Not Spain's finest hour

25 April 2007 By Fiona Maharg-Bravo

That’s how it looks if the CNMV’s exboss is to be believed. He wanted to punish Enel and Acciona for alleged abuses in stock market law. But he was overruled by political appointees on CNMV’s board. If true, this is an outrage.

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Manuel Conthe, the chairman of Spain's stockmarket regulator, said he resigned because the CNMV was unable to maintain a level playing field in the bidding war for electricity company Endesa.

He urged the to take a fresh look at the legality of a joint bid for Endesa from Italy's Enel and Spain's Acciona. He said Enel and Acciona should be fined, but that such an action wouldn't necessarily prohibit them from continuing with their bid.

Conthe said the CNMV's executive committee recommended sanctions against Enel and Acciona for defying the regulator's sixmonth bidding prohibition, but this was rejected by the CNMV's wider board, leading to Mr. Conthe's decision earlier this month to resign.

Conthe also called for the resignation of the deputy chairman, Carlos Arenillas, to protect the regulator's image of independence from the government. Arenillas is married to a cabinet minister and Conthe said he was close to the prime minister's former economic adviser, Miguel Sebastian.

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