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Article: Trials and tribulations; Spanish banks.(Good times and bad for Spain's top banks)
- Article from:
- The Economist (US)
- Article date:
- January 22, 2005
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2005 Economist Newspaper Ltd. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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The bosses of Spain's two biggest banks are under fire
LAST year was a good one for Santander Central Hispano (SCH) and Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria (BBVA). Spain's two biggest banks did well at home and in Latin America, and SCH bought Britain's Abbey, in Europe's biggest cross-border bank merger. This year is starting less well, in particular for the two banks' bosses.
Emilio Botin, chairman of SCH, is due to stand trial twice. In the first trial, which is due to open next week, Mr Botin is accused of misappropriating funds by giving severance packages totalling euro164m ($145m) to two former executives of Banco Central Hispano Americano, which ...