The Bank of Spain imposes a fine of five million euros on Ibercaja

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The Bank of Spain has imposed a fine of five million euros for a “serious” infraction, according to the information that the supervisor has published today on its website.

Specifically, the infringement consists of the “inaccurate” submission of the information that must be reported to the Bank of Spain on the interest rates of loans to the private sector residing in the country.

The rules applied have been Law 10/2014, of June 26, on the organization, supervision and solvency of credit institutions, Order EHA/2899/2011, of October 28, on transparency and protection of banking services customers, the eighth rule of the Bank of Spain circular 8/1990, and the supervisor’s circular 5/2012.

The sanction was imposed on April 25, 2022, but until now it had not been published. It is firm in administrative proceedings, although it has been judicially appealed by the bank.

From Ibercaja they have explained to Europa Press that it is an “operational error”, by miscalculating the Equivalent Annual Rate (TAE) applied to some credit operations. This rate reflects the effective cost of the mortgage, including the interest rate, but also bank fees and commissions.

In this way, the appeal presented by the entity before the Contentious-Administrative Chamber of the National Court is not directed against the reason for the sanction, but against the amount of the fine, which would be high compared to the damage caused to customers for this mistake.