Carlos Torres gains power in BBVA before the ‘Villarejo case’

The president of BBVA, Carlos Torres, has taken a first blow at the table trying not to leave any loose ends and retain power with the changes of the board of directors announced this week, which are the preamble of a renewal of the governing body in 2021. This movement occurs in full 'Villarejo case' and in view of the consequences that the evolution of this cause can have for both the bank and the dome.

The departure of the only executive director, with the exception of Torres himself and number two Onur Genç, has been interpreted in different financial circles as a decision to control the entity as much as possible and eliminate any threat to its throne. The attributions that José Manuel González-Páramo had were going to be assumed directly by his cabinet team, led by Roberto Albadalejo. The former vice president of the ECB was the preferred candidate of this body in the succession process of the former president, Francisco González in 2018.

The other two changes of the council have affected two historical, who had been in the house for more than thirteen years, Tomás Alfaro and Carlos Loring Martínez de Irujo, and were people of the highest confidence of the previous maximum responsible, currently imputed by the plot of illegal listening to politicians and businessmen between 2004 and 2017.

The three dismissals (no renewals in office) have been supplied by three foreigners, whose interest in participating in eventual internal conflicts or wars a priori seems distant. Above all, at a time when the bank has a weakened reputation for the impact of the Villarejo case and the so-called Neguri clan – the Basques – intend to take part of the influence lost under González's presidency for so many years.

One of the new members of the governing body comes from the same consultant in which Torres began his professional career, McKinsey. This is Raúl Galamba de Oliveria, who was director of the Spanish subsidiary of this firm. This coincidence is valued in the sector as the arrival of another faithful to the president to the ranks of the second largest bank in our country.

Having tied and well tied is key to the future survival of the head of the entity, who hardly has an exercise in the command post. The gale Villarejo can cause you to lose your balance, depending on the development of the judicial investigation. In this regard, BBVA rejected police assistance to accelerate the analysis of documentation in its facilities offered last year by Judge García Castellón.

The National Court has not yet managed to draw clear conclusions. Everything is about to be clarified. It only has the contracts, which were signed for the most part by the former Chief of Security, Julio Corrochano, a host of recorded conversations, and various executives who collaborated in the plot so that the ex-commissioner made the orders through illegal means.

The Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office, although, has clear indications that Francisco González ordered the hiring of the pillage and that it is behind the work carried out practically during his term of office.

Entity Defense

The bank argues that it is not responsible for such acts, but that the guilt of the facts, if proven, would fall on the people who knew and entrusted the alleged irregular practices and points to several executives and former directors, including those who were CEO Ángel Cano, the former head of the real estate area, Antonio Béjar, and Corrochano.

So far he does not point to his former president, but he does accuse him of having profited from the orders for private businesses, such as the search for farms for acquisition in different cities of the country. Francisco González managed, thanks to these works, to buy a property in Marbella.

He does not point him out, but he does put pressure on the cause with his emails that directly involve him in the spy plot, as contained in the judicial summary, whose secret survey took place at the beginning of February.

The coming months will be key to solving the case and for Torres's own future

BBVA has been charged since last summer for bribery, revelation and discovery of secrets and corruption in business. The most relevant crime is the first and is due to the fact that the bank hired Villarejo while he was still active in the State Security Forces and Corps. At least it is what the Prosecutor's Office considers, that the entity knew the employment status of the pillage and that it used public means for its private investigations.

The bank denies that he then knew that Villarejo was behind the Cenyt companies and he himself was active. But he acknowledges, according to his defense statement, that since 2015 he did know that he had a commercial relationship with the ex-commissioner.

The next months will be key so that the unknowns can be cleared. And also for the future of Torres. At the moment, the judge has called three PwC executives, a consultant who has made the forensic report for the financial group together with Garrigues and Uría Menéndez, to testify and clear up some doubts about the analysis carried out and other issues. But the clock runs in favor of the president of the bank, because Justice in Spain is slow.

BBVA argues that neither President Carlos Torres nor any counselor are involved in the 'Villarejo case'