Andorran Regulator Fines Ex-BPA Directors After Court Reversal
AFA imposes permanent bans and €150,000 fines on former Banca Privada d’Andorra board for 2015 breaches, despite prior annulment and bias claims.
Key Points
- One very serious and two serious infringements from 2015 FinCEN-linked intervention.
- Permanent admin ban for majority shareholders; two 10-year suspensions and €150k fines each.
- Second sanctions after courts annulled first due to procedural errors.
- Penalized parties to appeal, citing AFA president bias from past 'bandits' remarks.
The former board of directors of Banca Privada d’Andorra (BPA), which was nationalised and is now in liquidation, has received fresh sanctions from the Andorran Financial Authority (AFA). The penalties include one very serious infringement and two serious ones, stemming from the bank's intervention following a FinCEN notice on 10 March 2015.
This marks the second time the AFA has imposed such measures on the group. Courts previously annulled the initial sanctions due to procedural flaws, including generic notifications. The affected parties argue that the underlying facts are now time-barred. Despite this, the AFA has reopened the cases, processing the latest proceedings in under a year—a notably swift timeline compared to the first round.
The harshest penalties target BPA's former majority shareholders. These include a permanent ban from holding administrative or executive roles for the very serious breach, under financial disciplinary rules in force at the time of the 2015 intervention. Two 10-year suspensions apply for the serious infringements, alongside fines totalling €150,000 for each of the three main individuals sanctioned.
Most of those penalised plan to challenge the decisions in court, contesting both procedure and substance. They highlight what they describe as evident bias from AFA president Eric Jover, who served as finance minister during the bank's takeover and the original sanction process. Jover's past comments will feature prominently in appeals: as minister, he tweeted that BPA owners Higini and Ramon Cierco were "bandolers" (bandits). Andorran business leader Iago Andreu echoed this, calling them "xusma" (rabble).
Andorra's Superior Court civil chamber later ruled both statements violated the men's right to honour, ordering public retractions and acknowledgements of judicial correction. The former executives maintain this history undermines the AFA's impartiality, accusing it of exploiting minor procedural gaps to pursue them anew. Judicial review of the sanctions is expected soon.
Original Sources
This article was aggregated from the following Catalan-language sources: