Banco Santander SA has removed popular messaging software including WhatsApp from smartphones issued by the company to its investment bankers in Spain, the latest sign of how banks are clamping down on staff communications. The Spanish lender has recently told the investment banking staff at its Madrid headquarters that unauthorized messaging software needs to be deleted, people familiar with the…
Spain’s anti-corruption prosecutors said today that they will appeal last week’s court decision clearing Telefonica chairman Cesar Alierta of insider trading charges. As previously discussed here, Cesar Alierta was cleared of insider trading charges on Friday of last week due to Spain’s statute of limitations laws. Reuters reports that it could take at least a year for the appeal to…
In Spain, Telefónica SA Chairman Cesar Alierta was cleared of insider trading charges today. The WSJ reports that Spanish court documents show that the court cleared Alierta of charges that date back to the late 1990s due to Spain’s statute of limitations laws. Alierta has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing and is “one of Spain’s most admired and successful executives,” the…
In his criminal trial for insider trading that began this week (previously discussed here), Telefonica Chairman Cesar Alierta boldly denied the charges against him, stating “I didn’t buy one share of Tabacalera, either directly or indirectly, in 1997.” He testified that the charges were the result of a prosecutor that “did not properly understand the functioning of stock markets.” Reuters…
Yesterday, Spain’s Banco Santander became the first institution to offer to repay victims in the alleged Madoff fraud, as it attempted to avoid lawsuits. FT reports that Santander offered to “pay back 100 per cent of the investments made in the Optimal Strategic US Equity fund, which was wholly invested with Mr Madoff, to individual private banking clients but not…
Spanish prosecutors are investigating Banco Santander SA’s loss of €2.3 billion ($3.1 billion) for clients by investing with Bernard Madoff. Prosecutors are specifically looking into the details of Santander’s relationship with Madoff’s firm and when Santander knew about problems related to it, the WSJ reports today. Santander was among the most active of the Madoff “feeder funds” and brought wealthy…