CNMC rejects political pressure in the BBVA-Sabadell takeover bid and is mindful that the government could veto it.

Cani Fernandez, president of the National Markets and Competition Commission (CNMC), denies he was subjected to political pressure in the first weeks of the BBVA-Sabadell takeover bid. “I don’t know,” Fernandez said at the APIE XLI Seminar and Menendez Pelayo University in Santander (Cantabria). “There is a third stage in which the political vision is planned. Within this framework, the government can effectively introduce new requirements that comply with the norms,” he recalled.

Fernandez, who declined to comment technically on the operation being carried out due to a lack of data on this matter, recalled that the standard requires a more comprehensive analysis – called stage 2 – in cases where the impact on the operation is not clear competence. “It would be irresponsible to make a statement,” he said, concluding his argument by recalling that it is premature to know whether this operation will receive the green light in the first or second stage and what the decision will be. “The law leaves it quite broad.”

When asked about increasing exposure in SMEThe President of CNMC recalled that it is already in work CaixaBank and Bankia which he encountered at the beginning of his mandate, “this exhibition was also relevant.” “I don’t think we’ll discover anything new. What we need to see from the data is how we see that possible match, if there is one,” he reiterated.

On May 31, BBVA submitted a request for permission to the Competition Authority. At the moment, the institution is at the stage of requesting information from parties – including third parties – and the timing of the analysis will depend on the speed of its provision. “In the case of Caixa-Bankia, which went hand in hand and both provided information from the very beginning, the analysis lasted six or eight months. The key point is how quickly we get the information to be able to analyze it,” he stressed.

Citing examples of bank concentrations that have occurred in recent years, Fernandez recalled that analysis is carried out before and after transactions to see their impact. “The obligations imposed on Caixa-Bankia and Liberbank-Unicaja have not changed competition, and we hope that the same will happen in the case of BBVA – Sabadell,” he said.

Thanks De Kos

In addition to BBVA’s takeover bid for Sabadell, Cani Fernandez wanted to thank Pablo Hernandez de Cos, already a former governor of the Bank of Spain, for his contribution to the economy. “I want to express my personal gratitude for your contribution to the Spanish and European economy and to the common interest,” he said.

The regulator’s president recalled that during De Cos’ tenure she shared “many ideas” with him and that the two institutions collaborated in “complementary areas.”