The government will launch a Public consultation to citizens and business organizations Before ruling on the BBVA OPA Al Sabadell. The non -binding consultation will be approved tomorrow, Tuesday, May 6, in the Council of Ministers as announced by the Chief of the Executive, Pedro Sánchezduring the inauguration of the Cercle d’acomia meeting, a few days after the favorable opinion of the National Commission of Markets and Competition (CNMC).
“Our intention and our desire is to help our companies grow. They win volume and competitiveness. But as long as that benefits the common interest of the country and citizens,” said Sánchez. The socialist leader recalled that the CNMC has detected some “excesses of concentration in means of payment and deposits and credit to individuals and SMEs “harmful to the market.
Business sources consulted see with a whale of hope the movement of the government, understanding that it could serve to condition or even cancel the concentration operation. Since the employers and guilds have manifested during the last year against the purchase of Sabadell, it is expected that the result of this plebiscite be a cluster of criticism against bank concentration. This rejection could be used by the Executive to justify the requirement of new conditions to the operation, based on article 10 of the Competition defense Law.
Both the president and the CEO of Sabadell, Josep Oliu y César González Buenorespectively, they were present at the Auditorium when Sánchez has announced the launch of the public consultation. Oliu has been “positive” at the exit of the day, in statements to the media and Torres expressed the “maximum respect” to the decisions of the authorities.
This morning, the employer Fostering work He has asked the Government to “paralyze” the bank concentration, which in his opinion would cut by 70,000 million the credit available for SMEs.
Strong employer
The transaction has stumbled upon a Strong opposition in business organizationsespecially among SME associations and in regions such as Catalonia, Asturias, Valencia and Galicia who, in many cases, have gone to the National Court to demand that the CNMC listen to them, since the agency rejected the request for personation of all interested associations – except for Banco Sabadell – to prevent the process from being unmanageable and eternalized its resolution.
The agency led by Cani Fernández was approved unanimously to the resolution last Wednesday after almost a year of analysis, ”he received the notification of the operation on May 31 and November 12 brought the file to a higher scrutiny (phase II) – and after increasing by up to six times the commitments offered by BBVA. Two private votes had been announced by a counselor linked to the PSOE and another Togetherwhich retired after the Basque Group accepted new guarantees among which are a superior armor for SMEs of both banks in Catalonia – will cover all the credit granted by BBVA and Sabadell if it represents, at least, 50% of their financing.
Carles Puigdemont’s party came out in defense of his counselor for moving greater guarantees for SMEs of Catalonia and Balearic Islands, and to include that the operation is a serious damage to the companies in the region, thus supplying and according to their explanation, the route so that the Government can enter into the operation.
The unexpected and unusual announcement of Sánchez does not alter the scheduled calendar in the short term. The CNMC sent its opinion to the Ministry of Economy, which now has 15 business days to decide whether to transfer to the Council of Ministers or endorse the resolution without major changes. The registration of this document was made on Monday, so that the 15 -day term would be fulfilled late on Monday 26 for being the 15th holiday in Madrid.
The consultation announced by Sánchez is atypical. Never before had such a resource been used before deciding on a business concentration operation and is not even contemplated in the regulations, although it will use a very shot procedure in public consultations before preparing regulations.
It is expected, therefore, that it is open to any interested party – participant, corporate associations, consumers, unions, etc. – through the website of the Ministry of Economy. In addition to completing the form, those interested can express the observations and concerns they consider “general interest”, an aspect that would justify that the report is raised to the Council of Ministers.
In parallel, economy will make the consultation that is regulated for this type of procedures with other ministries that you basically ask if the operation is risks for the general interest and collects in response the yes or not necessary to decide whether it refers to the Council of Ministers. Economy sources explain that everything will be done within 15 days to fulfill the calendar in the part that corresponds to them.
BBVA’s expectation was to be able to go on vacation with the exchange made and during the recent presentation of results, his CEO, Onur Genç, judged, in fact, that it would be “very bad news that all this had to extend beyond July” when the process began now a year ago.
The Council of Ministers will have 30 days to analyze the transaction and decide whether it changes, add or confirm the remedies set to BBVA by the National Commission of Markets and Competition (CNMC).
To enter the transaction, the Executive has to argue problems of general interest and different from those of competition, which have been analyzed and sanctioned by the CNMC. Sánchez himself invoked months ago the need to guarantee “territorial cohesion” before the new bank concentration. The sum of BBVA-Sabadell would not gesture the largest bank in the country-that position is occupied by CaixaBank-but would take a twist to the concentration of the sector, especially in the business with SMEs where there are few specialists and in the payment activity, with the points of sale (TPVs).
Reduction of Conference and Financing
The president of the Government has also announced that on Monday the granting of 53 million euros in aid for the development of advanced technological systems and semiconductors, within the framework of the second call of the Chip loss. These projects —16 of them located in Catalonia— They will mobilize more than 100 million in public-private investment for a strategic sector.
On the other hand, Sánchez has taken advantage of the presence among the public of the main Catalan business organizations (Fostering workPimec, Cecot and the Chamber of Commerce of Barcelona) to request its support from the Reduction of the working day.
The chief executive has presented this measure as a “social demand” that “It will contribute to improve the productivity and stability of our working force and, therefore, to our companies being better. “
“That is why I ask the Spanish and Catalan employers not to close to this initiative,” he said.
Regarding the regional financingSanchez has not advanced news, but has committed again with the measures included in the investiture pact between PSC and ERC. Among other issues, this alliance includes the extension of competencies of the Catalonia Tax Agencywhich in the next IRPF campaign will collaborate with the State Tax Agency.
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