BBVA’s representative office in Taipei, set up in 2006, is now a full branch. The entity is now the first Spanish bank to open a branch in Taiwan and the first European bank to open one since the financial crisis began. BBVA began building its Asian franchise over 30 years ago and now has operations in the continent’s main financial centers. The Taipei branch will be added to the group’s…
By CaixaBank research team, in Barcelona | Of the events occurring recently on the world economic scene, three have significantly affected the current fate of Brazil's economy. On the one hand, the confirmation of China's economic slowdown in the first quarter; on the other, the progress made in correcting commodities markets and, lastly, more intense tensions in the euro area's debt markets are causing a marked upswing in global aversion…
MADRID | The Summit has just avoided the worst from happening. Super-Mario and an unexpectedly bold Mariano Rajoy achieved a coup d’état toppling Ms Merkel from her undisputed pedestal. Hollande’s support was vital in depriving her of her hitherto boundless power. Yet one has the impression we assisted to a rehearsed show meant to provide an excuse for Germany to cave in to pressure. Everyone was afraid of having to confront the…
By CaixaBank research team, in Barcelona | France's statistics institute confirmed the French economy's stagnation in the first quarter and the year-on-year rate of change stood at 0.3%. In April, the economic climate indicator worsened and, in May, most leading indicators showed this decline getting worse, affected by the economic uncertainty, particularly due to the euro area crisis. The economy is therefore likely to continue slowing down in the second…
LONDON | It is a raging war what today burns within the Madrid-Rome-Berlin triangle, and with the survival of not only the European common currency but the future of the United States of Europe at the epicentre of the negotiations. Painful obedience has evolved into a tense, dynamic partnership. The stiff stillness imposed by the German Chancellor Angela Merkel as the most powerful economy representative has for once been broken…
In five out of nine times that the European Council has met since January 2011, market expectations have been missed. Analysts at BNP Paribas have done the research, which supports the heavy air of pessimism surrounding this Thursday's euro summit that is set to present some sort of action plan on Friday. “Although it is improbable that we get a final solution to the euro area crisis,” BNP Paribas said…
MADRID | Summits are meant to be the meeting place for those dwelling in the Olympus. Those struggling to survive on the Earth surface have more urgent concerns than discussing about the euro zone destiny, an angels'-gender dispute that fails soothing their daily toils. Spain undoubtedly ranks among the latter. It will attend today’s meeting with its mind focused on the bleak aftermath. Banking union might stand as a cornerstone…
From www.valenciaplaza.com | By Tomas Berggren, equity analysts at Saxo Bank | The result of the independent stress test on Spanish banks calmed the market somewhat. According to the report, the total losses in a worst-case scenario are €250-270 billion with the corresponding capital shortfall being €51-62 billion, i.e. well within what was expected and probably in line with what Madrid wanted to hear. The losses are still hefty, though, and should be…
home loan with bad credit rating By www.valenciaplaza.com | Citigroup strategist José Luis Martínez believes the importance of the delay in the Spanish request for capital to bailout the country's banking sector has been overblown by commentators. Martínez, though, worries about the cost of the short-term credit for Spain. To what extent the results of the latest audits on the banking sector have improved confidence in the Spanish banks? Confidence…
MADRID | No one expected the Rome gathering to produce a comprehensive answer to the euro’s acute problems. Divergences still run high between Germany and France on the right approach to take. Avoiding the impression other partners might be faced with a ready cooked solution in the forthcoming Summit, also invited to adopt a self-restrained attitude. So leaders from the four leading economies in the euro area choose to come…