Of Special Interest
Filters
- Newslink Trends-The Global Strategic Perspective
- Juniper Research says digital wallet users to exceed 4.4 billion by 2025, as mobile drives digital payments’ revolution
- Criminals exploit COVID-19 pandemic with rise in scams targeting victims online
- Equifax says Open Banking proving pivotal to pandemic lending
- Consumer confidence in banks, credit card providers and investments remain stable as demand supercharges digital finance says Toluna research
- Mintos says Europeans are starting to embrace investing
- US banks see IT modernisation as a way to improve customer experience
- Risk mitigation in global trade depends on digitisation-Andrew Raymond, CEO, Bolero International comments
- Juniper Research new study says the volume of B2B payments facilitated by non-banks will exceed 53 billion in 2022, from a COVID-related low of 38 billion in 2020
- CMA issues fifth publication over 3 years of the service quality league table of personal and business current account providers
- Barclays says scammers take advantage of COVID-19, cashing in on nations’ uncertainty
- S&P Global report says financial market infrastructure sector's earnings likely to cool off In second half
- Global banking market capitalisation slumps by over 30% amid pandemic says Buyshares research
- Digital wallet spend in Europe & North America to increase by 40% in 2019, finds study
- Juniper forecasts mobile money transactions will exceed 200 billion by 2024
- Banks can save the world from climate change, says former UN climate chief
- Research by NatWest reveals gender divide over attitudes to saving
- Europe’s big bank problem: too much capital is trapped in the US, says Scope
- Later-Life lending market set to almost double in the next 10 years, finds report
- Barclays/Cebr report challenges nation to think differently about wealth
- Fifth of UK investors looking to debt investment, new research reveals
- Regtech will play a more important role in PSD2, says Mitek
- Banks turn to Fintech partnerships to improve customer experience, finds Fraedom
- New industry code to tackle fraud must deliver, says Which?
- New TTF report highlights loss of trust in financial services
- Arxan highlights financial app vulnerability epidemic
- SAS asks whether banks really need to choose between operations and innovation
- Which? raises alarm as almost 1,700 free ATMs become fee-charging
- Financial wellness affects half of peoples’ mental or physical health, finds report
- Study finds traditional financial institutions embrace Fintech disruption
- Grass is greener for environmentally friendly businesses, finds Barclays
- Prospective homeowners would consider a 40-year mortgage to escape renting, finds Santander
- Millennials’ needs are changing the face of banking industry, says new report
- FS is putting consumer data at risk by failing to protect mobile apps, says Arxan
- A lack of belief in their ability holds 28% women back in work, says Cambridge & Counties
- ‘Which?’ reveals Scotland has lost over a third of its bank branches in eight years
- Next downturn unlikely to be as bad as 2008, according to S&P
- FCA reveals findings from first cryptoassets consumer research
- US consumers favour single mobile app for banking and payments
- Banks suffering major IT shutdowns every day, ‘Which?’ reveals
- The US will be a key offshore centre in 2019, says GlobalData
- Debit industry changes markedly in 10 years of the Debit Issuer Study
- UK's ‘Big Five’ face ‘too big to compete’ as small challengers secure stellar returns
- Banks as vulnerable now as before crash, says new study
- Leverage ratio a constant conundrum for European and US banks, says SNL
15th May 2012
Spanish bank plan
Opinion
Spain announced a further requirements for banks to strengthen their provisions for real estate loans on Friday. The requirement is for a further €30bn (£24.4bn $39.6bn ¥3,174bn Y248.9bn) of reserves. Banks have just 15 days to say how they will raise the money themselves. Any bank that cannot do this will be required to borrow the money from the state in the form of convertible bonds. The banks will pay 10% interest on the bonds. A €15bn fund is to be created for the banks that cannot raise the necessary funding.
There is little pretence that the new 45% level provision on real estate lending will be the end of the problem. The Spanish themselves have already calculated that a fresh provisions of €80bn rather than €30bn will be closer to an eventual figure - and some believe that €100bn is more realistic. It would seem that with this step by step approach Spain is hoping that the banks will maintain all reasonable capital levels while dealing with the writeoffs over a period of years. In this way they are hoping to avoid a major bailout from the ECB and IMF. Many international observers do not believe this can work. To help determine the current position more accurately Spain has agreed to an EU plan to hire two auditors to value the lenders real estate assets. There remain concerns that not all such lending is clearly recognised in the banks financial returns.
It is understood Santander will have to find an additional €5bn of capital. €2.3bn relates to the previous provision increases and €2.7bn to the latest. CaixaBank, including Civica which it is in the process of acquiring, will require €2.1bn and BBVA €1.8bn. The state has already said it will provide Bankia with any capital required after converting its interest to a 45% equity stake last week.