BarcelonaThe Spanish government will have to decide on BBVA's hostile takeover bid for Banco Sabadell after the National Commission of Markets and Competition (CNMC) gave the green light, with conditions, to the operation on Wednesday night, despite seeing some risks. Specifically, a member of the Spanish government, Second Vice President and Minister of Labor Yolanda Díaz, has already said that Pedro Sánchez's administration should halt the operation.
Díaz has warned that the takeover bid is "very bad news" and added that "economic democracy is losing." "We never talk about it, but it is the most important thing, along with human rights," she asserted. In an interview on Spanish TVE's La 1 channel, Díaz stated that the Spanish government "has the final say" and urged it to halt the operation. The vice president of the Spanish government described it as a "major mistake" to push through the takeover bid against the opposition of the Catalan economic, social, cultural, and union fabric. In addition, he has warned that it will "aggravate" banking concentration and make credit for households and SMEs more expensive.
The vice president has warned of the "systemic" risk in relation to the banking concentration, which would reach 20%, and of "further strengthening the financial oligopoly." In addition, she has predicted that the process could result in the dismissal of those identified by the second vice president of the Spanish executive is the accessibility to domestic credit and small and medium-sized businesses and has predicted a "serious impact" in Catalonia, where she recalled that she has opposition from several sectors. Government, the Minister of Economy, Carlos Cuerpo, who has the file on the table and must decide whether to take it to the council of ministers within 15 days. social network X, Isla stated that they will analyze the Competition report "rigorously."
For her part, the First Vice President and Minister of Finance, María Jesús Montero, said that it is "premature" for the government to come to the table and what the response of BBVA is also. "To the extent that we have already rigorously analyzed this report, we will be able to convey what the government's position will be, but today it is still premature to be able to anticipate a decision," she noted.
Unions and employers' associations have also begun to take a position. Pim. all, even when the conditions imposed by Competition were not yet known. the risks" and maintain credit to SMEs and, therefore, "for all business financing."
Impact on employment
The two main unions also took a position on the takeover bid and expressed their fears about the impact on employment. Just before the May Day demonstration, the Catalan Workers' Commissions (CCOO) and UGT (UGT) urged the Spanish government to act to halt the takeover bid. In statements to the media, the Secretary General of the UGT (Spanish Competition Authority), Camil Ros, expressed his "outright rejection" of the Competition Authority's decision and warned that the takeover bid "doesn't bring anything good" for workers, SMEs, or the self-employed. "It will affect ordinary people," he said. Belén López, Secretary General of CC. This merger is "bad news" that calls into question competition in the banking sector, with an impact on financial clients.
"We hope that the bank shareholders, who will have the final say, will still find a position that allows the bank to be maintained and that the government itself will think about the general interest and how it will turn out." Álvarez. For his part, Sordo considered that Spain "should not continue with a process of banking concentration" that would end up reducing financial competition and expressed his concern about a merger that he hopes will ultimately not be consolidated.
"It's worrying that after what happened with the savings banks, the financial institutions most closely linked to the productive fabric and small business financing are being absorbed because they play a fairly important role in providing this type of lifeblood to the real economy." For the unions, if financial institutions want to gain strength and influence "in this globalized world," they must aspire to greater banking unity in the future and not continue to fish in the same tank as the Spanish financial system.
ERC leader Oriol Junqueras said on Catalunya Ràdio that his party defends free competition and, at the same time, is "against excessive concentration processes." In this regard, he asserted that "if the Spanish government authorizes the takeover bid for Banc Sabadell, it must be guaranteed that it is carried out with the maximum safeguards for consumers and the country as a whole."
Even in the financial sector, some voices have already been raised warning of the risks of this operation. The general manager of the Spanish branch of the neobank Revolut, Eduardo Pérez Toribio, expressed his respect for the CNMC's decision, although he believes it "ignores" a "key" aspect such as the structural balance of the financial system. Pérez Toribio understands that the ruling responds to "strictly technical" criteria, but believes it is necessary to take other factors into account. "Excessive asymmetric concentration does not benefit the end consumer, nor small and medium-sized businesses; quite the opposite, it implies a clear worsening of free competition by concentrating the ability to control market conditions in three or four main players," he stated.
From Asufin, the association of financial sector users, its president, Patricia Suárez, has assumed the closure of branches and layoffs if the takeover bid is successful. "The magnitude? That's what remains to be seen. It worries us greatly," Suárez admitted in statements to TVE. In this regard, he warned about the concentration of banking entities and recalled that in the 1990s there were about a hundred and currently only a dozen. "I find it hard to believe this is good news for consumers and SMEs," he said of the operation.
Sabadell's small shareholders have also expressed their opposition to the takeover bid. Its president, Jordi Casas, has demanded an "informative file" from the Competition Authority because information came out while the markets were open. "It's very serious," he told ACN. Casas also warned that not even large funds will participate in the takeover bid under the current conditions, as they would "lose money." BBVA, he said, wants to reduce dependence on Mexico and Turkey by gaining market share in Spain. "What's not worth it is trying to solve structural problems by buying cheap," he warned.
The ACCO considers the conditions imposed by BBVA insufficient.
The president of the Catalan Competition Authority (ACCO), Roger Loppacher, questioned whether the remedies approved by the National Commission of Markets and Competition (CNMC) in response to BBVA's takeover bid for Banco Sabadell "are sufficient," he told Europa Press. Loppacher explained that the ACCO does not rule out "a potential risk to competition" and that the entity he presides has requested more intense conditions. He lamented that the level of concentration in Catalonia would be "high, no, very high," if the takeover bid is completed, and that it would be the European territory with the highest banking concentration, which implies a potential risk affecting the conditions achieved by families, the self-employed, and SMEs, he believes. "The European Commission says that the commitments must completely eliminate competition problems and that they must be comprehensive and effective," adding that the remedies adopted do not allow these risks to be completely ruled out.
Loppacher believes that, despite the commitments approved by the CNMC, "there is a risk of financial exclusion" for older groups, those with less technological skills, and those in rural areas. He also sees a risk of credit reduction, both for SMEs and households, and denied that the household market is easier to fill for other institutions. He also emphasized that these are not structural commitments, but rather behavioral and temporary ones, adding that the deadlines indicated may not be sufficient.