Until the return of the headquarters of Banc Sabadell last year, Caixa Guissona was the second Catalan financial entity, surpassed only by Caixa Enginyers. Today it is the third, with a classic banking model, which keeps and lends money and with little weight of services and, therefore, of commissions. With a network of five offices, results that grew by 23% last year, to 19.3 million euros; the cooperative of the BonÀrea Agrupa group has its sights set on Girona, the only province where they are not present, explains the general director, Martí Bravo (Sant Cugat del Vallès, 1992), who works at the entity, where he started as an office employee, 11 years ago.

The Catalan financial system is experiencing a new phase that could lead to the loss of the only major bank with its headquarters, Sabadell, which was reclaimed last January after more than seven years in Alicante due to the Process and the referendum. Now, the takeover bid (OPA) for BBVA and the planned subsequent merger are in the hands of the Spanish government. After analyzing the the responses to the unprecedented public consultation called by the executive, The Ministry of Economy has until next Tuesday, the 27th, to submit the file to the Council of Ministers. The Council must then decide whether to object to the merger based on "general interest" criteria, since the free competition criteria were resolved by the National Commission on Markets and Competition (CNMC) in a unanimous ruling on April 30th.