CdM | Grifols shares lost more than 5% on the stock market on Monday. Last Friday, after the market had closed, a report was published by the National Securities Market Commission (CNMV) that was highly critical of the company’s financial management.
According to the report sent by the CNMV to the investigating judge in the case, José Luis Calama, and to which “El Mundo” has had access, Grifols’ top management acted with ‘continuous wilful misconduct’ and ‘systematic violation’ of international financial reporting standards.
Furthermore, it believes that Article 282 of the Securities Market Law, which regulates ‘market transparency and integrity obligations’, was “violated” by the company, and therefore the CNMV believes that there is ‘sufficient rational evidence to appreciate the possible commission of a very serious ongoing offence’.
Specifically, the Commission’s legal team details in the document that the alleged act of omitting relevant information was carried out ‘using a homogeneous practice in the modus operandi, through the systematic violation in the application of the international standards IFRS/IAS’.
At the end of January, some information indicated that the regulator’s Department of Financial and Corporate Information was pointing the finger at Raimon and Víctor Grifols, two members of the founding family who acted as executive directors during the period under investigation. It also points to Thomas Glanzmann, who took over as president in February 2023 and who left the executive functions last year. In line with this, Grifols came to the defence of its directors, assuring that ‘they have always acted in the best interests of the company’.
It should be remembered that Judge José Luis Calama has agreed to summon the former president of the CNMV, Rodrigo Buenaventura, and the general director of Markets, Ángel Benito, as expert witnesses for this month of March to ask them about the investigation opened by this entity in relation to the actions of Gotham City Research and General Industries Partners with respect to Grifols.
The magistrate has agreed to this investigation as part of the case opened last November following a complaint from the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office to investigate Gotham City, General Industrial Partners LLP and several of its executives for allegedly releasing biased and misleading information on the financial market about Grifols’ credibility in order to induce its investors to sell the pharmaceutical company’s shares, causing a fall in the price that would generate a profit for the two accused companies.
