Portugal's BES steadies nerves, losses still a puzzle

LISBON/LONDON: Banco Espirito Santo steadied market jitters by saying on Friday that it had enough reserve to cover whatever exposure but investors are still in the dark about the size of any potential losses.

Portugal's largest listed bank is at the centre of a firestorm after concerns about its links to a web of companies controlled by the powerful Espirito Santo clan sparked a rout in global markets this week, prompting some European companies to pull fundraisings and reviving memories of the region's debt crisis.