Spanish Equity Release Fiasco

It was a few days ago when I was asked by a victim of Nordea’s equity release scheme in Spain, in a mood of disbelief, whether it was possible for a bank of that stature to have got it so wrong as, after all, they had plenty of money to pay for the best advice from top lawyers.

I could bring an argument against his comment relating to having plenty of money, some of it belonging to their clients-turned-victims, and the advice that this money could buy but, on their own, those fresh memories of very large banks going bust for hanky-panky practices allowed to happen by their advisors, would answer the question.

And then, by coincidence, I read on the Danish press (Copenhagen Post Online) that a few days ago the Danish Financial Services Authoriy had reported Nordea to the police for failing to make a full disclosure in relation to a jewelley firm.

http://www.cphpost.dk/business/business/51997-fsa-reports-nordea-to-police.html

Well, soon enough they will be reported to the Spanish authorities via the criminal courts for miselling financial products on the back of a bening pensioner-friendly equity release programme that was supposed to be the panacea to dodge, “legally”, inheritance and wealth taxes in Spain, all-in-one.

This financial herb-allheal to cure British homeowners from inescapable taxes has morphed into a thorn apple plant of undefined toxicity that is now like an albatross around their necks.

Antonio Flores Uncategorized Equity Release, Equity Release Victims Association, Inheritance tax Spain, Nordea Bank, Wealth Tax Spain

Following a couple of articles in the Daily Telegraph and the Olive Press about Euan Armstrong and his plight, it was decided by a number of people affected by this scandal that an association would be created, to be named the “Equity Release Victims Association”.

The purpose of the Association is to draw the attention of the authorities, namely the Bank of Spain, Financial -CNMV- and Insurance regulators –DGS- and finally the Ombudsman, to the predicament suffered by hundreds of until-then-free-from-mortgage-property-owners who had the misfortune of crossing paths with mostly Scandinavian banks and given the size of the swindle it is strongly believed that this could be classed as an issue of public order.

The association wishes to campaign against banks that marketed, offered and sold unregulated Equity Release products in Spain, through a network of agents, to mostly pensioners. The products were sold on false promises and undertakings, these being:

1. Promises of regulatory compliance of their products in Spain.
2. Promises of IHT exemptions.
3. Promises of Wealth Tax exemptions.
4. Financially self-sustained product, so that the loan would be invested in such a way that the yields would cover the interest cost and leave a surplus, which would be like a salary. Needless to say, this never happened.
5. Protection for property ownership.

On future posts we will provide further information on this soon-to-be-created association.

Antonio Flores Uncategorized Danske Bank, Equity Release Victims Association, Euan Armstrong

Landsbanki has had no qualms over introducing false information on a public deed of mortgage loan, signed in front of a Government appointed Spanish Notary Public. In this instance, the spurious claim was that my clients had been in Luxembourg, on the 20th of February 2026, to sign a contract…

I can live with the 2026 error, unless Landsbanki had a time-machine which nobody knows about (now probably auctioned off to some freak by the bankrupcy administrators), but stating that the signatories to the contract had been in Luxembourg to sign what is an unintelligible contract bodes well for successful Court action, given the utter lack of ethics and moral integrity.

Antonio Flores Uncategorized Equity Release, Icelandic Bank, Landsbanki

The frontispiece of Danske Bank’s vividly shows the state in which my client has been left after having a few drinks, and signing a couple of contracts, with Denmark’s biggest financial entity: “en pelotas“, as they say in Spain (stark naked or high and dry, whichever way you want to interpret the photo).

The article, by Sean O’Hare,  is superbly written and sticks to the points of argument: that Danske offered a product to British expats with a view to make money out of it, on the pretext that IHT would be mitigated and pocket-money would be received by the client, for the investment would yield enough to settle the interest and leave a surplus. As far as inheritance tax was concerned, no such luck could have struck the beneficiaries, for they would have been breaking the laws, and as regards to the pocket money, unfortunately he no longer has trousers to bear pockets to garner any cash, like the Greek Adonis of the frontispiece…

Antonio Flores Uncategorized Danske Bank, Equity Release