In January of this year, Banco de Sabadell decided to return its headquarters to its hometown, from which it has always carried its name. A few weeks later, the La Caixa Foundation and its asset arm, Criteria, followed in the footsteps of the financial institution from Vallecas. The first assessment that must be made is obvious: this is good news, a positive step. There will always be opposing voices, but the majority of the population applauds this type of decision. And they wish there were more, in the same direction.
It is obvious that these returns have more symbolic than operational significance. When they decided to leave in October 2017, they moved the corporate headquarters, but not the people or the decision-making centres. However, it is also necessary to note a lesser-known fact: some operational services of these Catalan financial institutions have been in Madrid for many years, due to their proximity to political power and the entities that regulate the financial sector. Many years before the Process, important services of Catalan financial institutions had already moved to the Spanish capital.
If we look back to October 2017, the high point of the sovereignty process that had taken off and gained momentum five years earlier, at the end of 2012, we can make a relevant observation: many of us did not agree with the departure of the two large Catalan banks, but we understood it. Let me explain: in my dual capacity as an economist and a government official, I know that the stability and even the survival of a bank, however large it may be, can be extremely volatile. The combination of political pressures, irrational fears and strong movements of money, for example with intense withdrawals of funds, can send a bank adrift. All these factors occurred then: the central government, of the PP, supported by the PSOE and the intervention of high powers of the State, shamelessly pressured to relocate its businesses from Catalonia. Fear spread. And the State itself was responsible for withdrawing large amounts of resources deposited in Catalan banks. The perfect storm.
When we enter a financial institution, we assume that its solidity is immutable. Nothing could be further from the truth. If the conditions are met, its fragility can be very high. Let us look at two not-too-distant, but very different examples: one of the large Spanish banks, Popular, dissolved like a sugar cube; it was "sold" for one euro. A giant with feet of clay. The other example: an Andorran bank, BPA, together with its Spanish subsidiary, Banco de Madrid, were liquidated, victims of the Catalunya operation, in a way that was as axe-like as it was immoral.
Understanding, although not sharing, the exit of the two Catalan banks in 2017 deserves some additional comments. The first is that moving the headquarters of a bank is not the same as the headquarters of a non-profit foundation. The bank is volatile, the foundation is not. The temporary relocation of a bank's headquarters is not the same as the headquarters of other companies or corporations, which are much less exposed to pressure and fear. In this sense, in October 2017, excessive fears and hasty decisions were mixed. And there was, certainly, a lot of noise. But for practical and operational purposes, the legal frameworks continued to function normally and effectively without any alterations with real effects.
The second comment is that when we talk about the departure of companies or entities from a territory, we must know how to distinguish between those that are more neutral from the point of view of their roots in the country, or those that owe their existence precisely to their belonging to a country and a society. In this sense, CaixaBanc, the Fundación la Caixa and Banco de Sabadell owe their existence to the fact that they are deeply rooted in Catalonia. They are the product and result of the effort, imagination and talent of many people from the country who have believed in them and given them life. They are children of Catalonia.
As I am a firm defender of the concept of freedom, I know that no one who does not want to be forced to locate it in one place or another. However, I am even more of a defender of what we could call the ethics of freedom. Seen from this angle, there are entities that have more of an "obligation" to be faithful to their roots than others, precisely because their roots are much deeper. And because without the sap that has flowed through these roots they would not have given the fruits that still make them leafy today.
Some who are now beginning their return have travelled around the world a bit, and are now returning to the terminal. We are happy, we congratulate them on their decision, without forgetting that there are still some people missing. And just when there is so much talk about returns, it would be unfair not to end by remembering all those who, being able to leave, also in the use of their freedom, decided to stay.
