Public Statement From Dr.

lvaro Sobrinho

On 10th March 2017, Dr lvaro Sobrinho made a public statement at ASA Group
Headquarters in Ebene. He said:

"Ladies and gentlemen of the press. Thank you for coming. I am sure you were awaiting this
moment with the great impatience. I too have been waiting to meet you with equal
impatience.

Lets get to business.

For several weeks the media, specifically the written press, has been hammering that we
applied for a banking license from the Bank of Mauritius and that our application was turned
down. I have further been described as not being a fit and proper person. We had to put up
with a smear campaign for several weeks. The Bank of Mauritius confirmed yesterday that we
never applied to the Bank of Mauritius for any licence. The truth, which could have easily been
ascertained, finally came to light yesterday after weeks of rumour. By any means, this is a sad
story. Perhaps, in the interest of fairness and decency, you will take corrective measures to
inform your public of the truth and do so with the same passion that has been demonstrated
so far.

Everything else stems from this. The very basis of this allegation is now shaken as we have
never asked the Bank of Mauritius for any license.

More importantly, some people should have been aware that the Investment Banking Licence
is an umbrella licence encompassing activities that have always been under the purview of
the FSC and not the Bank of Mauritius. It should have been obvious to certain people that the
supervisory body for those activities could only have been the FSC, hence our application to
the FSC.

The fertile imagination of some people went wild as to say that we have bought brand new
expensive cars and gifted them to politicians and their entourage.
Well, ladies and gentlemen, we have bought expensive cars, Berlines as it was reported. But
not to offer them to politicians and their sons and daughters but to the senior members of
our team. The senior officers of our company are highly qualified professionals who are
perfectly entitled to that kind of privilege. I invite you to look around and see how many senior
executives in the private sector are driving Berlines. You see it on the road everyday. And
they are not all mine, by the way.

There is also a very specific allegation that I am or will be subject of an investigation of an

alleged misappropriation of over half a billion US Dollars or some 18 billion Rupees while
acting as the Chief Executive Officer of Banco Espirito Santo Angola (BESA).

Let me state very boldly:

There is no such formal accusation against me either in Portugal or anywhere. I have

never been accused or charged in Portugal or by any authorities worldwide. The issue
of conviction does not even arise.

Now, there is another allegation - that we have been given special treatment by the Financial
Services Commission. This is totally false. I have received no favours from the FSC. However,
I must state that my team is co-operating and giving full assistance to the FSC on whatever
issue they may have. With regards to the issue of Professor Goolam Mohamedbhai, I wish to
tell you that my team inform me we are very comfortable to answer any questions from the
FSC in this regard. Obviously I cannot communicate our reply to the FSC to you as this is
confidential unless it is leaked to the media. Incidentally, I am requesting, through my
attorney, that the FSC inquires into the leakage of this morning and I am confident with the
means at its disposal the FSC will be able to do so.

It is important to us to resolve this sad episode because we came here with a positive business
plan. A plan to participate in the development of Mauritius with investments and to support
the development of financial services in line with the policies of the country. Making Mauritius
a leading International Finance Centre and promoting it as a global investment
destination. We have provided the FSC with our business plan for Africa and for Mauritius.
And I am confident that, despite this unwelcome and sad episode, that our venture in
Mauritius will be a success story.

I am also confident that in the end the rule of law, which you so cherish, will prevail. You
should be proud of your robust institutions and more particularly your judiciary. This
assurance, that justice will prevail, matters greatly to investors like me, who want to come to
Mauritius and be part of the successful development of the country.

Finally, ladies and gentlemen, I am present here today and I will be present in Mauritius each
time I am needed for any enquiries that the authorities choose to conduct.

In respect of inquiries underway in Mauritius, I can not comment any further on any of the
issues at this stage.

Thank you for coming.

- ENDS -