This is how the public consultation on the takeover bid for Banc Sabadell will unfold.

MadridThe "public consultation" on BBVA's takeover bid for Banc Sabadell, announced by Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, will be open starting this Tuesday, May 6. This consultation will allow "citizens, associations, and organizations" to provide their opinions and comments on the proposed operation, which could lead to the demise of the Vallecas-based bank. These are the details:

Open starting this Tuesday

The consultation will be open within the 15 working days the Ministry of Economy has to decide whether to submit the takeover bid to the Council of Ministers (the clock starts ticking this Tuesday because the Competition Ministry did not register the decision until Monday). However, it will close well before that deadline so that the ministry can process all the information. The date has not yet been specified, but the Ministry of Economy is expected to explain it publicly in the coming hours.

Sources from the Ministry of Economy explain that this is a procedure in line with regulations and is "common," although they acknowledge that this is the first time it has been used in a hostile takeover bid (not previously negotiated) such as the one affecting Banc Sabadell. In fact, in the case of the merger of CaixaBank with Bankia, this option was never considered, although that transaction directly involved the State as Bankia's majority shareholder.

"Citizens, associations, and organizations" of all kinds are welcome to participate. This way, workers from both entities, unions such as the UGT and CCOO, as well as employers' associations, such as Foment del Treball and Pimec, for example, and chambers of commerce, among many others, can voice their opinions. In general terms, except for competitors in the banking sector, who see the transaction as an opportunity to expand their business, the operation has been widely criticized by a broad base of society.

The consultation will be open starting this Tuesday on the Ministry of Economy's website, where anyone who wishes can submit their position on the takeover bid, that is, why they disapprove of it or, on the contrary, why they approve of it.

Will it be binding?

The opinions received by the Ministry of Economy will be secret and non-binding, so they will not determine the Spanish government's ultimate decision on the takeover bid, although sources from the ministry explain that "they will be useful in making decisions about the operation." "It's about obtaining another layer of information," the same sources indicate.

The consultation comes after the Competition Authority unanimously authorized the takeover bid, but under conditions, including maintaining, only temporarily, the financing that Catalan SMEs have with Sabadell. This means that while it has detected multiple problems, the agency believes it has "resolved" them with the commitments required by BBVA. Therefore, it is a step forward in the takeover bid and leaves its progress in the hands of the Spanish government.

Reasons of general interest

Once the ministry has all the opinions, the Minister of Economy, Carlos Cuerpo, will have to decide whether to submit the takeover bid to the Council of Ministers, a step that, prior to Sánchez's announcement this Monday, the financial sector took for granted. Once the takeover bid reaches the Council of Ministers, the Council has one month to decide whether to accept the Competition Authority's ruling or modify it with additional commitments.

Should the latter option be chosen, the harshness of the new commitments could shake BBVA's plans. However, these cannot be linked to a competition issue, but rather to a matter of general interest. In any case, the public questionnaire announced this Monday gives Pedro Sánchez's administration another tool to justify its final decision, even if any of the interested parties in the operation decide to challenge their position in court.