The president of CaixaBank, José Ignacio Goirigolzarri, presented his voluntary resignation as non-executive president of the financial entity, as reported by the bank in information reported by the newspaper ‘La Vanguardia’.
He is not leaving office immediately. It will remain there until December 31. From 2025, he will be replaced by Tomás Muniesa, current vice-president of the bank. Executive functions will remain in the hands of Gonzalo Gortázar, CEO of Caixabank. Muniesa is a member of the company’s history and is already a director of the entity in an exclusive capacity, representing CriteriaCaixa, the holding company of the La Caixa Banking Foundation, the largest shareholder of CaixaBank as it controls 31.7% of the capital.
Caixabank explains that the board of directors evaluated the management exercised by José Ignacio Goirigolzarri as “extremely positive”, and highlighted his “fundamental contribution to the exemplary and successful integration process of Bankia”. For his part, Gonzalo Gortázar, CEO of CaixaBank, thanked “the great commitment and dedication of José Ignacio” and highlighted “the enormous professional and personal complicity that they have maintained over these years”, as explains a press release.
Goirigolzarri held an executive presidency, a position with decision-making power that raises doubts for the European Central Bank (ECB) because it concentrates executive and representation functions, which it prefers to entrust to the position of CEO. This is common in the Spanish banking sector. Santander and BBVA retain this position of executive president, occupied respectively by Ana Botín and Carlos Torres.
17% of Caixabank is state-owned
José Ignacio Goirigolzarri has held the position of Executive President of CaixaBank since 2021, when the entity absorbed Bankia, where he also held the position of President since 2012. The integration of the two entities gave birth to the largest bank in the Spanish market.
17% of Caixabank shareholders are in the hands of the State through the Fund for Orderly Restructuring of Banks (FROB). A participation which should continue over time, despite the fact that the State should liquidate its participation at the end of 2025. This date can however be extended to maximize the value of the participation and dividends.
“Caixabank appreciated by 50% last year and by 250% since the merger,” FROB president Álvaro López Barceló said a few weeks ago during an appearance at the Congress of Deputies. “Strip [antes] “This would have meant a drop in income and less recovery of public aid.” Hence, explained the president of the FROB, the need to evaluate the upside potential of the stock, the value of the entity, the capacity to absorb demand, the prospect of receiving dividends and volatility market at any time.
