Unicaja approves the appointment of Isidro Rubiales as the bank's new CEO
Unicaja continues trying to sew the seams opened by its latest governance crisis and has taken another step this Friday by making official the appointment of Isidro Rubiales as the entity's new CEO, replacing Manuel Menéndez and once the authorization has been received. of the European Central Bank (ECB). The appointment entails another profound change in the entity and that is that its president, Manuel Azuaga, loses his executive functions.
The board of directors of the entity – the sixth by market capitalization -, after a meeting held this Friday, has supported the election. “The Board of Directors has agreed to appoint Isidro Rubiales Gil as CEO of the Company and to delegate to him all the powers of the Board of Directors, except those that cannot be delegated,” states the communication sent to the National Securities Market Commission (CNMV).. The board has also approved the change in Azuaga's category, in such a way that he loses his executive functions, remaining as non-executive president, and now has the category of “other external” director.. In this way, Rubiales remains the sole executive director of the entity and assumes command of the bank as agreed at the end of July.
In fact, the process of transferring power in Unicaja Banco was planned more than two years ago following the merger with Liberbank, when it was established that Manuel Azuaga had to leave his executive functions before July 30, which would pass to the CEO.
The entity officially elected Rubiales, who was in charge of the bank's Control division, on July 31, thus settling one of the unknowns that the crisis that opened on the board after the merger with Liberbank in July had left behind. 2021 and the reorganization process undertaken after the operation. It has not been an easy process. The merger agreement established that, within two years of the operation, the board of directors had to modify Unicaja's governance model, in such a way that the president of the board, Manuel Azuaga, would leave his executive functions and the board would be reassessed. CEO, Manuel Menéndez, who was finally dismissed on June 1.
His dismissal was the result of a split in two of the group's own board of directors.. The exchange ratio for the merger granted 60% of the capital to Unicaja and four seats on the board of directors, compared to 40% and three seats for Liberbank.. However, the president of the Unicaja Foundation, Braulio Medel, opted for the Asturian side and thus began a power battle in the organization that ended with the departure of more than a dozen Unicaja directors in just two years.
Medel ended up leaving the Foundation and his place was taken by José Manuel Domínguez, who took on a process that finally ended up tipping the balance towards the Andalusian side of the group.. This rebalancing facilitated the dismissal of Menéndez and the subsequent appointment of Rubiales, which was made fully yesterday.
Challenges
Born in 1964 in Cortes de la Frontera (Málaga), Rubiales has a degree in Economics and Business Sciences from the University of Málaga, specializing in Public Finance, and according to the Efe agency, he has played a relevant role in the different integration processes carried out by Unicaja Banco (Banco Ceiss and Liberbank).
With more than 30 years of experience in the financial sector, Rubiales will be in charge of giving impetus and continuity to the entity's strategic plan, after a turbulent period. That will also be another of the challenges ahead, healing the open wounds between the old Unicaja and Liberbank.
On September 20, Unicaja reported the authorization received from the European Central Bank (ECB) to incorporate Rubiales as CEO and also to appoint Antonio Carrascosa, Rocío Fernández and Inés Guzmán as independent directors. In yesterday's session, the council appointed Fernández as coordinating advisor, replacing Carolina Martínez.
The entity is still pending the appointment of a new director to replace David Vaamonde, who left his proprietary position in August after the fund he represented on the board, Oceanwood, reduced its participation from 7% to 0.35%.