Vitor Bento also said in a statement he had launched a restructuring plan that would involve "a thorough evaluation of the bank’s assets that could be divested, including, but not limited to, those associated with non-strategic international presence of the bank".

He did not specify how large a capital increase BES would need. He added that a process to increase the bank's capital will start immediately so that it could rebuild its capital ratios to the minimum required by regulators, and create a capital buffer.

(Reporting By Andrei Khalip; Editing by Laura Noonan)