They are demanding that the Spanish tax authority investigates their plight. Their case is being led by Marbella lawyer Antonio Flores who says that the Costa del Sol accounts for around half of the 800 alleged frauds that exist in Spain with some of these laid at the door of Jyske Bank. Flores told us that he did not know the exact number of cases involving Jyske Bank but it was between 20 and 25. I then asked Gibraltar’s Financial Services Commission whether it has received any complaints from people affected by these cases, their association or their lawyers and if it has carried out any investigation into the reverse mortgage schemes. I have now heard back from Marcus Killick, the FSC’s head honcho, who told me: “The Jyske loans were not booked in Gibraltar. We therefore have had no complaints nor do we expect any.” I am sure Mr Killick’s response is strictly correct in the legal sense but whether it is morally so, or in the good interests of Gibraltar, is another matter. I should restate that Lawbird presented a case in November 2011, which was rejected, before the Spanish High Court against ten international banks the UK based SLNMB, Danske Bank, Nordea Bank, Lex Life & Pension, Landsbanki, Finansbanken, Sydbank, N H Rothschild & Sons, Swiss Life and of course Jyske. Antonio Flores has confirmed that the loans were taken out in Spain and hence it is the Banco de España and not the FSC that holds sway. Yet the majority of Britons on the Costa del Sol know of Jyske Bank because of its Main Street presence. The very fact that is a well known Gibraltar-based bank would have given them confidence. The publicity that is being generated now on the Costa del Sol and amongst ex-pat communities in wider Spain will have a negative effect on our Financial Centre and the Rock itself. For that reason alone I believe the FSC should have taken a more active role. Nor is it the first time that Jyske has run foul of the Spanish authorities. In the Boletin Oficial del Estado (BOP) a resolution was published dated April 26 2010. In it Jyske Bank Gibraltar Ltd was heavily fined for what were described as very serious breaches of a 1993 law. The fines were 800,000 and 900,000 euros respectively. It was on April 17 2009 that the Consejo de Ministros handed down a 1.7 million euros fine. Jyske Bank appealed but this was in due course rejected by the Sala de lo Contencioso-Administrativo of the Tribunal Supremo. On February 17 2010 it backed the ministry to publically reprimand Jyske Bank and the BOP stated that 800,000 euros was levied for the refusal or resistance to provide specific information requested in writing with the 900,000 euros is for the breach of the obligation to report certain transactions. Now again I am sure that in this case the FSC sat on its hands because the offences took place in Spain and the Spanish authorities duly dealt with them. However as the BOP clearly stated it was Jyske Bank Gibraltar Ltd that was sanctioned, hence in a sense because Gibraltar is in its name the Rock’s reputation was fined too. David Klein, the founder of the Costa del Sol Action Group that represents those caught up in financial scams, recently publically stated: “I personally do not have confidence in Gibraltar. Some years back we challenged the Governor who controls the Gibraltar FSC and we as usual came up against a brick wall. The establishment stand together.” Before the election the GSLP Liberals announced that if elected they would create a Financial Ombudsman. Now they are in government it should become a priority with a wide brief to maintain and protect Gibraltar’s financial integrity both here and abroad by safeguarding our banks’ users.