The Bank of Spain has fined Unión de Créditos Inmobiliarios (UCI) 880,000 euros, as well as its directors for a “very serious” infraction, as reported on its website.
The violation consisted of presenting “deficiencies” in its organizational structure and internal control mechanisms, in addition to not “adequately” managing the credit risk to which the entity was exposed, which “jeopardized” the entity’s solvency. .
UCI, the mortgage joint venture of Banco Santander and BNP Paribas, has been fined 700,000 euros; to the former CEO, Roberto Colomer, 55,000 euros; to the president and advisor, Matías Rodríguez Inciarte, 30,000 euros; to the councilors Remedios Ruiz and Michel Falvert, 35,000 euros; and to councilor Benoît Patrice Stéphane, 25,000 euros.
The Bank of Spain took this resolution on March 27 and the administrative sanctions are final.
It should be noted that last July the company announced that Pedro Megre would replace Roberto Colomer as CEO, although Colomer would remain on the board of directors with the position of strategic advisor.
UCI sources have indicated to Europa Press that this sanction has been imposed for the interpretation and application of technical aspects of the regulations with respect to which the company considers that it “acted correctly” in terms of financial information and credit risk management. Regarding the amount, the company points out that the penalty has been imposed in the lower sections in accordance with the regulations. In any case, UCI assures that all the issues where the Bank of Spain has expressed disagreement about the criteria applied “have been completely addressed and corrected through the appropriate action plans.”
For all these reasons, UCI has decided to file the appropriate contentious-administrative appeal against it before the National Court.
In 2022, UCI lost 55 million euros, compared to ‘red numbers’ of 29.5 million registered in 2021, according to the company’s annual report for 2022. The gross margin stood at 137.7 million euros, 7.9% less compared to the previous year.
