Following an explicit request from the Bank of Spain, 54 highly-ranked employees of Spanish savings banks declined to reveal their annual compensation. Huddled beneath the umbrella of the Ley de Protección de Datos, a Spanish law entitling citizens to privacy of information, they are trying to avoid public scrutiny at a time when trust and transparency are highly valued by global markets looking to invest in Spain.
With the history of abuses of power that some lenders in our financial sector have committed, this decision does not appear to be the correct one at all. Nor is it a step that will eradicate doubts plaguing a sector that is still very much in the process of renovation.
The Frob, which has a majority shares in many of the savings banks, has become an accomplice in a decision that now allows managers to take an easy shortcut that will put them in a dark and dangerous alley soon enough.
Ultimately, transparency and the supervision required to guarantee it are both lacking at this time.