The Supreme Court will listen to the parties before submitting a question to the CJEU on Popular instruments

MADRID, 27 Oct. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The Plenary Session of the First Chamber of the Supreme Court has decided to open a hearing procedure for the parties before submitting preliminary questions to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) on Banco Popular's capital instruments.

After deliberating on October 26 on three lawsuits relating to Banco Popular's capital instruments other than shares, the Supreme Court has assessed the possible relevance of submitting various questions to the CJEU for a preliminary ruling on these instruments, for which reason it has decided to listen to the parties about.

Regardless of what results from the hearing process, the Supreme Court has explained that the first two preliminary questions would deal with the interpretation of article 53.3 of Directive 2014/59, regarding the release of unexpired liabilities, in which the obligations for claims derived from them could not be opposed to Banco Popular or Banco Santander.

Specifically, it would be considered whether the rights arising after a sentence to return fall within this category, as a result of the nullity of the acquisitions of preference shares that ended up being converted into shares before the resolution measures had been adopted to Banco Popular, and after a sentence to indemnify the damages derived from a possible breach of the legal obligations of information in the commercialization of subordinated bonds necessarily convertible into shares that ended up becoming shares of the same bank also before the resolution measures were adopted.

Thirdly, the Supreme Court would ask the CJEU for a preliminary ruling on whether that same article precludes those who were holders of the subordinated debentures that were converted into shares and were transferred to Santander without effective consideration as a result of the resolution from exercising a nullity action of the subscription contract of the same.