The Bank of Spain has opened an internal investigation into the three inspectors who have at least five years preparing opponents to the supervisor who charge, mostly in cash, amounts that some months reach 8,000 euros outside their salaries as public employees. According to confirm to elDiario.es sources of the agency, the investigation focuses on whether they used means of the supervisor to teach the classes and if there is an assumption of infringement of the legislation of incompatibilities.
The new report, which is the first of its kind in the world, is a new study of the role of the Bank of Spain in the training of public service examiners.
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In addition to the possible use of public funds, the Bank of Spain investigates whether the compatibility granted to these three professionals -Alberto Casillas Cuevas, director of the Department of Resolution, his brother Juan, who is an inspector, and a third inspector, Patricia Navarro-Rubio Poole- is consistent with the private activity they have been exercising. The Bank of Spain has initiated these investigations after elDiario.es revealed the great business of these three inspectors with the training of opponents and that the permits they have to perform the teaching work does not exactly match the activities that have been developing.
These revelations have generated “concern” and “discomfort” in the direction of the supervisor, agree sources consulted by this writing. Initially, the Bank of Spain reported that it was going to study the situation; now different sources confirm that the same day of the publication of the news opened this internal investigation against these three workers.
Alberto Casillas prepares dozens of opponents on his own when the compatibility agreed in his case is to “carry out a private teaching activity in the Center for Professional Studies”, the name of another entity that has nothing to do with the private classes that he has improvised with his colleagues at the Bank of Spain. Juan Casillas and Patricia Navarro-Rubio, meanwhile, form opponents at least since 2016, although the compatibility to teach on their own account was recognized much later: in July 2018 and September 2018.re 2020, respectively.
The most compromising situation, in principle, is that of Alberto Casillas, who appears on the supervisor’s organisation chart and is director of the Resolution Department, a position in which he acts on behalf of the Banco de España in the main international bodies in financial supervision matters. In his case, he is authorized to “carry out a private teaching activity at the Centre for Professional Studies” when he exercises this activity on his own account. In addition, elDiario.es has verified that he communicates with the opponents from the corporate mail of the Bank of Spain.
Alberto Casillas holds a position of trust within the banking supervisor and his position could be affected by the findings of the investigation.
Sources at the Bank of Spain recognize that it is more complicated to address the case of the other preparers, Juan Casillas and Patricia Navarro-Rubio, as it is complex to determine whether they were really teaching classes before having recognized the compatibility to exercise that activity. Both occupy the positions of inspectors of credit institutions that won by opposition.
Incompatibility legislation
The professionals of the Bank of Spain are subject to the state law of incompatibilities, which obliges them to request authorisation when they exercise another activity such as the preparation of candidates on a permanent or habitual basis and for more than 75 hours a year. The training sessions given by these three employees have far exceeded this limit in recent years.
In the case of these professionals, the body responsible for granting such leave is the Office of Conflict of Interest, under the Ministry of Finance and Civil Service. Applications are made at the request of the interested party, who must detail the type of private activity they wish to reconcile, the timetable and whether they are self-employed or employed, among other questions. After receiving this request, the Office asks for a report from the body in which the main activity is carried out. In this case, the Bank of Spain, which prepares the report, taking into account aspects such as the compatibility of the working day and hours or whether the second activity affects the function and meets the requirements. After receiving the report, the Office issues a reasoned resolution declaring the incompatibility or recognising the compatibility.
What sanctions are exposed to the public employee who has the compatibility agreed to exercise a second activity and perform a different one or to do so without having the mandatory authorization? Sources at the Ministry of Finance and Public Function detailed that in the case of civil servants of the General Administration of the State punishments can range from a suspension of employment and salary to separation from service. However, in the case of the Bank of Spain, which is a public law entity but with its own legal personality and full public and private capacity, depends on the collective agreement and the gradation of the offense.
In principle, the investigation by the Banco de España will be limited to checking whether there is an alleged infringement of the incompatibilities legislation. It is not expected to address other issues such as taxation for these classes, which are not subject to VAT but must be computed as income from an economic activity and thus be taxed in the IRPF. In addition, they must be recorded in the Income Record Book. The Bank of Spain cannot investigate whether tax has been correctly paid on this income, which can only be done by the Tax Agency.
In relation to the specific case of these three inspectors, sources from the Ministry of Finance and Public Function confirmed to elDiario.es that it is up to the Bank of Spain to initiate, where appropriate, the necessary actions to determine whether or not there is an assumption of infringement of incompatibilities legislation. A different matter, said these same sources, would be the assumption that these employees did not declare to the Treasury that income correctly, which could constitute an infringement of fiscal nature prosecutable by the Tax Agency.
An academy in the shadow
Last Wednesday, elDiario.es revealed that three inspectors of the Bank of Spain have set up a shadow academy – without offices or name or public announcements – that has been charging thousands of euros in cash to opponents who want to access prominent positions in the banking supervisor for years. At least since 2016, the three trainers manage groups of dozens of students to whom they teach four essential subjects to access one of the most coveted positions of the supervisor, those of inspection of credit institutions. It is a position that guarantees a starting salary of 55,000 euros gross per year and the possibility of a career abroad.
It is a clandestine system of preparation of oppositions that is accessed by recommendation of other students or contacts in the entity. These private classes have allowed some of these inspectors to charge up to 8,000 euros per month. It is a bonus without any control by the Bank of Spain and that adds to their salary as public workers. And there are students who have paid more than 10,000 euros for training for nearly two years. All this, without receiving invoices or delivery notes, but neither receipts or papers that leave a trace of the money spent. The payments are mostly made with cash and are made in private homes or catering premises where these three employees meet their students.
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