The court has reached the deadline to decide whether to submit the takeover bid to Sabadell to the Council of Ministers.

MadridEconomy Minister Carlos Cuerpo is running out of time to decide whether to send BBVA's hostile takeover bid for Banco Sabadell to the Council of Ministers. "The decision will be made in line with the deadlines set by local [Spanish] and European regulations," he simply said at a press conference on Monday, just after a meeting with the European Commissioner for Financial Services, Maria Luís Albuquerque.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, he limited himself to championing the need to have large banks in Europe and said that it is "irrelevant" whether bank mergers are within or outside the same state as long as they strengthen the community financial system. Regarding other decisions affecting listed companies, everything indicates that the decision will be made public at the close of the markets.

Sending the takeover bid to the Council of Ministers allows the Spanish government to demand additional conditions from BBVA. to those of the National Market and Competition Commission (CNMC) as long as they are linked to the general interest. In other words, the Spanish government cannot comment on competition, something the public body has already done. To decide whether to take this step (raising the takeover bid or not), the Ministry of Economy opened a public consultation through which citizens, but also companies and social stakeholders such as unions and employers' associations, have been able to express their reasons for being concerned about the takeover bid for Banc Sabadell and, therefore, why they argue that Pedro Sánchez's administration adds more.

However, the consultation has not been the only instrument on which the Cuerpo relies to make the decision. The minister has also requested reports from the economic portfolios of the Spanish executive on the effects that the takeover bid may have on matters of general interest. Among the ministries that Cuerpo has consulted is the Ministry of Labour, openly opposed to the operation. "It is It is important to convey the usefulness of the [public] consultation on the takeover bid. It's a mechanism that helps us decide whether or not to submit the operation to the Council of Ministers. There are other elements provided for [in the regulations], such as requesting reports from the ministries. We are making decisions with all the guarantees and respecting the law," Cuerpo defended.

The minister also explained that a report with the conclusions of the public consultation will be made public in the coming days: "[The consultation] has provided us with qualitative information that has helped us gather data that is valid for us, linked to the general interest. If BBVA's takeover bid for Sabadell is submitted to the Council of Ministers, the Spanish government will have 30 calendar days, that is, until the end of June, to decide whether to impose further conditions on the Bilbao bank. If it exhausts the deadline, its decision will not be known until after June 27."

However, attorney Ibor Fernandes, a BBVA shareholder and partner at the Statera Legal firm, filed an administrative appeal with the National Court regarding the Spanish government's public consultation, as reported by the law firm in a press release reported by Europa Press regarding the suspension of the consultation.