A Madrid judge has ruled that Ángel Ron, the former chairman of failed Spanish bank Banco Popular Español SA, is not eligible for €12.8 million in pre-retirement pay, El País reported.
In a case brought by Banco Santander SA, which acquired the bank for a symbolic €1 after it was deemed failing by European authorities in 2017, the judge ruled that the payout is variable pay, and as the bank was loss-making, the money does not need to be paid according to European banking rules, the report said. It is the first time a judge has applied the rule, the paper said.
Ron will have to return €13,093 for an advance payment in 2017 and €215,546 in bonuses for 2013 and 2014, and will lose the right to 10,216 shares in Popular.
According to his current pension agreement, Ron was to receive €1.1 million a year until his 65th birthday, the report said.
Ron, who was ousted in a boardroom coup in December 2016, is planning to appeal the ruling, El País reported.
