Spanish banks could merge to help meet capital benchmarks
THE BANK of Spain yesterday warned that some of the country’s banks may face difficulties meeting tough requirements set by the government.
As the central bank approved all 135 Spanish institutions’ plans to boost capital, it said the plans submitted included five merger and acquisition operations in which 11 institutions are participating.
No details were given in the statement on which banks would be involved.
The government set strict recapitalisation requirements in February to clean up the sector after a property crash and in an effort to reassure investors its ailing lenders won’t need international help.
The Bank of Spain said 90 lenders were already complying with the capital requirements while 45 had presented plans to comply by the end of the year.
Overall Spain’s banks will need €53.8bn, with additional provisioning needs totalling €29.08bn and higher core capital requirements of €15.58bn.