The social work of the former savings banks exceeded 1 billion euros for the first time last year. With this endowment, of which the "la Caixa" Foundation contributed 655 million, they enabled 92,000 activities to be carried out, benefiting almost 36 million people. The amount was specifically 1,004.92 million euros.

Ángel Simón (Manresa, 1957) starred in April of last year in one of the most talked-about divorces on the Catalan and Spanish business scene, when he was dismissed as CEO of Criteria, the investment arm of La Caixa. A long relationship with the president of La Caixa and Criteria, Isidre Fainé, had been broken. And one of the sparks to end a term that lasted about 15 months was the dismissal of José María Álvarez-Pallete at the head of Telefónica –participated by Criteria–, in agreement with Moncloa by Simón and behind Fainé's back, according to various sources. For a year, Simón, an executive accustomed to dealing with the Spanish and Catalan socialist governments, had disappeared from the public scene. And now he reappears in the midst of a power struggle at Indra, a company destined to lead the defense business, with the State, through SEPI, as the main shareholder (28%).

Criteria, the investment arm of La Caixa, has taken advantage of GIP-BlackRock's accelerated placement of 11.4% of Naturgy's share capital to strengthen its stake in the energy company. The holding company with the largest portfolio of business investments in Spain acquired 2.5% of this placement, thus reinforcing its position as the largest shareholder with 28.5% of the capital. Criteria invested a total of €611 million in this operation, in which the shares were sold at €25.20. Naturgy, which fell 7.40% on Tuesday to €24.78, is part of Criteria's portfolio of significant investments, along with Telefónica (9.99%), ACS (9.36%), and the French company Veolia (5%), among others. Following this transaction, CVC is the second largest shareholder in Naturgy, with 18.8%. followed by the Australian fund IFM, with 15.169%, the March family's Corporación Financiera Alba, with 5%, and the Algerian company Sonatrach, with 3.85%. Criteria, owned by the La Caixa Foundation, states that the purchase "demonstrates its commitment to Naturgy's future." GIP-Blackrock, which with this placement has exited Naturgy's capital, began its divestment last December, when it placed 7.1% for approximately €1.8 billion. At that time, Criteria, chaired by Isidro Fainé, increased its stake to 26%. With the placement of 11.4% of the energy company's capital, GIP-Blackrock has pocketed €2.791 billion. As a result, the seller, which invested over €3.8 billion in Naturgy's capital, will have received approximately €4.5 billion from the sale of its stake, not including dividends received.

Together they have surprised everyone by asking him to appear in Parliament the recently re-elected president of the La Caixa FoundationIsidro Fainé. Why has he done this? The request comes directly from the national leadership of Junts, chaired by Carles Puigdemont, according to sources familiar with the matter consulted by this newspaper. The reason? They want him to explain "the project" he has to continue leading the main Catalan foundation. But this request for "transparency" shatters the state of relations between Junts and La Caixa.

La Caixa, Spain's largest economic, financial, business, and philanthropic network, has secured its future, at least until 2030. In a move to preserve the independence of the Foundation, the group's parent organization, Isidre Fainé (Manresa, 1942) will remain as chairman for a significant portion of the current administration, whose term ends this week. This continuity and stability, characteristic of the organization, ensures coverage of the strategic plan, which anticipates investing €4 billion by 2030. La Caixa is one of Spain's largest financial institutions, with a market capitalization exceeding €37 billion. Last November, after dismissing CEO Ángel Simón in March, Fainé promoted changes to Criteria's roadmap through 2030 to better align it with the Foundation's interests and objectives. This powerful organization, with its financial, business, and social influence, has been headed by Fainé since 2014, when it ceased to be a savings bank, of which he was also president since 2007. Some sources claim that a key principle is that "Criteria works for the Foundation, not for it."

The doubts have vanished. Isidre Fainé (Manresa, 1942) has been re-elected president of the La Caixa Foundation for another four years. At the same time, Javier Godó (publisher of) has been reappointed as vice president. The VanguardJosé María Álvarez-Pallete (former president of Telefónica), Luis Carreras (lawyer and vice president of the Red Cross in Barcelona), Isabel Estapé (notary), María Isabel Gabarró (notary), Eugeni Gay (lawyer), and Francesc Homs (president of In and president of Nestlé) will continue as board members. In all cases, the re-election approved by the board this Monday is for the statutory four-year term. Furthermore, the 2026 budget for social work increases by more than 8%, to 710 million euros.

The World Savings and Retail Banking Institute (WSBI) held its 34th General Assembly and 4th Social and Philanthropic Council this week in Washington, coinciding with the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Representatives from 82 retail banks and savings banks in 59 countries participated in the WSBI meetings, in a global context marked by economic volatility and social challenges. In his opening address, Isidre Fainé, president of the "la Caixa" Foundation, CECA, and WSBI, warned that "the current international economic landscape has been characterized by persistent volatility and continuous adjustments." He noted that trade tensions, geopolitical instability, and structural imbalances "have created a complex and fragmented environment," exacerbated by inflationary pressures, disruptions in the energy market, and regulatory uncertainty.

The president of the La Caixa Foundation and Criteria, Isidre Fainé, has encouraged financial institutions to increase their social investment. During his speech at the World Savings and Retail Banking Institute (WSBI) meeting in Washington, where he is president, he noted that the sector has increased its annual allocation to nearly $4 billion in social initiatives to reduce poverty and foster youth empowerment.

Five years ago, the financial sector in the State suffered an earthquake: the announcement of the CaixaBank-Bankia banking mergerAt that time, the Vice President of the European Central Bank, Luis de Guindos, was already advocating that "banks should begin a new merger process quickly and urgently," while the then Governor of the Bank of Spain, Pablo Hernández de Cos, asserted that in Spain "there was room for mergers." The merger gave rise to the first Spanish bank and came about after an agreement was reached between the central government—the majority shareholder in Bankia with 62% of the share capital—and the blue star bank—La Caixa, through its investment arm, Criteria, was the largest shareholder in CaixaBank.

The La Caixa Foundation plans to increase its social work budget to €800 million by 2030, up from €655 million in the current year, and invest a total of €4 billion over the next five years, according to the new 2025-2030 strategic plan unveiled today. This roadmap aims to "drive social transformation and respond to the challenges of the coming years" under the motto Believe to transformThe entity will focus its activities on three pillars: social, research and scholarship, and culture. In this new phase, the explicit mandate is for the foundation and its investment arm, Criteria, to act "in a coherent and coordinated manner," even strengthening "shared governance" after a change in management.

A new phase for Criteria, the investment arm of the La Caixa Foundation. The holding company has reviewed some of its latest investments, including the Catalan frozen dough manufacturer Europastry, according to a statement released by the company. The Confidential and sources close to the entity confirmed to ARA. This decision comes in the new era of Criteria with Francisco Reynés as first vice president, who took office a few weeks ago after the departure of Àngel Simón as CEO.

Criteria will distribute €140 million in dividends to its sole shareholder, the La Caixa Foundation. This dividend, which will be paid over the next two months, is in addition to the dividends paid so far this year. In total, it will have distributed €360 million.

The pieces are falling into place at Criteria, the investment arm of La Caixa. The executive committee of the company's board of directors has appointed José María Méndez as the company's new CEO. Until now, Méndez was deputy to CriteriaCaixa's CEO, Ángel Simón, who was dismissed last week. The new senior official will be responsible for the holding company's operational management.

Francisco Reynés Massanet (Palma, 1963), the new strongman at CriteriaCaixa, the investment arm of La Caixa (with the largest portfolio of business holdings in Spain), has now established himself as one of the most trusted figures of the Foundation's president, Isidre Fainé. The first sign of this rise for the Naturgy CEO came at the beginning of the month, when Reynés became a trustee of the La Caixa Foundation, the owner of the entire universe of the Miró star and the sole shareholder of Criteria.

Today everything is brought to La Caixa and to its president, Isidre Fainé, because yesterday afternoon La Caixa announced that he was returning to CataloniaSince 2017, the headquarters have been in Palma, Mallorca.

The Spanish government is enthusiastic about the decision this Wednesday by the La Caixa Foundation, on which the CriteriaCaixa holding company depends, to return the headquarters to Barcelona after having left more than seven years ago. It is the second return of a large company to Catalonia this 2025, after Banc Sabadell decided to take the step last January, in the midst of a hostile takeover by BBVA. Once again, for Pedro Sánchez's executive it is one more sign of the return to "normality, stability, legal security" after the Process, in the words of Economy Minister Carlos Cuerpo on Thursday. "The political situation has an impact on the economy," he said in interviews with RAC and TV3, from where he directly linked the "perspectives" offered by Salvador Illa's government to the "logical" decision of the entity and was convinced that other companies will follow the same path. "It will not be the last," he said.