The country's Minister of Economy, Commerce and Business, Carlos Body, also said that with the president of BBVA, Carlos Torres, there is a "close personal" relationship, with "recurrent contact, even before the takeover bid."
The Minister of Economy, Commerce and Business of Spain, Carlos Body, has stated that the Government's assessment of the hostile takeover bid that BBVA wants to launch to take over 100% of Sabadell "has not changed" and, therefore , has thus reiterated the rejection of the operation proposed by the entity.
This was expressed at the inauguration, together with the president of BBVA, Carlos Torres, of the seminar organized this week by the Association of Economic Information Journalists (APIE) and the Menéndez Pelayo International University (UIMP).
During question time, the minister highlighted that there is a "close personal" relationship with Torres, with "recurrent contact, even before the takeover bid."
He has pointed out the "strength" of the Spanish financial sector and has valued the public-private collaboration that allowed, for example, the deployment of credits guaranteed by the ICO during the pandemic. "The strength of this sector is no coincidence, the result of a transformation process that also had regulatory changes. It is now capable of facing those shocks of recent years and has been part of the solution to the latest crises, something of which We are pleased," he said.
However, he stated that the Government's assessment of the takeover bid "has not changed", a position that is justified, among other factors, by the lack of remuneration for deposits by the banks - following the ECB's rate hike. - which is due on the one hand to the "moment of high liquidity" of the banking system and, on the other, to the lack of need to compete between entities.
In fact, he has indicated that the lack of competition in this remuneration led some Spanish savers to invest again in Treasury Bills, a department within the Ministry of Economy for which he was responsible until the end of December 2023, when he was appointed. minister for the departure of Nadia Calviño to the European Investment Bank (EIB).
He has recognized that this lack of remuneration for deposits is due, on the one hand, to the moment of "high liquidity" that existed in 2023 in the banking system, but also due to the lack of competition itself, which is a "detrimental element" for the clients themselves.
In addition, it has put another element on the table such as financial inclusion, financing for SMEs and the impact on territorial cohesion.
In this regard, however, Corps has shown its "total institutional respect" for the review work that the CNMC will do on the operation and has recalled that this institution looks with a "degree of detail from zip code to zip code."
