The Court of First Instance number 3 of Arrecife has condemned the bank Abanca to pay 12,627 euros to a citizen to whom it sold a financial swap contract (swap) without informing him of the risk associated with it.
In the trial, as stated in the judgment, the director of the Abanca branch at the time of signing the swap testified, stating that "he did not remember the specific case, that he was unaware of the client's financial training, or whether he had arranged other products with the defendant entity".
However, he stated that "the swap was offered to everyone with a generalized explanation, that some understood it and others did not." In addition, when asked if he provided the affected party with any practical examples, he indicated that he did not, that "he was given something very basic."
"Did not comply with the minimum standards"
Faced with this, the Court of First Instance number 3 of Arrecife considers that it was proven that the entity did not comply with its information duties, as it could not demonstrate it documentarily either. "It has not been proven at any time that the plaintiff was informed of the risk associated with the swap", the judgment states, where it is pointed out that "the only thing that was communicated to the clients is that this financial product would cover them against a possible rise in variable interest rates, without warning them that in the event, then unforeseen, that the Euribor was placed below the fixed interest rate established in the contract, they would be the ones who would pay the Bank"
Thus, it is considered that the bank "did not act with the required diligence, did not comply with the minimum standards required by the financial market, in accordance with the regulations, and did not allow clients to have a real knowledge of the contracted product."
Therefore, the Court of First Instance number 3 of Arrecife has upheld the client's claims and has condemned Abanca to pay more than 12,000 euros in compensation for damages for having breached its legal obligations of diligence, loyalty and information, plus interest and procedural costs.
In the words of the lawyer Laura Moreno, from Unive Abogados, a national firm based in Las Palmas that defended this client, "swaps are complex contracts that were marketed massively without using the necessary information and documentation, which allows us to affirm that in their majority the affected parties who claim will see their claims upheld."
