Santander blocks fund website

Santander, Spain’s biggest bank, has blocked public access to the website of its Optimal hedge fund management arm after telling investors in a US equities subfund they face potential losses of €2.33bn ($3.29bn) in the allegedly fraudulent securities operation run by Bernard Madoff in New York.

The website of Swiss-based Optimal, which had more than $10bn under management at the end of 2007 for institutions and wealthy individuals, had boasted at length about its fund managers’ close attention to risk control and due diligence.

“Intensive due diligence is vital to ensuring the integrity and sustainability of the investment process . . . Each investment undergoes lengthy and detailed scrutiny according to clearly defined manager selection criteria,” the website, seen on Sunday by the Financial Times, said before it was blocked. Yesterday it simply said: “New website to be launched soon.