Miguel Blesa, the former executive chairman of Caja Madrid, which is now part of Bankia, has become the first prominent Spanish banker to enter prison since the start of the financial crisis. He is accused of leaving his bank saddled with huge losses because of the takeover of a bank based in Miami in 2008. The problems at Caja Madrid were part of the cascading issues that eventually undermined Bankia, which was one of the biggest lenders in Spain before the government seized it last year, setting off a crisis that resulted in the country’s banking system requiring a €40 billion, or $51.3 billion, European bailout. ... (full story)