Spain's Banco Sabadell fined by ECB over capital buyback

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - The European Central Bank has fined Spain's Banco Sabadell (SABE.MC) 1.6 million euros (1.4 million pounds) for buying back some of its capital without the ECB's permission, the ECB said on Tuesday.

"The penalty has been imposed in respect of the bank repurchasing its CET1 (Core Equity Tier 1) instruments from 1 January 2014 to 7 November 2016 without the prior permission of the banking supervision authority," the ECB said.

"This constitutes a continuous breach of own funds requirements in that period."

Sabadell has challenged the fine before the Court of Justice of the European Union, the ECB said.

(Reporting by Francesco Canepa; Editing by Adrian Croft)