LISBON, April 27 (Reuters) - Bank of Portugal Governor Alvaro Santos Pereira bought shares in Galp and Jeronimo Martins shortly after taking office last year but later reversed the transactions following a European Central Bank review, the country's central bank said on Monday.
Publico newspaper reported earlier that Santos Pereira purchased shares in the Lisbon-listed oil company and retailer in December, two months after stepping into his role as governor and joining the ECB's Governing Council.
The investments were disclosed in his declaration of interests to the ECB in January, the Bank of Portugal said.
According to the central bank, the governor had increased his holdings as part of "the management of his financial investment portfolio," but the purchases were unwound following discussions with the ECB.
The divestment process was recently completed, it said, without specifying whether he made any profit or loss.
Under the ECB's Code of Conduct, effective since January 2023, senior officials are barred from acquiring shares in individual companies after taking office and are generally required to invest in diversified funds to prevent conflicts of interest.
(Reporting by Sergio Goncalves; editing by Andrei Khalip and Tomasz Janowski)
