The information provided by the Police had already been made available by BBVA to the Judge and the Public Prosecutor’s Office
The Spanish National Police’s Unit of Internal Affairs (UAI, in Spanish) has issued a report on its investigation of the 2.3 million documents (hits) provided by BBVA in the Cenyt case. The report does not provide any information that had not already been made available by BBVA to the Judge and the Public Prosecutor’s Office. This confirms that not only the internal investigation ordered by BBVA was objective, rigorous and thorough, but it also shows the full cooperation with the judicial authorities in clarifying the facts, a priority set by the bank since the onset of the proceedings.
In a judicial order dated October 2020, the judge of the Spanish High Court, Manuel García-Castellón, accepted BBVA's reiterated offer to access the documentation (hits) gathered in an internal investigation launched by the bank in 2019 to contribute to clarify the facts. This investigation was carried out with PwC's technical assistance.
In said order, the judge determined to make available to the National Police’s Unit of Internal Affairs (UAI) the hits obtained by PwC (2.3 million) so it could carry out a new search applying the criteria and methodology determined by the Court.
On March 16, the UAI issued a report (Official Letter 706/2021), in which it does not provide any information that had not already been made available by BBVA to the Court and the Public Prosecutor's Office, thus confirming:
- That the voluntary investigation carried out by BBVA - the results whereof were shared with the Court, mostly in 2019 – was objective, rigorous and thorough.
- The attitude of full cooperation with the judicial authorities in clarifying the facts, a priority set by BBVA's Board of Directors from the onset of the proceedings, having provided the Court, over more than two years, with all the information deemed relevant for the purpose of the investigation (about 9,000 files in total, through more than 30 writs).