Court hearing on Orcel’s Santander job offer set for October 20

September 14, 2021

By Jesús Aguado

MADRID (Reuters) -A court hearing of a case brought by Italian banker Andrea Orcel against Santander over the bank’s withdrawal of an offer to make him CEO is expected to resume on October 20, a statement from the Madrid court said on Tuesday.

Santander and Orcel ended up in the Madrid court after Spain’s largest bank dropped plans in January 2019 to make UBS investment banker Orcel its CEO after a dispute over his pay package.

Santander declined to comment, while Orcel’s legal team was not immediately available.

The proceedings were suspended in May after Orcel’s lawyer asked UBS Chairman Axel Weber and Mark Shelton, head of performance and rewards at Switzerland’s biggest bank, to testify.

Because of issues over remote testimonies, Santander asked the Madrid court judge Javier Sanchez Beltran to send a so-called rogatory commission to Switzerland, a source said at the time.

On Tuesday a source from the Madrid court said once the rogatory commission had been processed Weber and Shelton would testify remotely from Switzerland.

The hearing would resume at 1000 local time on October 20.

The source said that Santander’s general secretary Jaime Perez Renovales, who signed Orcel’s original job offer, and Roberto di Bernardini, the Spanish bank’s head of human resources at the time, would testify in person.

The case revolves around whether a four-page letter to Orcel constituted a binding contract or a non-binding initial offer.

In May, Santander boss Ana Botin defended in court the withdrawal of Orcel’s multi-million euro offer.

(Reporting by Jesús Aguado; editing by Emma Pinedo and Jane Merriman)

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