The Triodos preferred share scandal has plunged the bank into the red.

BarcelonaThe most successful year in the history of Spanish banking wasn't a success for all entities. The Spanish subsidiary of Triodos, the ethical bank of Dutch origin, announced losses of 3 million euros this Thursday. The results contrast with the profits for 2023, which were 77 million. This collapse in results has one explanation: Triodos' controversial CDAs.

This product, popularly known as the preferred The Dutch ethical bank has ensnared 46,500 clients across Europe, who invested a total of €1.2 billion. In Spain, 7,450 are affected, mostly in Catalonia. The financial scandal dates back to 2020, when the bank decided to close the market for buying and selling this product after noticing that purchase orders were disappearing and those interested in selling were piling up. With that decision, clients saw their savings trapped and, since then, they have been engaged in a bitter legal battle against an entity that calls itself ethical.

Five years after the start of the conflict, last January Triodos announced that it is offering 10 euros for each title to clients who waive any judicial or extrajudicial claims. The proposal is not a purchase of the CDAs (which were worth 84 euros in March 2020, when the market closed, and 26 euros this January, when the proposal was made), but rather compensation for not claiming. The average investment per client in this product was 25,000 euros, and with this offer, they would receive 3,000 euros if they waived their claims. This compensation, which those affected called an "insult," is what collapsed the bank's results in Spain: the bank has made a provision (a negative accounting entry in anticipation of future expenses) of up to 75 million euros.

The path to the courts

The situation has sparked a bitter legal battle in recent years. Initially, some courts sided with the bank, which claimed that customers knew what they were buying, while others argued thatTriodos "failed the legitimate expectations of shareholders"In the second instance, the provincial courts have largely ruled in favor of the bank, and now those affected are anxiously awaiting the Supreme Court's verdict, which could be announced this spring.