Spain: Bankia Case – Bank of Spain “induced” merger of Caja Madrid and Bancaja

José Manuel Fernández Norniella, a former Bankia director and former finance minister who is among of the defendants accused of fraud in the Bankia case, said that it was the Bank of Spain who promoted the concentration of local banks – including Caja Madrid and Bancaja – that would become Bankia.

“The Bank of Spain was the instigator of the process and, from there, the communication was among the presidents of the savings banks… As a counselor I had no contact with any institution” Norniella said during testimony at the trial, resumed under the anti-corruption prosecutor Alejandro Luzón.

Fernandez has argued in his defense that his position was in the “trenches” and that all decisions related to the integration process were “at a much higher level” than his. In addition, he noted that both the Bank of Spain and the Ministry of the Economy had inspectors, who at no time objected to the protection measures established by the bank and approved by the regulator.

Full Content: El Boletín