New government attempt to turn the ICF into a public bank
The Catalan government has "good prospects" for the operation following talks with the European Central Bank and the Bank of Spain.
BarcelonaMore than a decade ago The Catalan Government is trying to make the Catalan Institute of Finance (ICF) the state-owned bank of Catalonia. The big blow came in 2022 when the Bank of Spain—then governed by Pablo Hernández de Cos— The bank card requested by the entity was rejected for technical reasons and due to the lack of a favorable report from the European Commission.In May, Esquerra rescued this proposal from the drawer and put it on the table of Salvador Illa's government to approve the third credit supplement, the tool that allows the government to inject new resources into the economy in the absence of budgets. The Socialists accepted and this Tuesday they took the first step toward its implementation to the executive council.
As has been announced The Newspaper And ARA has learned that the Spanish Government authorized the ICF this Tuesday to create a commercial company to operate as a credit institution, an essential step for obtaining a banking license. The creation of this company cannot be effective until European regulators give the green light, with the ICF being the sole shareholder. The governing board approved the project this July, which must be submitted to the regulatory bodies for consideration. The company will assume the ICF's banking branch and, during the process to obtain the license, must again submit to the scrutiny of the Bank of Spain.
On this occasion, the stars seem better aligned for the ICF to emerge with a Yeah: The entity is headed by former Socialist minister José Luis Escrivá, with whom President Salvador Illa sat side by side when they were part of the Spanish government. In a press conference on Tuesday, the minister and spokesperson Silvia Paneque assured that the previous conversations with the Bank of Spain and the European Central Bank to obtain authorization give them "good prospects" of success. "It is evident that Mr. Escrivá knows the reality of Catalonia and its business fabric," she said, when asked if the fact that the Socialist is governor of the Spanish entity can make things easier.
However, and in theory, the process of obtaining the banking license is purely technical. The Aragonès government was the one that had to assume the No of the Bank of Spain in 2022, although the initiative was launched under the executive branch Quim Torra (when the former Republican president was Minister of Economy). Former Economy Ministers Jaume Giró and Natàlia Mas had also had it on their agenda, but they didn't go ahead. Failed attempts to obtain the token led the ICF to throw in the towel on the previous mandate..
Supporting SMEs
Why does the ICF want to try again to obtain a bank license? The objective of this process, according to the sources consulted, is not to allow it to operate like any other commercial bank, but rather to carry out "promotional banking" activities. The purpose of the ICF's activity will continue to be to provide long-term financing to economic sectors of social or strategic interest, such as SMEs, social housing, and the primary sector. The license will allow the ICF to access more sources of financing and channel aid that, according to law, can only be managed by credit institutions. Paneque listed some of the actions the ICF wants to promote in this new phase, with support from the European Central Bank, for example, financing lines for emerging technology companies that carry out "high-risk" projects and face limitations in access to credit from private banks, or products linked to the Catalan government's emancipation funds available to individuals.
Specifically, ERC took advantage of the debate on bank mergers following the takeover bid for Sabadell to pressure the Catalan government to expedite the ICF's banking operation. "A democratic and decentralized bank with its own instruments serving the common good, such as a public bank," said ERC president Josep Maria Jové in Parliament during a control session on Isla. Getting the ICF to operate as a public bank is one of the Republicans' main priorities, and they have already made it a condition for Artur's appointment.
