“Because of the present political and social situation in the region”, the registered address of the third Spanish bank will be transferred from Barcelona to Valencia (south-east) in order to ensure “the protection of customers, shareholders and employees” and safeguard its “legal and regulatory certainty,” said the bank on Friday. This change will not result in movement of employees.
The political crisis between Madrid and Barcelona, and society has led many customers to make money withdrawals, and heavily pushed its Stock price.
Most importantly, the bank has explained to want to “guarantee at all times his presence in the euro area, under the supervision of the european central Bank (ECB)”, which is a vital source of funding, and which would be threatened by an eventual independence of Catalonia followed by an exclusion of the european Union.
This decision will “maintain the flow of credit to families and companies in Catalonia and in the rest of Spain, and to preserve the integrity of deposits (its) customers,” says the bank.
A decision emblematic, which could lead to other
It’s a hit all the more hard for Catalonia as the powerful CaixaBank, founded in 1904, which has 14 million customers and employs 32.400 employees, is emblematic of the region.
It holds substantial interests in other large companies, funds a variety of scholarships, cultural sponsorship and grants loans to political parties.
A decree adopted on Friday morning by the Spanish central government and providing the companies to convene a general meeting of shareholders for this type of decision has fostered this initiative (adopted by the board of directors) and could generate more in the next few days.
(with AFP)
