Emilio de Ybarra

Emilio de Ybarra   ( businessman,  banker)
Born	9 November, 1936
Died	17 July, 2019 (Age 82)
Nationality	Spanish
Alma mater	•  Deusto Business School •  University of Valladolid
Parents	•  Santiago de Ybarra •  Dolores Churruca Zubiría
Children	•  Ignacio de Ybarra •  Emilio Ybarra Aznar
Siblings	Santiago de Ybarra
Member of	Trilateral Commission
Spanish businessman and banker. Bilderberger. Trilateral Commission.

Emilio de Ybarra y Churruca was a Spanish businessman and banker, who attended the 1988 and 1989 Bilderberg meetings, and was a member of the Trilateral Commission.

Background

He was born into a family that inherited some of the main companies in the industrial powerhouse of Vizcaya. His father was Santiago de Ybarra. He was soon orphaned, when his father was executed along with other members of the Ybarra family and supporters of the rebel side (i.e. the military led by Franco) during the Spanish Civil War, on a prison ship in Bilbao. He was raised by his mother, Dolores Churruca Zubiría, Countess of El Abra, and by his grandfather, Alfonso de Churruca y Calbetón.

Education

He took a law degree from the University of Valladolid and a degree in Economics from the Commercial University of Deusto (Bilbao).

Career

In the sixties, during the dictatorship, Emilio Ybarra had an important political functions in the area, he was first deputy mayor of Bilbao with Hurtado de Saracho between 1961 and 1963, after the resignation of Hurtado de Saracho he continued in the Bilbao city council until February 1967. He was manager of La Orconera, a company that managed the main iron mines in Biscay. His professional life was mainly spent at the Bank of Bilbao, where he was CEO and vice president. He chaired the BBV (Banco Bilbao Vizcaya), after the merger of the two Bilbao-based banks, and the BBVA, the latter the result of the merger of the former with Argentaria, between 1990 and 2001.

On April 11, 2002, Ybarra resigned as co-chairman of the Banco Bilbao-Vizcaya Foundation and from his position on the Board of Directors of BBVA Bancomer, the bank's Mexican subsidiary, after the exposure of several secret accounts in tax havens in order to manage opaque pension funds for the Ministry of Finance, which were intended to compensate for the loss of remuneration of BBV directors after the merger with Argentaria. In November 2005, Ybarra was sentenced by the National High Court to six months in prison and a fine of twenty-seven thousand euros for misappropriation. He did not go to prison because he had no criminal record. However, Ybarra filed an appeal with the Supreme Court, which finally acquitted him in 2006, on the understanding that he had powers granted by the BBVA Board of Directors to set up pension funds.

Together with his only brother, Santiago, he maintained control of Vocento, the communication group chaired by his son Ignacio. In addition, his son Emilio Ybarra Aznar has been director of El Correo, the main newspaper in Biscay and Álava. He was also a director of companies such as Tubos Reunidos and Corporación Financiera.

He died in Madrid, due to a stroke, at the age of 82.

 

Events Participated in

Event	Start	End	Location(s)	Description
Bilderberg/1988	3 June 1988	5 June 1988	Austria Interalpen-Hotel Telfs-Buchen	The 36th meeting, 114 participants
Bilderberg/1989	12 May 1989	14 May 1989	Spain Galicia La Toja Island	37th Bilderberg meeting, 110 guests

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