in question could only be provided to the parliamentary committee of inquiry with the authorisation of the people referred to therein. this was the only reason why this note was not submitted to the parliamentary committee of inquiry. thus, contrary to what has been insinuated, this note serves to prove that banco de portugal was analysing all situations that could influence the suitability assessment of members of the board of directors of bes. www. bportugal. pt however, as i have been constantly emphasising and is already on record, namely within the scope of the parliamentary committee of inquiry, banco de portugal's decisions to prevent the carrying out of professional functions are subject to stringent legal conditions. these conditions effectively lay down specific factual prerequisites and, at the same time, the observance of general rules of procedure, proof and reasoning, governing the work of the public authority. at the end of 2013, in relation to the problems coming to light and receiving news coverage for the first time, banco de portugal did not have the necessary factual proof that – within the legal framework then applicable and given the very restrictive jurisprudence of the higher administrative courts – would allow a formal process to be opened to reassess the suitability of the members of the board of directors in question. this is made clear in the note quoted in the report, when it mentions that the information existing at that time had to be duly verified and confirmed for the purposes of any actions in terms of suitability. at no time did that information warrant the immediate removal of any member of the board of directors of bes, or even the immediate opening of a process to that end. what should be emphasised here, to remove all doubt, is that as a result of that and other information, the competent services in banco de portugal undertook work to obtain confirmation of potentially relevant facts for the suitability assessment, both regarding those concerned – namely through the exchange of written communications and through face - to - face meetings – and regarding other entities. in this assessment process ( as was fully outlined to the parliamentary committee of inquiry ), banco de portugal did not approve the registration requests to carry out functions in other grupo bes entities, which culminated in – after calling for successive explanations and clarifications from the members of the board in question, both written and face - to - face – the withdrawal of those requests by the individuals themselves in march and april 2014. in parallel, banco de portugal implemented actions to

of the recent crisis, of entrepreneurship focused on business opportunities in which the scale, organisation and capital requirements were not key determinants to success. this appears to have been – alongside outward migration – the response of economic agents to the job destruction caused by the crisis. 1 / 3 bis central bankers'speeches this is positive news as it shows that the economy was able to react. however, although it is true that this type of entrepreneurship makes economic adjustment easier, it is important to recognise that it is not enough to lead the portuguese economy to a higher growth path. for this we need two additional types of entrepreneurship : entrepreneurship focused on technological business opportunities ; and entrepreneurship that promotes the restructuring and growth of existing small and medium - sized enterprises. public policies have a relevant role to play in the promotion of these types of entrepreneurship, from the adoption of a legal and institutional framework conducive to an attractive business environment – that is, a business environment that enables a more efficient and flexible allocation of available resources and promotes a reduction in the levels of uncertainty that economic agents operate in. the attractiveness of the business environment depends on countless factors, from the operation of the labour market to the operation of the capital market, to corporate insolvency and recovery mechanisms, to name but a few. notwithstanding, no matter how relevant the business environment may be, the way the manager combines that environment, the organisation and the firm ’ s strategy is actually equally critical to economic growth. for this to result in production that is desired and valued by the market, we always need a management model that is effective and professional. in an economy like that of portugal, in which family - run firms form a large proportion of small and medium - sized enterprises as a whole, the reconciliation between family ownership and management professionalisation is a critical element in the evolution of the corporate sector and the portuguese economy. the separation of ownership and management is a decisive factor for management professionalisation. such separation allows a fair balance to be found and safeguarded between the continuity of the entrepreneurial factor that was present during the development of a given firm, the legitimate interests of the different stakeholders of that firm, and the defence of an ambition to grow in scale and / or value chain migration. that is, only through the professionalisation of management, combined with the continued commitment of the entrepreneurial elements present, can there be an affirmation of more effective management models and the sustainability and growth of business. public policy can encourage management professionalisation in