Court rules investment products were mis-sold

Both Bankinter and Banco Banesto have lost court cases

Those who believe Spanish investors have no protection for financial investment products sold by their banking system may be interested to read about the two following cases:

In a judgement reached by the Provincial High Court in Murcia, Bankinter has been ordered to pay 14,634 euros to a customer who was not adequately informed by the bank about the risks inherent in a financial investment. This follows another similar decision recently in San Javier, when the same bank was ordered to pay 6,400 euros to a different customer.

This latest decision upholds the verdict of a court in Yecla over a year ago, which decided that the risk management contract signed between Bankinter and Pinomar Sillería in October 2007 was null and void. In rejecting the bank’s appeal, the High Court says that the customer believed that the contract was a kind of insurance policy to protect against variations in interest rates, whereas in fact it was a far more complex investment product which contained a high degree of inherent risk. Furthermore, the verdict states that there is no evidence to suggest that the customer should be able by simply reading the words of the contract to understand the financial realities which the product entailed. ( !)

The figure to be reimbursed to the customer reflects the costs generated by the legal proceedings undertaken.
The same court recently sentenced Banesto to pay 12,472 euros to its customer “Asesores y Técnicas Agrícolas” in a similar case, considering that the client did not receive adequate information concerning the risks inherent in a financial operations contract signed between the two parties. This contract was also declared null and void.