Members of the Association of People Affected by Financial Institutions (Apdef), a group present in 56 cities, met in Lanzarote with people affected by Bankia shares, prior to June 2011. The meeting aimed to initiate the "most suitable" legal actions for them to fully recover the money invested." Likewise, all those affected by other toxic financial products such as preferred shares, subordinated shares or floor clauses were personally attended to, according to a statement from this association.
At the meeting, the Apdef lawyer in the Canary Islands, Sara Mederos, indicated that there are already seven lawsuits filed in Lanzarote for Bankia shares and, in total, the Autonomous Community of the Canary Islands has 24 open proceedings. For this reason, the lawyer encouraged those affected to continue acting through legal actions. Likewise, she was positive, since she assured that "there are high possibilities of recovering the money invested".
At the meeting, which was also attended by the president of Apdef, Francesc García Rafanell, attendees were informed about the types of products they acquired and under what conditions; describing in detail what it means to be the holder of a subordinated bond and a preferred participation, among other products.
The Association assured that, after "the success" with preferred and subordinated shares, it already has almost 400 lawsuits commissioned in relation to Bankia shares. For this reason, the president of Apdef placed special emphasis on informing those affected of the possibility of recovering the money of all those who acquired shares of the entity when it went public in 2011. "All these products allowed the financial entity to increase its capital and solvency at the expense of small savers," said García Rafanell.
On the other hand, the lawyer of the group pointed out that the profile of those affected is very diverse, from "middle families with mortgages to investors of all types and even employees of the Bankia entity".
