Banc Sabadell will today unveil to shareholders, the first board meeting since BBVA's takeover bid failed last October, the launch of a new era in its history with no mergers in sight and combining more digitalization with its characteristic "relationship banking". These are some of the objectives explained by the new CEO, Marc Armengol, who will receive the baton this Wednesday from César González-Bueno, who is stepping down after more than five years; and the chairman, Josep Oliu. The aim is to maintain the model of a bank "of relationships, of companies and of personal banking", "closer and more focused on the domestic market", according to Armengol.

I don't know if César González-Bueno, 65, CEO of Banc Sabadell, is a Beatles fan, but he's copied them by resigning at the height of their success. "He could have stayed on as long as he wanted, but he preferred to hand over the reins to someone with a promising career ahead of him," I'm told. After five years, he's leaving—he says—of his own volition and in agreement with Chairman Josep Oliu, his comrade in arms and through the tensions during the BBVA takeover bid, which they both sacked, convinced he's done his job.