Banco Sabadell: Give unto Caesar what is Caesar's

BarcelonaI don't know if César González-Bueno, 65, CEO of Banc Sabadell, is a Beatles fan, but he's copied them by resigning at the height of their success. "He could have stayed on as long as he wanted, but he preferred to hand over the reins to someone with a promising career ahead of him," I'm told. After five years, he's leaving—he says—of his own volition and in agreement with Chairman Josep Oliu, his comrade in arms and through the tensions during the BBVA takeover bid, which they both sacked, convinced he's done his job.

He leaves behind a smaller bank after the sale of TSB, but with greater value and solvency. And shareholder returns equivalent to 40% of the stock market value. He's turned the bank completely around. And now he's handing the reins to Marc Armengol, a long-time employee, the driving force behind the improvement and sale of TSB, before any other institution (perhaps Santander?) was tempted to recruit him.

And he will be the one to implement the strategic plan starting in May, with the challenge of overcoming the hole that TSB will leave. And also of driving up the share price to prevent a third party from being tempted to buy them at a low price. They are convinced that Sabadell has the appropriate size to grow in the Spanish market. And without mergers or acquisitions. At least, for now.