LONDON (MarketWatch) — Alfredo Saenz, chief executive of Spanish lender Banco Santander, has reportedly been banned from working as a banker for three months following a long-running investigation into his attempts to recover loans made by Banesto SA.
The case dates all the way back to 1994, when Saenz was chairman of Banesto /quotes/comstock/06x!e:bto (ES:BTO 6.43, -0.10, -1.55%) , which is now controlled by Santander /quotes/comstock/06x!e:san (ES:SAN 8.13, -0.04, -0.47%) /quotes/comstock/13*!std/quotes/nls/std (STD 11.19, -0.05, -0.45%) .
Reuters
Alfredo Saenz, chief executive of Spain's top lender Santander.
The legal saga will go at least one more round, however, as Santander said Saenz intends to immediately appeal the ruling — a process that could take two to four years, according to a Santander spokesman.
The Supreme Court ruled that Saenz should be arrested and suspended from holding any position in banking for three months, but as he doesn’t have a prior criminal record, he is unlikely to actually be arrested, Dow Jones Newswires reported, citing a court spokesman.
Shares of Santander fell 1.4% Thursday, while Spain’s IBEX 35 index dropped 1.2%.
Saenz is appealing the ruling made by Spain’s Supreme Court to the country’s Constitutional Court and will also ask the Provincial High Court of Barcelona to suspend execution of the sentence, pending his appeals, Santander said.
The bank added that its board is standing behind Saenz and that he will remain as CEO.
Spanish newspaper El Mundo reported in January that Saenz would face a ban as part of his sentence.
Saenz was reportedly accused of making false accusations against Banesto’s debtors as he tried to recover loans made by the bank.
Simon Kennedy is the City correspondent for MarketWatch in London.
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