Mason Jones (Reporter)
A HUGE €1.7 million fine imposed on a Gibraltar bank still stands after it lost an appeal at the Spanish High Court.
The sanction was imposed on Jyske bank after it refused to release details of a property purchase in 2007 on the Costa del Sol.
The European Courts of Justice backed Spain’s demand for the information as it believed the transaction is linked to money laundering.
The ruling comes despite the bank finally releasing some information on the purchase. However, it failed to divulge who was involved or provide transaction copies.
After the Spanish High Court issued the fine, Jyske appealed to the EU Court claiming the bank was only obliged to inform the Gibraltar authorities over the transaction.
However, the EU court ruled that as the bank had regular activity in Spain it should also communicate directly with the Spanish authorities to fight against money laundering.
Jyske now plan to appeal the judgement.
“We are now studying the preliminary ruling together with our Spanish lawyers in order for us to prepare for the continuing case before the Spanish courts,” Managing Director Lars Aarup Jensen told the Olive Press.
“However, we would like to stress that this case is not about whether Jyske bank has been involved in money laundering.
“It is a question of whether Spain should obtain reports on potential money laundering from the Financial Intelligence Unit in the home jurisdiction of a bank or directly from the bank itself,” he added.
I believe the European Court ruling as the correct one. Ever since this Jyske Bank´s scandalous previous managing director was caught with his hands in the till, back in 1991, misappropriating over 71,000,000 GB pounds in land deals, most of which were on the Costa del sol (see Jyske Bank v Spjeldnaes) – it has continued to be active in Spain, extensively promoting its products and services to residents on the Costa del Sol – with full page adverts in Sur in English, sponsoring local radio programmes and golfing events along the coast. However, unlike any reputable company soliciting business in Spain, Jyske Bank has no permanent address in Spain, no resident representative, let alone an office in Spain, to answer questions or be responsible for their actions. The fact that massive amounts of money are moved from this bank into Spain in property transactions they should be answerable to the Spanish Banking authorities, Spanish tax authorities the Spanish Judiciary and now the European judiciary.