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Spanish Court Cuts Orcel Santander Compensation to $58 Million

Spanish Court Cuts Orcel Santander Compensation to $58 Million

A Spanish court reduced the compensation that Andrea Orcel is set to receive from Banco Santander SA after it withdrew an offer for him to become its chief executive officer. 

Orcel should receive about 51 million euros ($58 million) from the Spanish bank instead of the 68 million euros previously set, according to the court ruling. About 18 million euros of that will be paid in shares in 7 years.

The two parties requested clarification on the amount previously calculated in the compensation ruling. A Santander spokesperson said the bank welcomed the clarification and will resume the appeal process in due course. A representative for Orcel wasn’t immediately reachable for comment.

Spanish Court Cuts Orcel Santander Compensation to $58 Million

According to a ruling last month, Santander’s offer to Orcel, who is now the CEO of UniCredit SpA, was a valid contract and as such the bank broke it when it decided not to go ahead with the appointment in Jan. 2019. 

Orcel, 58, had sought 76 million euros from Spain’s No. 1 lender for breach of contract, claiming he lost millions of dollars in deferred compensation from his former employer UBS Group AG and years of prospective salary at Santander. Until replacing Jean Pierre Mustier as CEO of UniCredit earlier this year, Orcel spent the interim period without any major role in banking.

Spain’s No. 1 lender reversed the decision to hire him over conflict on the issue of his deferred UBS compensation. Santander had expected the Swiss bank to pay at least 50% of the deferred pay he was in line to receive. Santander said it agreed with Orcel that he would make his “best efforts” to reduce the cost to the Spanish bank of his deferred compensation from UBS.

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