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Torres also said his predecessor Francisco Gonzalez, who on
Thursday stepped down as BBVA's honorary chairman while awaiting
the results of the inquiry, and the bank will cooperate with
judicial authorities investigating the case.
"In relation to the case, BBVA will continue investigating
rigorously, also actively collaborating with judicial
authorities to clarify the facts," Torres said.
The case is not officially on the agenda of the shareholders
meeting in Bilbao, but the Spanish Association of Minority
Shareholders (AEMEC) expect investors to voice their concerns
over the potential reputational damage to the bank.
The inquiry relates to jailed ex-police chief, Jose Manuel
Villarejo, who news reports say the bank hired to spy on top
executives of a potential buyer, construction company Sacyr, in
2004 when Gonzalez was BBVA's executive chairman.
BBVA has acknowledged that it hired Grupo Cenyt, a security firm
owned by Villarejo who was arrested in 2017, as part of a
separate investigation.
Torres, who replaced Gonzalez as executive chairman in January,
has so far said that Cenyt provided various services to BBVA,
but that the bank had found no evidence of spying.
The case was first reported in mid-2018 and was recognized by
the bank in January after Torres sent a letter to staff
addressing the allegations.
BBVA shares were up 1.3 percent at 1255 GMT, bringing their
gains so far this year to 15 percent and outperforming other
Spanish and European banks.
(Reporting by Jesús Aguado; editing by Paul Day and Alexander
Smith)
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