The D&O Diary’s European assignment continued this past week with a visit to Andalusia, the Southernmost region of Spain. After the cool cloudiness of Northern Germany, the hot, brilliant Andalusian sunlight came as something of a shock. This was a first-time ever visit for us to the venerable and culturally rich cities of Sevilla, Cordoba, and Granada. Our expectations were high; our experience far exceeded our expectations.Continue Reading Andalusia
The D&O Diary was in Barcelona this last week for business meetings and for an industry event. Though my schedule was full (and though we lost an entire day thanks to flight delays), we still had a chance to enjoy being in beautiful Barcelona. This city features a unique combination of climate, seaside beauty, and scenic mountains that really can’t be beat anywhere.
Continue Reading Barcelona in June
The final stop on The D&O Diary’s European assignment last week was a brief sojourn in Madrid, Spain’s capital city. More than 3 million people live in the sprawling city, but the city’s elegant central district is quite compact. Under any conditions, the city’s many boulevards and neighborhoods invite exploration on foot. But with the summer-like sunshine and warmth that prevailed throughout our visit, we were happy to ramble around the city, taking in the sights and enjoying the city’s many charms.
Continue Reading Scenes of Madrid
As part of The D&O Diary’s ongoing efforts to keep abreast of important D&O insurance developments around the world, I am pleased to present the following guest post regarding D&O issues in Spain. In his guest post, Jorge Angell, the senior partner at the Madrid law firm of LC Rodrigo Abogados, takes a look at certain features of the criminal liability system in Spain and reviews the implications for D&O insurance. I would like to thank Jorge for his willingness to publish his article as a guest post on my site. I welcome guest post submissions from responsible authors on topics of interest to this blog’s readers. Please contact me directly if you would like to submit an article. Here is Jorge’s guest post.
Continue Reading Guest Post: The Impact of a Recent Criminal Case in Spain on D&O Insurance
The filing of securities class action lawsuits is, of course, well-established in the United States, and in recent years has become a regular phenomenon in Australia and Canada as well. In the wake of various recent scandals, numerous group or mass investor actions, if not full-blown class actions, have been filed or will be filed in a number of other countries, including the U.K. (for example, in connection with the Tesco accounting scandal), Germany (in connection with the VW emissions scandal), Japan (in connection with the Toshiba scandal), Italy (in connection with the Saipem scandal), and possibly Brazil (in connection with various companies’ involvement in the Petrobras scandal).
Now it appears that investors in the troubled Spanish banking company Bankia have initiated a class action lawsuit against the company. According to news reports (here), counsel for 660 individual investors has filed an action in a Madrid court seeking to have the individuals compensated for their investment losses in connection with the company’s 2011 stock flotation. The investors collectively seek recovery of 6.3 million euros (about $7 million).
Continue Reading Spanish Class Action is the Latest Collective Investor Action Filed Outside U.S.
In an interesting June 11, 2014 Financial Times article entitled “Spain’s Renewal Must Include Governance Improvements” (here), financial journalist and commentator Tony Barber identifies corporate governance issues that he believes Spanish companies have been slow to address. According to Barber, while there may be historical explanations for many of the long-standing corporate governance