In Spain banks stocks, particularly Santander, play an unusually important role in driving the index Ibex35.To understand the prospects for the Spanish banks (and ipso facto, the overall index), it is crucial to have a handle on the health of the domestic real estate market,” confirms Goldman Sacha experts.
The non-banking sector in Europe currently accounts for 54% of total assets versus 42% in 2008. But interestingly, it’s in Germany and Spain, amongst the big countries, where banks maintain their weighting in absolute terms and in relation to their products.
After MIFID1, which was launched 10 years ago with the aim of improving investor protection, MIFID2 (Markets in Financial Instruments Directive) is now on its way, bringing even more meticulous and demanding operating objectives and rules.
José Luis M. Campuzano (Spanish Banking Association) |Supervision and a single resolution mechanism for the banks, along with a common deposit guarantee, are undoubtedly an essential part of monetary union. In the medium-term, however, greater fiscal convergence, with a more extensive mutualisation of risk in the region, are just as important.
J.L. M. Campuzano (Spanish Banking Association) | The Spanish banks have made a big effort over the last few years to provide solutions for more than a million households experiencing difficulties in meeting their mortgages repayments. We estimate that over 10% of current existing mortgages have been refinanced or restructured.
Bankinter, the best Spanish bank, amazed us with its spectacular results during the crisis and continues to do so now. It’s proof that things can be done with maximum prudence, security and moderation, without being pulled along by prevailing bubbles. Bankinter was always cautious about adventures. In the years prior to the eruption of the crisis it established the bases to prevent it from being carried away by what was a catastrophe.
The main shortcoming of the Bank of Spain’s report on the Spanish banking crisis lies in its lack of a convincing analysis of the reasons why banks proved so vulnerable. It identifies their excessive exposure to residential mortgages, as well as their heavy reliance on external financing. But it fails to plainly set out what went wrong with the world’s financial sector.
The ECB’s preliminary report on the structural financial indicators relating to the EU banking industry flag that the number of banking subsidiaries fell 4.8% in 26 countries last year, without taking into account figures from the UK and Ireland because they were not yet available. There were 28,807 bank branches in Spain at end-2016, compared with 32,026 in Germany, 37,261 in France or 29,335 in Italy. The figures also show the level of consolidation in the banking sector, measured by the share of assets held by the five largest lenders.
Spanish banks (and their fund management companies) continue to charge high commissions on their investment funds and pension plans. They can afford to do that because in Spain, the clients are the banks’ clients and they are cautious. So there is little competition in this sector, unlike in the UK.
Judging by the latest valuations which have appeared in the press, the balance of the first five years of Spain’s bad bank, Sareb, is little less than disastrous. But the bank’s performance has been praised by Brussels and by Germany, who have said it has completed its objective of stabilising the Spanish financial system.