“Valencia is the best place”
Caixabank closes the door again to return to Catalonia. The organization moved its headquarters to the Valencian Community in 2017 and has remained there ever since, despite pressure from the independence movement to force it to do the opposite. The bank’s position has not changed and they have confirmed that they will remain in the region. “We are very comfortable in Valencia and we believe that this is the best location for our business, for Caixabank, thinking about our depositors and shareholders,” said José Ignacio Goirigolzarri, group president.
The manager’s words that they consider Valencia the best location for their headquarters stand out in this message to investors and shareholders. In this sense, it is worth remembering that banks headquartered in Catalonia in October 2017 suffered noticeable deposit leaks due to the instability and risks that arose after October 1 of that year.
“Caixabank’s configuration has changed since the merger with Bankia, which has increased its presence in markets such as Valencia and Madrid. At the first meeting after the merger, we reflected on our headquarters and came to the conclusion that our headquarters would continue to be Valencia. This was not due to security concerns or legal uncertainty, but because we believed that our headquarters in Valencia was best suited for our investors and shareholders. We said we came to Valencia with the intention of staying and that hasn’t changed.“, noted Goirigolzarri.
This is not the first time Caixabank has slammed the door on the opening of its Catalan headquarters, although this time it has gained importance due to recent pressure from pro-independence parties to bring back departed companies. The property is one of the symbols of the Catalan community, as well as the entire environment surrounding La Caixa (Fundamentals and Criteria); In fact, the great desire of Younts and ERC is to try to force the community to take back and control the Foundation and Criteria, as they understand in separatism that this will cause a resistance effect in relations with other companies. In the case of the bank, it is based in the Valencian Community, but the Foundation and CriteriaCaixa decided to move to Palma de Mallorca after 1-O.
However, Goirigolzarri refused to comment on pressure from the independence movement in this regard. In particular, Hunts obtained some concessions from the government, such as the repeal of the 2017 “Gindos Decree”, which promoted the relocation of the headquarters outside Catalonia, but not only that. As published by the ABC, Junts said it had agreed with the executive on changes to the Capital Companies Act to change the concept of a registered office. These last two transfers have yet to be finalized between the government and independent backers.
Similarly, Younts even put forward for discussion the possibility of introducing sanctions against companies that left in 2017 and did not return, including Caixabank, Foundation and Criteria, Banco Sabadell, Naturgy, Allianz… But this option was rejected by the government and at the moment not implemented.