Telegraph – Santander, which has bought Abbey, Alliance & Leicester and parts of Bradford & Bingley in the UK in recent years – staff were aware that the convicted fraudster’s operations were “shrouded in secrecy” and that his trading was not being independently verified. Madoff confessed to his crimes in December 2008.
The claims, made in an internal report written by a Swiss-based division of Santander, were laid bare in a court filing as part of a class action against the Spanish bank being brought in Miami.