Economy
The 26th Court of First Instance of Madrid ruled in favor of Venezuela's Banco Occidental de Descuento (BOD), which sued two years ago the Spanish banking group Grupo Santander.

The Venezuelan financial institution made a purchase deposit of USD 150 million in the Spanish bank led by Emilio Botín, as part of the initial negotiations to buy Banco de Venezuela.

The negotiations did not materialize and BOD did not reach an amicable settlement with Santander Group to recover the money.

Víctor Vargas, the CEO of Banco Occidental de Descuento, told El Universal about the decision of the Spanish court and said that in addition to the USD 150 million, the Venezuelan bank will receive USD 10 million in interest payments.