In spite of dismissing the case shortly after it had been submitted, Fuengirola Court of First Instance has now agreed to implement a number of fact-finding requests on behalf of Euan Armstrong, as petitioned by his lawyers, after the initial dismissal was appealed successfully at the Malaga Appeal Court.
According to the decision of the Appeal Court, the dismissal of the criminal case against Danske Bank was found to be contrary to law because it was redacted in a laconic format incompatible with the Constitutional Tribunal doctrine and did not deal with the matters raised.
The Court of First Instance has now agreed to the following requests petitioned by EUAN ARMSTRONG’s Counsel:
- Summons ordering the following individuals to appear in Court to give a judicial statement: Mr. Peter Staarup, Mr. John Lundskov Larsen, Mr. Morten Runo Waaben, Mr. Henrik Hjerrild Hansen.
- Summons ordering the legal representative of DANSKE BANK INTERNATIONAL S.A. to appear in Court to give a judicial statement, on account of its potential responsibility for payment of damages.
- Summons ordering LCV, agent involved in the sale of Equity Release, to appear in Court to give a judicial statement, on account of its potential responsibility for payment of damages.
- Order to DANSKE BANK SPAIN and DANSKE BANK INTERNATIONAL to disclose the following:
- Type of relationship, employment or other, between DANSKE BANK and LCV.
- If LCV was authorized by DANSKE BANK as a financial advisor, or commercial agent, and if so the type or nature of products sold on behalf of DANSKE BANK.
- Remunerations during the period of relationship, whether in the form of commissions or benefits in kind, that may have been given by DANSKE BANK to LCV, through the network of offices in Spain.
- Number of DANSKE BANK CAPITAL ASSURANCE policies or contracts signed in Spain, with reference to the age and profession of the clients of this product.
- Destination given to the funds given to the DANSKE BANK by EUAN ARMSTRONG, in respect of the product called “Inverse Mortgage”.
- Request to the Spanish Insurance Regulator (Direccion General de Seguros y Fondos de Pensiones), with a view to confirm whether a product known as DANSKE BANK CAPITAL ASSURANCE, consisting in an insurance policy sold as a financial product for the elimination or mitigation of Spanish Inheritance Tax, as well as Spanish Wealth Tax, has obtained administrative authorization to be sold to the public or, in any event, whether it is compliant with applicable legislation, specifically advising on its characteristics and if it is currently sold in Spain.
- Witness Summons ordering the following to appear in Court to offer testimony:
- C.D. (Daughter of Mr. Armstrong)
- K.A. (Daughter of Mr. Armstrong)
Excellent news.
Very interesting. It would seem to me that finally the Spanish courts realise that there is a case to answer for Danske Bank otherwise they would have not taken this decision. It will be interesting to hear what the DGS rule with regard to this scheme and if their ruling is that the scheme is not only contrary to the Spanish regulations but was not registered is Spain then they have some problems. Also of course it must be a blow that the courts have asked them to give details of all their clients that have entered into such a scheme. It will be interesting to know how many have their clients have died and what ttax their beneficiaries paid.The same of course applies to other banks for selling similar schemes, banks such as Rothschild, Landsbanki, Nordea to mention but a few. Perhaps it is time for all these banks to look closely at their schemes and the advice they were given before entering into this market and make a decision if they should approach all their clients and come to some arrangement. They must now see that the writing is now on the wall and they cannot hide behind Luxembourg to get them out of the mire.
Some thoughts in general. I am sure everyone has been following the scandal of Barclays Bank fixing the LIBOR rate. Lets be aware that not only Barclays have been involved but also other well known banks. In fact today it has been reported that an email in 2008 from the CEO of Barclays intimated that the Bank of England may have been aware of the LIBOR fixing. Also that the Chairman of Barclays admitted on Sky that he had been aware for some two years of the LIBOR fixing. Lets also be aware that the EURIBOR also comes into this category and many Scanadavian banks that have been mentioned on the ERVA web site may equally be involved in fixing the EURIBOR. Logically it also had to encompass the EURIBOR. Now we have a situation that many of our members that contracted to these Equity Release Schemes did so on the underatanding that they were told that the money invested from their property would enable them to, not only pay these low interest rates (that had been fiddled) but the bonds/investments would also give then some extra income to enjoy in their retirement years. What a con. Do these banks not realise the hurt they have done to over 1,000 pensioners by embarking on such criminal activities, all in the quest of making more money for the banks and of course their own fat bonuses. I have failed to mention in this comment the tax advantages that we were all supposed to get mainly mitigated/avoidance of IHT and Wealth Taxes. Let us hope that the Spanish Government are heeding to our cries and eventually bring these banks to justice as they are doing in the UK. I hope they have the courage to see it through.
Well done Euan and Antonio. This is fantastic news!
Hope this is gooing good for all of us, how has been cheated frome the bank, good luck,hope to hear more soon.
Very good news, fingers crossed and very good luck to everyone.