Armengol (Banc Sabadell) praises Madrid in front of its businessmen

MadridA few days ago it was the auditorium of the Iese business school, and this Wednesday it was the turn of one of the main halls of the Palace of the Dukes of Santoña, headquarters of the Madrid Chamber of Commerce. These have been the two venues in the Spanish capital where Marc Armengol has debuted as CEO of Banco Sabadell. In the first forum, among the audience there were mostly students of finance or business management, while in the second, Madrid businessmen and investors took center stage, especially those linked to the Madrid Chamber of Commerce. And Armengol was aware of this. When Ángel Asensio, president of the Madrid organization, asked him about the role of the Spanish capital, the CEO of the Vallesana entity did not hesitate to praise its economic dynamism: "Madrid is the economy [of the State] that stands out the most". He also pointed to the audience listening to him, and in particular the Chamber of Commerce, as responsible for this feat: "Congratulations on the work you do. It is essential and explains the dynamism of the [Madrid] economy," said Armengol.

Banco Sabadell landed in the Spanish capital on March 1, 1976, as the CEO himself recalled, and since then it has not stopped growing: "Today we have 2,000 people working there," he said. The Madrid market accounts for 30% of the bank's credit and private deposits and 15% of its business volume, two-thirds of which are related to companies.

Although Armengol has been officially CEO for just over 30 days, Asensio has already asked him about the "legacy" he would like to leave to the bank. The executive reacted with a laugh and showed confidence that there is still time to talk about his legacy, but the question came at the right time to remind him what the bank's pillar is: "The close relationship with the client", and what he expects from these clients: "I am obsessed that any individual or company that has the opportunity to grow finds in Sabadell the best partner to take this path".

Armengol faces the challenge of moving forward with a new bank strategy, and this goes hand in hand with the challenge of explaining it, especially to an audience like that of the Madrid Chamber of Commerce. Although he has just joined the bank's leadership, he is already working on it, and at this Wednesday's forum he took the opportunity to once again put forward a sketch marked by the solitary path: Armengol has ruled out bank mergers in Spain, even friendly ones. "I don't see them," he said, neither in the short nor medium term. Nor between small and medium-sized entities, which are the only ones in which, in his opinion, there could be room. In fact, he assured that after the BBVA's hostile takeover bid, Sabadell's project on its own "makes a lot of sense". "The bank is in one of the best moments in its history".