Chrysler Financial Accused of Using Stolen Trade Secrets

Ally Financial Inc. has accused Dallas, Tex.-based Santander Consumer USA of stealing trade secrets from it to help launch Chrysler Group LLC's consumer and dealer lending arm in the U.S. in May, Bloomberg News reports.

The Ally lawsuit claims the U.S. unit of Spain's Banco Santander SA used proprietary documents, including Ally's retail procedures manual, received from a former Ally employee. The complaint, which was filed two weeks ago in a federal district court in Detroit, seeks $17.2 million in compensation.

Ally provided financial services for Chrysler's retail operations under a deal that expired on April 30. The carmaker signed a 10-year deal with Santander in February.

Ally is the the former General Motors Acceptance Corp. In 2009 it absorbed the business formerly handled by Chrysler Financial. GM's new post-bankruptcy financial arm, GM Financial Inc., finalized its $2.6 billion acquisition of Ally's overseas operations in April.