News

Today we have received the Order dated 23 June 2021 from Central Instruction Court No. 6 before which the Preliminary Proceedings 96/2017 (Separate Part 17) of the Tándem Case (also known as the Villarejo Case) is being heard, by which it is agreed to summon former Iberdrola employees Fernando Becker and Rafael Orbegozo, along with Francisco Martínez Córcoles, Business CEO, and Ignacio Sánchez Galán, Chairman and CEO of Iberdrola as defendants in said proceedings. It should be recalled that these summonses take place in the pre-trial phase (investigation or preparatory phase) and their purpose is to hear the persons concerned while guaranteeing all their rights.

As a result of the news and information appearing in the press, Iberdrola's corporate bodies, the Executive Committee and the Board of Directors itself have assessed the situation and its impact on the company. In this regard, as reported in a communication to the CNMV and to the court itself on 25 May, the Executive Committee stated for the record that, from the outset and on an ongoing basis, the Iberdrola Board of Directors and its Committees had acted in accordance with its Governance and Sustainability System, promoting all the actions necessary to fully clarify the facts with the information available at all times and transferring these actions to the judicial authorities.

Furthermore, as also stated in the aforementioned communication to the CNMV, to best protect Iberdrola’s interests and based on the confirmation of the conclusions reached in the internal investigations carried out and consistent with its intention to submit any relevant information to the court, it was agreed to place all Iberdrola’s directors and employees at the disposal of Central Instruction Court No. 6 so that, to the extent deemed necessary and as soon as possible, they may appear to provide their testimony and therefore facilitate the completion of the ongoing investigation. This decision was duly communicated on the same date to Central Instruction Court No. 6. The summons received are a way to clarify an investigation in which Iberdrola has acted with the utmost transparency from the outset.

Finally, the Executive Committee expressly stated for the record that, according to the conclusions of the internal investigation and the independent forensic report commissioned from PwC, no illegal or irregular conduct (nor any indication of its possible commission) by the members of the Board of Directors or senior management in relation to the facts of the so-called Caso Villarejo case has been revealed..

In view of all of the foregoing and, in particular, taking into account the full internal investigation conducted, the forensic report prepared by PwC, the exhaustive monitoring and detailed information received throughout this process by the Board of Directors and its Committees, and the ongoing assessment by the corporate bodies regarding the situation and the actions by the persons involved, it was agreed that the obligations established in the Company’s Governance and Sustainability System and the recommendations of the listed companies Good Governance Code should be duly complied with in the event that any member of the Board of Directors be called as a defendant in the criminal proceedings, without it being deemed necessary to adopt any measure and ratifying the support for the management carried out.

The Company will continue to monitor, in application of its Governance and Sustainability System, the progress of the Caso Villarejo and to fully cooperate with the judiciary in order to achieve full clarification of the facts under investigation as soon as possible.