However, the Catalan bank does not close the door to integrating a financial entity in the future. Banc Sabadell wants to take advantatge of the restructuring process of the financial system to grow throughout Spain, told its President Josep Oliu.
The Director of ESADE’s Master in Finance, Jordi Fabregat, recommends that Catalan savings banks speed up its transformation into private banks in order.
Andreu Mas-Colell, the Catalan Minister for Economy, reflected on the issue at a ceremony, where savings bank La Caixa and Catalan universities were giving away up to new 20 grants for research projects. The objective is to prevent a possible brain drain in Catalonia. Mas-Colell said that once the sector reforms were accomplished, the financial entities would get more freedom.
All the Catalan savings banks are in the process of becoming regular banks. In the last 6 days, all the savings banks have been defining their future and they are all going in the same direction: transforming their structures into those of a regular bank. The first stage was the merging process that took place before summertime and now, with the new banking rules at international, European and Spanish level, savings banks are finding it easier to continue operating as regular banks. The old model is thus finished.
The chairman of BAA Angela Knight urged savings banks to reconsider their strategy and find diverse ways to finance themselves. The insisted that narrowing the market to a single territory is increasing their exposure to the economic context.
The new savings bank group will be called Mare Nostrum and it will be the 4th in Spain. The 4 savings banks will keep their brand and sum up more than 4 million clients.
The Catalan financial entity approves 'cold merger' with 6 other Spanish savings banks in a move expected to create 'positive' results for Catalonia. The new savings banks will keep the brands of the 7 merging entities. The project is lead by Caja Madrid, which was Spain’s second savings bank after the Catalan La Caixa
Today the new name and image of the second Catalan savings bank as a result of the Caixa Catalunya, Caixa Tarragona and Caixa Manresa merger was presented. CatalunyaCaixa will be the new brand, which has been decided upon after negotiations and strategic studies. CatalunyaCaixa has not yet decided if it will look for more capital.
Three Catalan saving banks have merged into a single lender that will close up to 395 branches around Spain. The result of the merger is still without a name.
The largest financial institution in Catalonia and the largest savings bank in Europe, La Caixa, agreed to merge with Caixa Girona. Yesterday evening, La Caixa?s board approved the merger with the medium sized Girona savings bank.