Banco Sabadell and CaixaBank are fully aware that they must move their headquarters outside of Catalonia in case of independence. It is not about political inclinations, but about survival. In this extreme scenario, both entities would lose the support of the ECB and the guarantee of the Deposit Fund.
But financial sources indicate that banks will not wait for this assumption, which they consider highly improbable. In fact, the board of directors of Banco Sabadell has convened an extraordinary meeting in the afternoon of Thursday to analyze the change of the entity's registered office. Among the new destinations that the entity chaired by Josep Oliú are Alicante, Madrid or Oviedo, according to sources of the bank. Caixabank, meanwhile, and according to El Mundo, thinks of the Balearic Islands as a destination.
In recent weeks, with growing political and social instability in Catalonia, there is concern among customers about the savings deposited in entities and other contracted products. The announcement of the change of headquarters would remove any doubt in this respect, since the protection of deposits would be assured as at present in all types of scenarios.
The employees of the branches of both entities have been used in recent days to meet customer demand for information and explain that their savings will continue to be guaranteed. Consultations on the consequences of being a customer of a bank based in Catalonia occur in all the autonomous communities, but with more intensity outside the Catalan region, where they have the bulk of the business.
Withdrawal of funds
The withdrawal of funds, say from the sector, is insignificant, but nobody knows how the situation would evolve in a political context in Catalonia that is expected to become increasingly tense, which would increase doubts and nerves among customers.
On Wednesday, it was announced that a securities company, iBroker Global Markets, has decided to "redistribute" the balance of its clients in Sabadell to the other two entities with which it works, Bankia and Bankinter. Explains, in an email, that the "temporary exclusion of Banco Sabadell" is done after "concern shown" by some customers for the security of deposits. The firm will maintain Sabadell's account only for the entry of new contributions and will review and redistribute it every day so that no more than 1% of the balance of its customers is deposited in Banco Sabadell.
From a branch of one of these Catalan banks has called customers to reassure them and indicate that if they want can wait to withdraw funds, since they had been indicated from Barcelona that on Monday could be announced the change of registered address to Madrid or Seville.
How does the change of seat affect?
The transfer of headquarters does not represent visible changes in the entity. BBVA, Banco Santander and Bankia have their headquarters in Madrid, while their official address is located in Bilbao, Santander and Valencia, respectively.
The president of Sabadell, Josep Oliu, has already stated months ago that in order to move his headquarters only an agreement of the board of directors would be necessary in his case. This is the path that followed Oryzon Tuesday, a path that was opened with the change of the Corporations Law. CaixaBank, which did not adopt its by-laws to the regulatory amendment, must approve it at a shareholders' meeting in an express process that would not take more than 48 hours.
The financial sector is expected to announce its headquarters almost at the same time, and look forward to Monday, October 9, when the Parliament will discuss the results of 1-O.
On the same day, both CaixaBank and Sabadell announced that the measures they could take in the future in the face of instability in Catalonia would be aimed at defending the interests of their shareholders, employees and customers within any scenario and guaranteeing the integrity of deposits.
In this sense, the Minister of Economy, Luis de Guindos, wanted to reassure the clientele of the two Catalan banks by assuring that "they are Spanish banks and European banks. They are solid entities and customers have nothing to fear."
Speaking at the fourth edition of the South Summit, the head of Economics pointed out that "there is a lot of noise and a lot of confusion", although economic data reflect that the evolution of the Catalan economy is "positive", with some "good" affiliation data that in the Catalan autonomous community are "even better than average". This assumes in his opinion that "no one has believed the threat of independence".
Guindos wanted to emphasize that "we are in a process of economic improvement, even more intense in Catalonia. The Government is going to watch over all this, it will not let any vainness, no dreaminess, no illegitimacy can affect the process of prosperity of society Catalan and Spanish the ", he emphasized.
The head of Economy has remarked that "the first thing is to return to the legal framework," and has ensured that if the Generalitat returns to that framework the Government "is always with the hand outstretched." "We have an illegal referendum that was a last provocation in the last resort, a mere procedure for the declaration of independence that will not take place," he stressed.
An exhibition at the CCAA in decline
Catalonia represents for some entities a significant weight in its business, but the internationalization and diversification of some groups in recent years thanks to the expansion and acquisition plans has reduced exposure to this autonomous community.
The two companies based in the region, Sabadell and CaixaBank, are the most risky in terms of volume and percentage, but their incursions in the UK and Portugal have recently minimized it, as have savings bank purchases in Spain. other parts of the country.
Specifically, for Sabadell its home community accounts for almost 27% of lending activity in Spain, according to its latest figures, a figure that is reduced to 15% if you take into account your British business. The group chaired by Josep Oliu has a volume of financing in Barcelona, Tarragona, Lérida and Gerona of 32.650 million euros.
In the case of CaixaBank, the exposure reaches 22%, a percentage that is reduced by 20%, including the Portuguese subsidiary BPI, which has been in control since the beginning of this year. The two Catalan groups have been increasing their activity during the crisis in other areas, mainly Madrid, Galicia, Valencia and Andalusia. They have been the entities that more acquisitions of weak boxes have materialized. They have taken, among others, the CAM, Banco de Valencia, Cajasol and Barclays Spain.
In terms of loans, BBVA and Banco Santander outperform Sabadell in Catalonia. The first for the sum to its balance of CatalunyaCaixa and Unnim. The second, by the award in June of the Popular. But their presence in Spain and Latin America, mainly, substantially reduce the weight of the community governed by Puigdemont on the total business they manage.
Among the medium-sized banks, Kutxabank and Bankinter are the ones that have the most presence in the autonomous community, while for Unicaja, Liberbank and Abanca their business there is hardly residual, so their risk is minimal.
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