The head of the National Securities Market Commission, Rodrigo Buenaventura, said Friday that it was difficult to estimate the potential impact of an alleged espionage case involving Spain's second-largest financial institution, BBVA, in terms of fines or reputational damage.

On Thursday, a Spanish National Court judge proposed to try BBVA and its former president for alleged bribery and disclosure of business secrets, following an investigation into alleged corporate espionage.

"Cases like this, logically, can have repercussions on issuers, on people who have worked or who work with executives of the entities and it is difficult to foresee at this time the consequences of possible sanctions or reputational consequences that the case may have on the issuer," Buenaventura said.

BBVA was placed under investigation in July 2019 for hiring a private investigation agency allegedly run by former police commissioner José Manuel Villarejo. The case is part of a broader investigation dating back to 2004 into Villarejo, who has denied any wrongdoing.

Legal representatives for former president Francisco Gonzalez declined to comment on Thursday, while a BBVA spokesman said that no criminal liability arises for the entity for the events under investigation and that its priority has always been to cooperate fully with the courts.

(Reporting by Jesús Aguado; additional reporting by Emma Pinedo; editing by David Latona; Spanish editing by Javi West Larrañaga)