UPDATE 2-Court bars Santander CEO from banking -El Mundo

* Court ruling could force Saenz to resign -El Mundo

* Chairman Botin says unaware of ruling

* Saenz expected to appeal - FT sources (Adds FT report)

MADRID, Jan 17 (Reuters) - The chief executive of Santander (SAN.MC), the eurozone's largest bank, could be forced to step down after Spain's Supreme Court barred him from working as a banker, newspaper El Mundo reported on Monday, without citing sources.

A ruling to ban Alfredo Saenz from any form of banking work would follow an earlier conviction for making false accusations when he was chairman of Spanish bank Banesto (BTO.MC).

If his conviction were to be confirmed, Saenz would appeal to the Constitutional Court and might be able to continue in his post until a final decision was reached, the Financial Times said in its Tuesday edition, citing people familiar with the case.

"I don't have any comment to make about a ruling that I don't know about," Santander Chairman Emilio Botin said in comments aired on Spanish radio RNE.

A spokesman for Santander also declined to comment on the report.

Santander shares closed down just over one percent at 8.399 euros per share.

Saenz, who cemented his reputation in the 1990s by helping turn around Banesto after Santander took it over, was found guilty in December 2009 of falsely claiming that businesses owed Banesto money.

Both prosecution and defence lawyers appealed against the 2009 ruling. A spokesman for the Supreme Court said the court had reviewed the appeals behind closed doors on Dec. 22 but had not made any public ruling.

El Mundo said the court would publish details of the ruling in the next few days and said it had increased an earlier sentence against Saenz to eight months from six.

However, Saenz will not serve any jail time since under Spanish law first time offenders only serve time if convicted to more than two years.

In the 2009 ruling, Saenz was convicted for falsely claiming that shareholders of a company called Harry Walker owed Banesto 600 million pesetas, about 3.6 million euros. [ID:nLDE5BR134] (Reporting by Paul Day and Robert Hetz; Additional reporting by Tracy Rucinski; Editing by Sarah Morris, David Holmes and Carol Bishopric)