', said a central bank spokesperson, cited by the Maputo daily "Notícias'. He added that "the national banking sector presents a satisfactory performance, with high levels of solvency and liquidity.'

After the bankruptcy of SVB, according to the Bank, the American authorities decreed emergency measures, which included access to deposits of those clients who belonged to the failed banks.