The ECB has requested explanations from Unicaja following José Sevilla's resignation as president and is closely monitoring the succession to prevent the Unicaja Foundation from imposing an internal candidate.
The European Central Bank (ECB) has asked for explanations from Unicaja regarding the delayed resignation of José Sevilla as president, as reported by Vozpópuli. The departure has not been well received in Frankfurt, where the supervisor is already closely overseeing the succession process.
The regulator's concern is that the Unicaja Foundation, which holds 30.2% of the bank's capital, may impose an internal candidate. The ECB's direct supervision team (JST) has expressed its concerns to the entity regarding the guarantees of the process. Official sources from the ECB and Unicaja have declined to comment. The entity claims that the succession:
“is being addressed in an orderly manner and in accordance with established corporate governance procedures”
The Foundation is at odds with part of the core group of shareholders, formed by Tomás Olivo and the owners of Mayoral and Santalucía, who wish to open the succession to external candidates. According to internal sources from the main shareholder, the Foundation aims to place another representative on the board, which would increase its weight above 33%. It currently has four directors.
Unicaja has 15 directors, of whom seven are independent, including José Sevilla. The CNMV recommends that independent directors represent at least one third of the board, and the entity comfortably meets this requirement. If the Foundation achieves its goal, it would still comply with that recommendation, but the ECB would view it as a “regression” that would send a negative message to investors, according to internal sources from Unicaja.
In Frankfurt, there is also discontent that the terms of Unicaja's directors are three years, whereas the norm in major banks is four. The entity has called an extraordinary meeting on November 18 to renew the CEO, Isidro Rubiales, and independent directors Nuria Aliño and Inés Guzmán. Sevilla's departure will occur at the ordinary meeting scheduled for April.
So far, there is no firm candidate to replace Sevilla, and the Foundation and the core group maintain distant positions. Sources close to the Unicaja Foundation acknowledge that, without a common enemy like the previous CEO of Liberbank, differences will resurface:
“There have always been significant differences in the board and among the major shareholders. And without a common enemy, like the CEO of Liberbank was, those differences will resurface”
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