José Luis Escrivá will place Pedro Comin as Deputy Director General for Surveillance of the Bank of Spainwith the intention that it will eventually replace, in the future, Mercedes Olano at the head of the supervisory directorate itself. In fact, the very sources consulted by OKDIARIO They believe that there is discomfort with Olano, because within the regulator it is estimated that it generates “too much noise” through leaks on internal matters of the Bank of Spain.
The truth is that, in this way, Escriva brings back Pedro Comín, that Nadia Calvino -be minister of Economy– placed at the head of the service facing the money laundering –Sepblac-.
Comín will replace Francisco Jose Monzonwho leaves the entity due to retirement, and will thus close the cycle started from the supervision unit of the Bank of Spain.
Comín and the “Bankia case”
In fact, his testimony was key exonerate former governor from responsibilities linked to Bankia IPO Miguel Angel Fernández Ordóñez as deputy governor at the time, Javier Ariztegui. He assured that emails in which an inspector warned of problems with the operation of Bankia had “never been sent to either Fernández Ordóñez or Aríztegui”, so “they did not need to know the implications”. Comín himself was accused of this, since he was one of those responsible for monitoring the Bank of Spain.
After this movement, Comín was placed by Calviño at the head of the Sepblac in November 2020, and his appointment generated tremendous Internal tensions within the anti-money laundering departmentbecause they understood that, despite his career, Comín was still a banker with no experience in the field in which they had just appointed him director.
Now, hand in hand with José Luis EscriváPedro Comín returns to the Supervisory Directorate of the Bank of Spain to escort Mercedes Olanowhose address, according to internal sources, “became boring“.
Troubles at the Bank of Spain
The signage of Olano This is not something new. Escrivá’s arrival at the Bank of Spain has already brought his name to light, as he announced OKDIARIOsince she had been the great protégé of Marguerite Delgado as deputy governor of the entity, and the bet that she would become the new governor was obvious. The departure of Thin He left Olano without his main protector.
Beyond the independence of the Bank of Spain, the truth is that the arrival of Writing This caused a tremendous earthquake among senior officials at the regulator, who understood that the former minister could “seek to make up for lost time”. quarrels“.
Concretely, they referred to the abrupt departure of Escrivá during his first internship at the Bank of Spain, when he was in the position Studies department He confronted his former manager, José Luis Malo de Molinaand lost his pulse.
And in Escrivá’s revenge, internal sources of the Bank of Spain point out, there are three names: Mercedes Olanodirector general of surveillance; Angel EstradaDirector General of Financial Stability, Regulation and Resolution – who spoke last week -; And Juan Ayusogeneral director of operations, markets and payment systems.
Escriva left the Bank of Spain due to the aforementioned disagreements in 1999 to join the ECB -European Central Bank- as head of the Monetary Policy Division with the creation of the euro. From there, he joined the Studies Department of BBVA in 2004, where he remained until 2012. In 2014, he was appointed president of the AIREF -Independent Fiscal Responsibility Authority- by the Government of Mariano Rajoy.
Latest internal movements
The last to leave the Bank of Spain, so far, has been the general director of Financial Stability, Angel Estradaas part of an exit agreed with the governor himself, José Luis Escriva, who was not counting on him for his team, as he announced OKDIARIO. In exchange, Escriva will retain their current rank and salary -around 200,000 euros- as an “advisor”.
This was confirmed by sources close to the banking supervisor. Among the three positions that, according to this newspaper, could be compromised within the Bank of Spain, with Olano There are already two touchdowns, each time Angel Estrada It came out last week, as we said.
The first to fall was Estradawhose release was disclosed under the name “resignation for health reasons” but this is actually due to this disaffection with the governor, and now all signs point to Olanowhom they consider responsible for leaks which are produced by the Bank of Spain, in an annoying noise which Writing does not intend to tolerate the regulator.
