Government repeats its three arguments against BBVA-Sabadell merger

First of all, The Corps cited formal problems, reproaching BBVA for informing the government after the decision was made.. “We learned about this after a call from the BBVA president himself (Carlos Torres) once made a decision in council,” Bodie said, adding that the way forward “is also important because it represents or may involve a point of volatility, additional uncertainty in the markets.”

However, the Minister of Economy focused on essential issues, on concern arising from “the element of possible overconcentration and the negative or harmful effects

First of all, The Corps cited formal problems, reproaching BBVA for informing the government after the decision was made.. “We learned about this after a call from the BBVA president himself (Carlos Torres) once made a decision in council,” Bodie said, adding that the way forward “is also important because it represents or may involve a point of volatility, additional uncertainty in the markets.”

However, the Minister of Economy focused on essential issues, on concerns raised by “the element of possible undue concentration and the negative or detrimental effect in terms of lessening competition.” what it could mean”, including its possible negative impact “on clients from a financial inclusion perspective.”

For body, This possible reduction in competition could bring with it “an element of financial instability.”adding that the Governor of the Bank of Spain himself, Pablo Hernandez de Cosrecently warned that “excessive concentration could lead to financial instability and even to problems in the transmission of monetary policy” And “that the increase in ECB interest rates did not affect deposit remuneration”. In fact, the Corps recalled that the government asked the CNMC to analyze “whether there was, in fact, some element related to the lack of competition in the market in this lack of transfer to remuneration on deposits.”

OPA and territorial cohesion

Finally, the third major argument put forward by the Corps is the concern it raises for the government. the impact that the operation could have on the “structure of territorial unity”. “We are all aware of the concentration of Sabadell’s activities in some specific areas, such as Catalonia as of Valencian Community as well as in some sectors, such as, for example, in the SME segment,” he concluded.