2023-05-02 20:52:59
More than 7,400 Spanish families, out of a total of about 41,500 throughout Europe, have been trapped by Triodos Bank’s so-called “green preferences” and are now organizing to demand the annulment of the signed contracts and the recovery of their savings.
In the case of Spain, those affected participated for more than a decade, until 2019, in injections of capital to Triodos Bank, which under the slogan of “ethical banking” promised to invest these savings in social and sustainable economy projects that respect the environment. environment, according to sources from the affected platform.
“When you invest in Certificates of Deposit for Triodos Bank (CDA) Shares, you promote the growth of an entity that seeks to improve the quality of life of people and society. It is an investment alternative that supports the development of social projects , cultural and environmental”, said the bank itself.
However, this customer commitment to the entity and its “ethical banking” involved the purchase of a product that represents the capital of Triodos Bank and, like ordinary shares, the holders of these CDAs participate in the profits of the company through dividend payments “results permitting.”
In fact, according to the bank itself, the losses for the company are also a risk shared by the holders of these certificates, which are considered a complex and high-risk investment product, not a banking product.
For this reason, investing in CDAs offers the possibility of obtaining a higher return than savings products, but in no case is the money protected or guaranteed by a Deposit Guarantee Fund.
In the midst of the pandemic, in March 2020, Triodos Bank announced that it was suspending the possibility of buying and selling CDAs of the bank and the reason for this “temporary closure” was the uncertainty due to the impact of covid-19 on the economy, including the sector financial.
Until there was greater clarity about the effects of the pandemic on Triodos Bank and its certificates, the entity explained, there would be no possibility of buying new CDAs or accepting sales orders from clients/investors who already had them.
That is, they could not dispose of their money. “In some cases, they are the savings of a lifetime,” they lament now.
But in addition to the fact that the trading was closed from March 18, 2020, on January 5, 2021, the trading of the CDAs was suspended and the bank began to prepare a listing on a multilateral trading system, an open trading community platform. registered participants only.
However, in 2020, in the midst of a pandemic, Triodos Bank earned €27.2 million; in 2021, 50.8 million, and in 2022, 49.9 million euros, they remember from the platform of those affected.
During all this time, the entity has not allowed those affected to recover the money invested in CDA and, in the opinion of the platform, it has devalued the value of the certificates by 30% “without any type of negotiation” with those affected.
“It has forced CDA holders to participate in a speculative secondary market, something totally opposite to the commercial arguments offered by the entity and to the philosophy of savers,” they add before Triodos Bank’s proposal.
If all goes according to plan, at the end of June Triodos Bank’s CDAs will begin to be listed on this new multilateral trading system, the first way -apart from the courts- for those affected to recover their money. Although, the bank itself recognizes the risk that they lose more value or lack liquidity. Efe
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