Barclays, Deutsche Bank play nasty in troubled Spain

DSCF0572By Tania Suárez, in Madrid | German and British banks are trying to woo the economic elite of the Spanish society, “la crème de la crème” of wealthy Spaniards. Or, in plain English: the ones with the big bucks. The uncertainty over the Spanish future is making the depositors nervous, and banks from the UK and Germany are trying to take advantage.

According to this article of the online daily El Confidencial Digital, foreign entities are making juicy offers to attract the Spanish clients to their bank branches.

Deutsche Bank or Barclays have designed a new strategy to provide and facilitate havens for Spaniards’ savings back in their countries,

far away from the threat of Spain. However, these banks are focused mainly on the wealthiest clients, on those who have higher purchasing power. Thus, they are trying to raise capital from economically powerful clients for their German or British brach.

At Deutsche Bank, they alledge to defend themselves against a non-very-ethical policy of encouraging the flight of capitals that

“people who open a new account in Germany are acting according to their own free will.” And they also explain that their company is not “announcing to give incentives specifically to the exit of capital towards Germany.”

Be that as it may, the truth is that international banks such as BNP Paribas, Deutsche Bank and even Barclays had already started a year ago to implement new measures to reduce risk and be able to cope with unforeseen situations in Spain. Hence their new offers to attract Spanish savers in search of a secure place to keep their money. The Spanish digital El Confidencial quoted financial advisers in Madrid confirming such offers were being presented to clients.

zp8497586rq

About the Author

The Corner
The Corner has a team of on-the-ground reporters in capital cities ranging from New York to Beijing. Their stories are edited by the teams at the Spanish magazine Consejeros (for members of companies’ boards of directors) and at the stock market news site Consenso Del Mercado (market consensus). They have worked in economics and communication for over 25 years.