https://feeds.thelocal.com/ Read the latest news and views from Spain in English en-us news@thelocal.com (TheLocal) webmaster@thelocal.com (TheLocal) TheLocal RSS Feed Directors from CaixaBank and Bankia Thursday approved their merger into Spain's biggest lender in a move which will transform the landscape of Spanish banking. https://www.thelocal.es/20200918/spain-has-a-new-mega-bank-as-la-caixa-bankia-merger-approved Fri, 18 Sep 2020 13:00:54 +0200 spain-has-a-new-mega-bank-as-la-caixa-bankia-merger-approved Former IMF chief Rodrigo Rato said Tuesday Spain's central bank knew all that was going on at Bankia as he testified for the first time in a trial over the alleged fraudulent listing of the bank he once led. https://www.thelocal.es/20190109/ex-imf-head-rato-on-trial-points-finger-at-spain-central-bank Wed, 09 Jan 2019 11:16:55 +0100 ex-imf-head-rato-on-trial-points-finger-at-spain-central-bank A mega-trial harking back to the dark years of Spain's economic crisis kicks off Monday over the alleged fraudulent 2011 listing of financial giant Bankia, with former IMF leader Rodrigo Rato in the dock.g https://www.thelocal.es/20181125/ex-imf-chief-rato-in-dock-again-in-major-bankia-trial Sun, 25 Nov 2018 10:10:05 +0100 ex-imf-chief-rato-in-dock-again-in-major-bankia-trial A Spanish court on Friday ordered former IMF head Rodrigo Rato to stand trial for fraud over the failed 2011 listing of Bankia, a bank he led which later needed rescuing by the state. https://www.thelocal.es/20171118/spain-court-orders-ex-imf-head-rato-to-be-tried-for-fraud Sat, 18 Nov 2017 13:03:30 +0100 spain-court-orders-ex-imf-head-rato-to-be-tried-for-fraud Miguel Blesa, the disgraced former chairman of Spanish savings bank Caja Madrid was found dead at his country estate on Wednesday, where he reportedly shot himself in the chest. https://www.thelocal.es/20170719/disgraced-banker-found-dead-on-country-estate Wed, 19 Jul 2017 13:36:08 +0200 disgraced-banker-found-dead-on-country-estate Former IMF chief Rodrigo Rato was handed a jail sentence of four years and six months Thursday for misusing funds when he was the boss of two Spanish banks. https://www.thelocal.es/20170223/ex-imf-chief-rodrigo-rato-jailed Thu, 23 Feb 2017 15:22:43 +0100 ex-imf-chief-rodrigo-rato-jailed Bankia, Spain's fourth largest bank that was bailed out by the state in 2012, on Monday reported a much steeper drop in net profit for last year than analysts had expected. https://www.thelocal.es/20170130/bailed-out-bankia-slumps-on-negative-rates-and-florida Mon, 30 Jan 2017 15:34:44 +0100 bailed-out-bankia-slumps-on-negative-rates-and-florida Former IMF chief Rodrigo Rato said on Tuesday that using the funds of banks he headed up for personal use was "completely legal," as he took the stand in a trial for embezzlement. https://www.thelocal.es/20161005/all-legal-ex-imf-head-rato-says-in-embezzlement-trial Wed, 05 Oct 2016 11:18:51 +0200 all-legal-ex-imf-head-rato-says-in-embezzlement-trial Former IMF chief Rodrigo Rato stands trial on Monday accused of overseeing a "corrupt system" that helped him and other executives misuse funds on hotels, parties and luxury shopping when he was a Spanish bank boss. https://www.thelocal.es/20160926/ex-imf-boss-rato-on-trial-over-bankers-luxury-sprees Mon, 26 Sep 2016 11:35:42 +0200 ex-imf-boss-rato-on-trial-over-bankers-luxury-sprees A leaked phone conversation between Spain's Queen Letizia and a businessman embroiled in a bank scandal set Twitter ablaze Wednesday, just as King Felipe VI attempts to revive the scandal-hit monarchy. https://www.thelocal.es/20160310/leaked-phone-chat-embarrasses-scandal-hit-spanish-royals Thu, 10 Mar 2016 10:17:09 +0100 leaked-phone-chat-embarrasses-scandal-hit-spanish-royals Three members of the European Parliament have written to the European Commission asking them to investigate Gareth Bale's world record transfer from Tottenham Hotspur to Real Madrid in 2013 on accusations of illegal state aid. https://www.thelocal.es/20160218/real-madrid-gareth-bales-record-breaking-transfer-deal-facing-probe Thu, 18 Feb 2016 09:47:33 +0100 real-madrid-gareth-bales-record-breaking-transfer-deal-facing-probe Spain's bailed-out bank Bankia on Wednesday offered to pay back thousands of small investors who bought into its failed stock market listing in 2011 up to €1.8 billion ($2.0 billion) in a bid to end legal actions against it. https://www.thelocal.es/20160217/spains-bailed-out-lender-bankia-to-pay-back-small-investors Wed, 17 Feb 2016 16:46:21 +0100 spains-bailed-out-lender-bankia-to-pay-back-small-investors A class action lawsuit against Spain's Bankia opened on Thursday with 660 small shareholders who say they were misled during the financial giant's 2011 stock listing asking to be reimbursed €6.3 million ($7 million) https://www.thelocal.es/20160205/spains-bankia-sued-by-misled-shareholders-in-class-action-lawsuit Fri, 05 Feb 2016 13:19:13 +0100 spains-bankia-sued-by-misled-shareholders-in-class-action-lawsuit Spain's Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday that "serious inaccuracies" in financial giant Bankia's 2011 stock listing led investors into error, opening the way for hundreds of millions of euros in compensation https://www.thelocal.es/20160128/spanish-court-orders-bankia-to-repay-investors Thu, 28 Jan 2016 10:20:49 +0100 spanish-court-orders-bankia-to-repay-investors Spanish prosecutors asked Thursday that former IMF chief Rodrigo Rato be jailed for more than four years for allegedly misusing credit cards for personal use while head of a bank that was later bailed out. https://www.thelocal.es/20160115/spanish-prosecutors-demand-four-years-jail-for Fri, 15 Jan 2016 09:56:42 +0100 spanish-prosecutors-demand-four-years-jail-for Bailed-out Spanish financial giant Bankia announced Saturday an 83 percent jump in its 2014 net profits to €747 million, though the group remains under investigation for an ill-fated 2011 stock listing. https://www.thelocal.es/20150301/bailed-out-spanish-bank-reports-profits-jump Sun, 01 Mar 2015 12:31:34 +0100 bailed-out-spanish-bank-reports-profits-jump The former IMF head Rodrigo Rato and other fellow bankers were ordered to pay a bond of €800 million in troubled lender Bankia stocks probe. https://www.thelocal.es/20150213/bankia-bond-of-800m-ordered-by-court Fri, 13 Feb 2015 16:27:00 +0100 bankia-bond-of-800m-ordered-by-court Bailed-out Spanish financial giant Bankia misrepresented its accounts ahead of its doomed 2011 stock listing which coincided with suspect buying and selling of its shares, central bank experts claimed on Thursday. https://www.thelocal.es/20141205/bailed-out-bank-cooked-books Fri, 05 Dec 2014 09:54:00 +0100 bailed-out-bank-cooked-books Scandal-hit Bankia on Friday announced improved earnings on the back of reduced bad debt ratios, news that comes in the midst of allegations top executives at the institution used 'secret' cards to make lavish personal purposes. https://www.thelocal.es/20141024/bailed-out-bankia-sees-profits-soar Fri, 24 Oct 2014 17:43:00 +0200 bailed-out-bankia-sees-profits-soar Spanish authorities are taking a tougher line against dirty dealing by the country's long untouchable political elite as a lengthy economic downturn fuels public outrage. https://www.thelocal.es/20141023/credit-card-scandal-reignites-anger-against-political-class Thu, 23 Oct 2014 13:26:00 +0200 credit-card-scandal-reignites-anger-against-political-class