Nostalgic for the boxes

There are still those who remember my time on the Governing Council of the Bank of Spain and ask me about the collapse of the savings bank system during the crisis, driven by nostalgia and the need for financial repositioning of the Catalan productive economy. Of course, for this reason, some of us would like a new, entirely public banking system, going beyond the current tasks of the Catalan Finance Institute: a public banking system that, for now, I don't quite see coming. In any case, I would like to highlight an interesting recent speech by the Governor of the Bank of Spain, José Luis Escrivá, at the general assembly of the European Association of Cooperative Banks, although he was referring to the cooperative credit sector in Spain.

Indeed, once the savings banks disappeared, it is clear that cooperatives are gaining ground and market share in the Spanish banking sector. They act as a counterweight to the large institutions, which are currently focused on maximizing profits and driving up share prices and the race to see who can distribute the most dividends. Cooperatives, on the other hand, are heavily focused on growing their mortgage and financing offerings to SMEs and the self-employed, while simultaneously strengthening their solvency. From 2017 to 2025, their outstanding loans have grown by 32.2%, while the rest of the banking sector has only seen a minuscule 1.4%. The trend is similar for deposits. They are filling the void left by the savings banks and the gaps created by mergers and drastic reductions in bank branches and staff. Their market share is particularly high in the agriculture, livestock, and fishing sector (35%), and in other sectors it ranges from 11.5% in commerce and manufacturing to 5% in energy supply. And they maintain quite healthy levels of liquidity and solvency ratios.

The 60 existing credit unions also help to decentralize economic power, allowing many regions, and even medium-sized towns, to have their own financial institution, preventing everything from being centralized in Madrid or Barcelona. This also means that not all financial decisions will be made by algorithms (should we now say AI?), but by local people with a deeper understanding of the country's realities.

This cooperative model is well-known in Europe. Cooperative groups are particularly strong in France and Germany (Crédit Agricole, Crédit Mutuel, Banque Populaire Caisse d'Epargne, DZ Bank...).

Escrivá is giving cooperatives a new strategic value. It is surprising, however, that Catalonia and the Balearic Islands, which were home to large and important savings banks, are now practically untouched by this new impetus that brings greater diversity and capabilities to the financial system. If small shareholders—and there are many of them—are truly as decisive as has been claimed in the BBVA takeover bid, could Sabadell and Caja de Ingenieros fill some of those gaps?