Deutsche Bank Is Said to Still Pay Argentine Finance Secretary

(Bloomberg) -- Deutsche Bank AG paid former executive Santiago Bausili, now Argentina’s finance secretary, about 100,000 euros ($123,000) in deferred compensation since 2016 as the lender arranged sovereign bond sales, including one in January that netted the bank at least $3 million in fees.

Bausili will continue getting payments this year, according to one person who asked not to be named because compensation is private. The compensation, which La Nacion reported earlier Monday, has drawn the attention of the nation’s anti-corruption office, which has opened an administrative analysis into the the compensation, according to another person, who asked not to be named because the information is private.

The initial analysis may take 48 to 72 hours and may pave the way for a more formal investigation, according to the same person. Bausili declined to comment as did Finance Ministry spokeswoman Yael Bialostozky. Deutsche Bank spokeswoman Kerrie Mchugh declined to comment.

Bausili’s compensation is the latest headache for President Mauricio Macri who has demanded that his cabinet and top government officials be as transparent as possible to avoid the corruption of past Argentine governments. Since taking office in December 2015, two of Macri’s ministers have sold assets and returned bonuses to comply with anti-corruption office orders. And last week, Finance Minister Luis Caputo spent hours in front of a congressional committee defending his ties to offshore accounts. All of the ministers have denied any wrongdoing.

Bausili was hired to help engineer Argentina’s return to credit markets after 15 years of isolation. He left his post as head of origination at Deutsche Bank for southern South America in January 2016 to join the Finance Ministry, according to his LinkedIn and government profile. The German lender paid Bausili deferred compensation in March, May and September 2016 and and in May 2017, La Nacion reported, citing tax forms that were made public in an unrelated case before a local court and unnamed Finance Ministry officials.

Bausili met with Deutsche Bank officials at least five times since joining the Finance Ministry, the Buenos Aires-based newspaper said. Bausili has recused himself when Argentina hires banks for bond sales, an unnamed Finance Ministry official told La Nacion.

To contact the reporters on this story: Pablo Gonzalez in Buenos Aires at pgonzalez49@bloomberg.net, Jorgelina do Rosario in Buenos Aires at jdorosario@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Nikolaj Gammeltoft at ngammeltoft@bloomberg.net, Vivianne Rodrigues at vrodrigues3@bloomberg.net, Alec D.B. McCabe, Andres R. Martinez

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