Spain: the head of diplomacy sanctioned for insider trading

Spanish Foreign Minister Josep Borrell has been fined 30,000 euros for insider trading after selling shares in the bankrupt Abengoa Group in 2015, of which he was a director.

Mr. Borrell had sold "for the account of a third party", his ex-wife according to the press, "10,000 shares Abengoa for an amount of 9,030 euros on November 24, 2015", recalls the Constable CNMV, in a decision published Tuesday in the Official Journal.

However, the head of diplomacy had as a member of the board of directors of the group of renewable energies "privileged information" on Abengoa who had announced the next day to go to the bankruptcy, which had led to a fall its stock market.

"It was a mistake," admitted in mid-October in front of the Parliament the Socialist, who was notably President of the European Parliament (2004-2007) during his career.

Family group founded in 1941 in Andalusia (south), Abengoa was in peak in the late 2000s in solar energy and wind, biofuels and desalination of water. He was even chosen by former US President Barack Obama to build the world's largest solar power plant in Arizona.

At the end of 2015, it was present in some twenty countries, before being overtaken by its huge debt, caused by growth too fast. The company finally managed to negotiate a debt restructuring plan with about fifteen banks and investment funds, but had to abandon or freeze many activities.