Rodrigo Rato, the ex-head of the International Monetary Fund, and former officials at one of Spain’s largest banks are in court Monday to answer accusations that they misled investors about the state of the lender’s finances ahead of its 2011 IPO.
MrRato, the former Bankia chairman who is already serving time for another conviction, is the most prominent of 34 defendants who will be probed over whether they deliberately falsified accounts and hid information from investors.
Bankia raised more than €3 billion (Dh12.51bn) in a 2011 share sale, including €1.85bn from retail investors, a year before its near-collapse forced Spain to seek €41bn in European bailout funds to shore up its banking system. The Bankia group’s rescue required more than €22bn in public aid.
Six years after the European Union stepped in to bail out its financial system, Spain is still dealing with the aftermath and winning back public trust is the industry’s toughest challenge, Bankia chairman Jose Ignacio Goirigolzarri said last week.
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“Bankia’s IPO was a milestone in Spain’s financial crisis,” said Ricardo Wehrhahn, managing partner at Intral Strategy Execution in Madrid. “It was the starting gun for the crisis.”
The government looks like it may struggle to meet a December 2019 to offload its 61 per cent stake in Bankia as the lender’s share price continues to fall, making a sale in the open market politically unpalatable.
Regulators at the Bank of Spain and the National Securities Market Commission authorised Bankia’s initial public offering despite repeated warnings by the central bank’s inspection team that the group wasn’t viable, according to the National Court in Madrid.
Bankia hired investment banks including Deutsche Bank, JP Morgan, Bank of America and UBS to manage the share sale as it sought to plug a shortfall in minimum capital requirements.
The opportunity was largely snubbed by institutional investors who had concerns about the amount of soured real estate loans the bank was carrying. The bank instead turned to individuals and its own customers. Many of those have already been compensated. The bank has paid out €1.9bn in out-of-court settlements. Of an original 11,000 initial accusers there are 168 remaining who are owed a total €2.1m, according to calculations by Bankia.
Mr Rato’s lawyer, Ignacio Ayala, didn’t immediately comment.
The trial is expected to last seven months.
What can you do?
Document everything immediately; including dates, times, locations and witnesses
Seek professional advice from a legal expert
You can report an incident to HR or an immediate supervisor
You can use the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation’s dedicated hotline
In criminal cases, you can contact the police for additional support
The%20specs
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Ain Dubai in numbers
126: The length in metres of the legs supporting the structure
1 football pitch: The length of each permanent spoke is longer than a professional soccer pitch
16 A380 Airbuses: The equivalent weight of the wheel rim.
9,000 tonnes: The amount of steel used to construct the project.
5 tonnes: The weight of each permanent spoke that is holding the wheel rim in place
192: The amount of cable wires used to create the wheel. They measure a distance of 2,4000km in total, the equivalent of the distance between Dubai and Cairo.
DUBAI%20BLING%3A%20EPISODE%201
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECreator%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ENetflix%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStars%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EKris%20Fade%2C%20Ebraheem%20Al%20Samadi%2C%20Zeina%20Khoury%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%202%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
THE APPRENTICE
Director: Ali Abbasi
Starring: Sebastian Stan, Maria Bakalova, Jeremy Strong
Rating: 3/5
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
Match info
Liverpool 3
Hoedt (10' og), Matip (21'), Salah (45 3')
Southampton 0
The five pillars of Islam
1. Fasting
2. Prayer
3. Hajj
4. Shahada
5. Zakat
BLACK%20ADAM
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The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
Torque: 450Nm at 6,100rpm
Transmission: 7-speed PDK auto or 6-speed manual
Fuel economy, combined: 13.8L/100km
On sale: Available to order now
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
Election pledges on migration
CDU: "Now is the time to control the German borders and enforce strict border rejections"
SPD: "Border closures and blanket rejections at internal borders contradict the spirit of a common area of freedom"
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
2025 Fifa Club World Cup groups
Group A: Palmeiras, Porto, Al Ahly, Inter Miami.
Group B: Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle.
Group C: Bayern Munich, Auckland City, Boca Juniors, Benfica.
Group D: Flamengo, ES Tunis, Chelsea, (Leon banned).
Group E: River Plate, Urawa, Monterrey, Inter Milan.
Group F: Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan, Mamelodi Sundowns.
Group G: Manchester City, Wydad, Al Ain, Juventus.
Group H: Real Madrid, Al Hilal, Pachuca, Salzburg.
Copa del Rey final
Sevilla v Barcelona, Saturday, 11.30pm (UAE), match on Bein Sports
The specs
Engine: Long-range single or dual motor with 200kW or 400kW battery
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Max touring range: 620km / 590km
Price: From Dh250,000 (estimated)
The five pillars of Islam
