Company: BCDRF
Filing Date: 2025-02-28
Form Type: 20-F
Source: 0000891478-25-000054
Chunk: 738

Company: Banco Santander, S.A.
Filing Date: 2025-02-28
Form: 20-F
Chunk 738
---
 of the judgment of 5 May 2022 to other capital instruments such as subordinated obligations, preferred stocks and subordinated bonds. On 5 September 2024, the CJEU ruled that Directive 2014/59 precludes, after the total write down of the shares in a credit institution under resolution, that persons who have purchased (i) capital instruments that have been converted into shares in that credit institution before the adoption of resolution measures against it, or (ii) capital instruments which, in the context of that procedure, have been converted into shares in that credit institution, which were subsequently transferred to another credit institution, from bringing, against that institution or against its successor entity, an action for damages on the basis of flawed and incorrect information provided in the prospectus or a declaration of nullity. Currently, there are five preliminary rulings pending: (i) three preliminary rulings referred by the First Instance Court 3 of Santa Coloma de Farners in April 2023 concerning pre-emptive subscription rights and the compatibility of the principles of proportionality and legal certainty with the bringing of legal actions by former holders of pre-emptive subscription rights and shares against the entity issuing the securities or against the entity succeeding it, which is currently suspended; and (ii) two preliminary rulings referred by the Supreme Court in November 2023, which complement the ones requested in December 2022, regarding to a holder of subordinated bonds who filed a claim against Banco Popular before the resolution. On 4 March 2024, in the context of preliminary proceedings 42/2017, the Central Court of Instruction No. 4 issued a ruling transforming the proceedings into Summary Proceedings and terminating the investigation phase. This ruling considers that the circumstantial evidence resulting from the investigation which could constitute a crime is basically the following: (i) an alleged misrepresentation in the prospectus of the 2016 capital increase of Banco Popular; and (ii) an alleged misrepresentation in the annual accounts of Banco Popular for 2015, the interim financial statements for 2016 and the annual accounts for 2016; and (iii) the offer to the market of a distorted amount of regulatory capital, after the capital increase of 2016 (for allegedly having been granted by Banco Popular financing to clients for the subscription of shares in the aforementioned capital increase, without discounting it from the regulatory capital). According to the aforementioned ruling, these facts could constitute the crimes of fraud of investors (art. 282 of the Criminal Code) and accounting