Carlos’s bodyThe Minister of Economy and Commerce has maintained unchanged the Government’s opposition to BBVA’s proposal to take over Banco Sabadell through a public purchase offer (public takeover bid) hostile at the beginning of the political journey.
Body spoke this way in an interview with the program “Everything is a lie.” The minister denied opposition to the public purchase offer and that the opposition to the merger was due to electoral reasons due to the elections in Catalonia and the subsequent investiture of Salvador Illa as president of the Autonomous Community.
The minister recalled, as he has done since BBVA’s intention to absorb Sabadell became known, that one of the reasons that concerns the government is the skill.
“A key element, and we have said this very clearly, is competition, how it is played out Competition in the banking sector in Spain“, said Corps. As in previous public interventions, he once again set the example that the interest rate increase It moved very quickly towards credits, but rarely towards deposits, which, in addition to the excess liquidity mentioned by the banks, constitutes according to them a problem of competition in the sector.
The minister cited a study by Bank of Spain which acknowledged that the lack of transfer of interest rates on deposits was linked, to a small extent, to possible competition problems. However, the Bank of Spain acknowledged in the same document that the main reason for this lack of transfer is the abundance of liquidity available in the system.
He did, however, point out that this operation could have implications for the rural world. “When we talk about a merger of this magnitude, there are restructurings, which lead to the closure of offices, which leads to a reduction in access to financial services,” he argued.
In this sense, she expressed her concerns about the problems of access to financial services that may exist in Catalonia or the Valencian Community, since these are the two regions in which Banco Sabadell has a greater presence. The same applies to the possible consequences for the SME credit segment, in which Sabadell maintains a high share of activity.
“All these elements are the reason why we have set foot on this issue,” the minister stressed during the interview.
