The 2.9 million clients of Ueno Bank, one of the most popular financial institutions in Paraguay, are experiencing the uncertainty of a corralito that has blocked their savings and pensions. The bank's collapse has simultaneously caused an earthquake in the country's government, given the business ties of President Santiago Peña, who has resigned, with the bank. These links have triggered an impeachment trial against the far-right leader, a friend and ally of Vox leader in Spain, Santiago Abascal. A tweet from the president's daughter, Constanza Peña, wearing a t-shirt calling for taxes to be imposed on the poor, has also sparked controversy.

The Catalan Institute of Finance (ICF), the public investment bank of the Generalitat, has sealed an alliance with the Official Credit Institute (ICO), of the Spanish government, to channel the financing of housing and strategic business projects. The objective is to boost in Catalonia the resources of the public-private fund España Crece intended to provide continuity to the Next Generation European funds linked to the post-pandemic recovery plan –whose application period ended last August– and also the lines intended for companies.

The era of maximum ease for mortgages has not ended completely, but it is losing steam. Banks are detecting that the demand for credit to buy homes is deflating. The growth rate of new production is decelerating and, surely, it will continue to do so, taking into account the prices that housing has reached and the increased cost of its financing.

Shattering profit records has become the new normal for major Spanish banks. After a 2025 marked by an increase in commercial activity in an environment of falling interest rates, the new geopolitical and economic context has given the sector a new boost. With skyrocketing inflation and a European Central Bank (ECB) forced to implement a restrictive monetary policy to avoid a loss of control over prices, the new wave of interest rate hikes has catapulted the results of the main entities, which are forecasting a historic year.

"There is plenty of financing available." The CEO of CaixaBank, Gonzalo Gortázar, defended this Friday that the obstacle to housing development in Spain does not come from the entities' capacity to grant mortgages, but rather from the construction deficit and the rise in prices that the sector has been suffering for years. He stated this at the press conference held in Valencia to present the company's results up to September, a period in which the bank earned 4.962 billion euros, 12.9% more than last year.

Banc Sabadell recorded a net profit of 1.376 billion euros by September, 1% less than during the same period of the previous year. The entity continued to feel the effect of the sale of its British subsidiary, TSB, to Banco Santander, which still had a net contribution of 79 million euros during the first four months of 2026, when it was still under its ownership, 63.7% less than a year earlier. In any case, being a smaller bank, it obtained a result similar to a year ago, when the British subsidiary contributed 18% of the profit.

During the third quarter of this year, banks tightened access conditions for consumer loans, which are those intended to finance the purchase of a car, household appliances, travel, or renovations. According to the bank lending survey conducted by the Bank of Spain, these restrictions are linked to the increase in interest rates, which the European Central Bank (ECB) raised from 2.25% to 2.50% in September; however, they have not yet affected mortgages. The institutions, some of which decided to reduce the pace of granting loans for home purchases, anticipate that conditions will continue to tighten until the end of the year.

A Google Cloud service outage in Europe has affected the digital operations of part of the banking sector. During the morning, the tech giant reported multiple incidents in the Europe-West2 region, corresponding to London. The incident was detected after 8 a.m. (Catalan time) and was not considered "mitigated" until the afternoon. The company has confirmed that it will publish an analysis of the incident once it completes an internal investigation.

The banking sector is the protagonist of a good part of the week's appointments. The World Bank has renewed its financial management and the Galician entity Abanca has incorporated a well-known face in Southern European finance to the board of directors of its insurance subsidiary. Outside the banking world, the media tandem formed by streamer Ibai Llanos and former footballer Gerard Piqué enters a new business. At the same time, Just Eat appoints a new financial director for Spain and the OBBIO association renews its board with a new president.

Artificial intelligence (AI) affects the entire value chain of banking, and the impact is "brutal". This was stated by the director of the Department of Experimentation and Laboratory of Applied Technologies (Delta) of the Bank of Spain, which is headquartered in Barcelona. During a breakfast organized by the executive organization CEDE at the headquarters of Foment del Treball, he assured that all financial institutions are incorporating this technology, from personnel management and more basic activities to business processes, ranging from credit to risk and monetary policy. The main entities, such as BBVA, CaixaBank and Banco Sabadell, have reinforced this commitment in recent times.

Banc Sabadell, with the new stage under Marc Armengol as CEO and with the BBVA takeover bid in memory, is pressing the accelerator. The French BPCE, which groups entities such as Banque Populaire and Natixis and is the second-largest banking entity in France, has entered the capital of the Valles-based bank with around a 7% stake, valued at approximately 1.2 billion euros.

Spanish banks closed the second quarter of 2026 reaching profitability figures never seen since records began. According to the data published this Monday by the Bank of Spain, the profitability of all credit institutions in the country stood at 16.05%, one and a half points higher than the same period last year. The sector's good performance in terms of productivity, however, clashes with the climate of tension felt among the workforce. Just last week, the services federation of Comissions Obreres (CCOO) –the trade union with the most representation in the Spanish banking and financial sector– called for demonstrations on October 15 and November 4 in front of the main Spanish institutions in a dozen cities to demand better working conditions for employees.

BBVA will distribute a dividend of 37 cents per share to its shareholders, the highest in its history. According to the entity, the operation will be effective on October 15 and will involve a total payout of 2 billion euros. This increase, 16% more than the interim remuneration of the previous year, will be charged against the 2026 results, a fiscal year that, for now, is breaking all records. During the first half of the year, BBVA achieved a net profit of 6.051 billion euros, 10% more than in the same period last year.

The French neobank Qonto, specialized in offering solutions to shorten management times for SMEs, enters a new phase of growth in Europe with the inauguration of its headquarters in the heart of Paris, an 11,000 square meter space located in the city's business and technology district, the Silicon Sentier, also known as the French Silicon Valley.

"The Spanish banking sector had never earned so much money, and its staff have never been worse off." Comissions Obreres has announced an autumn of mobilizations in the banking sector across the State due to the "unbearable working climate" that staff are suffering amid a context of record profits. The pressure measure will arrive, therefore, a few months before the negotiation tables for the sector's next collective agreement are established, which are scheduled for the first quarter of next year. During a press conference held in Madrid this Thursday, CCOO requested that a salary improvement of 7% be studied for 2027, and 4% annually between 2028 and 2030. It also demanded that the next agreement establish a maximum of 1,600 annual working hours, which workers would achieve by gaining a long weekend each month.

Since the arrival of Marc Armengol as CEO of Banc Sabadell last May, practically everything has been positive for the Vallesan entity. During the last four months, the executive has presented almost record-breaking half-year results, with skyrocketing revenues and a net profit of 971 million euros, has exceeded the stock market value prior to the distribution of the extraordinary dividend from the sale of the British subsidiary TSB and continues to boast of its capacity to grow independently after the failed takeover bid by BBVA. Backed by his predecessor, César González-Bueno, and by the group's chairman, Josep Oliu, it is now that Armengol faces his real acid test. This September 1st, the new organizational structure of the bank designed by Armengol himself came into operation. It is the gala lineup with which the former CEO of TSB must now command the fourth largest entity in the State by volume of assets. The composition of the management committee—formed precisely by eleven members, like soccer teams—remains unchanged, but notable changes have been applied in some business areas. Known for his techie profile, Armengol has wanted to make his preferences clear.

The Italian banking sector is experiencing a real earthquake that could completely change the current landscape. The latest plot twist was protagonized by Monte dei Paschi di Siena (MPS), the world's oldest bank founded in 1472, which last week presented an offer of 34 billion euros to acquire the Italian entities Banca Popolare di Milano (BPM) and Banca Generali. This move is the latest chapter in a war of hostile bids in which several entities are battling to eliminate competitors and strengthen their position within a national market where growth is increasingly difficult. Amidst these tug-of-wars, Italy also aspires to lead the chapter of cross-border mergers, creating the first pan-European banking giant. All this, under the watchful eye of Giorgia Meloni's government, with a key role in some of these operations.

Monte dei Paschi di Siena (MPS), the oldest bank in the world, has reappeared with all its strength in the struggle that the Italian banking sector is experiencing. After receiving the approval of its board of directors, the Tuscan entity presented this Friday an offer of 34 billion euros to buy the Italian banks BPM and Banca Generali.

The large Spanish banking sector continues to defend its actions in the mortgage market despite the investigation opened in June by the National Markets and Competition Commission (CNMC). According to financial sources consulted by the Efe agency, the arguments put forward by the supervisory body have "very little basis" and recall that the Competition Commission already dismissed a complaint against the four major state banks – Santander, BBVA, CaixaBank, and Banco Sabadell – for the low profitability of their client deposits.

BBVA continues to grow alone after having turned the page on the failed takeover bid about Banco Sabadell. The entity registered a record profit of 6,051 million euros during the first half of 2026, 10% more than the same period last year at constant exchange rates, that is, eliminating the effects of currency devaluation or appreciation. According to the bank, the improvement is due to the evolution of recurring income, driven mainly by a 17.7% increase in lending.