Banks in Spain

The main articles are:

• Economy of Spain
• Banks of Europe

Bank of Spain

The role of the central bank is performed by the Bank of Spain.

History

2013: Withholding EU aid. Bank of Spain debt €665 billion

On January 15, 2014, the Bank of Spain (BI) announced that the debt of the country's financial institutions to the Central Bank of the European Union in December 2013 amounted to 201.865 billion euros. A comparison of this result with the figures of December 2012 shows that in 2013 Spanish banks managed to reduce their ECB debt by 111.244 billion €, or 35.5% of its total.

Such a significant decrease in debt volumes is due to Spain's refusal to use the full amount of lending provided by the EU Central Bank to save the financial system of the Iberian kingdom (out of 100 billion, according to ABC experts, no more than 45 billion was spent as a result).

The total debt of the Bank of Spain to the financial institutions of the eurozone, taking into account loans received from banks of other countries, as of January 2014 is 665.849 billion €, which is 24.6% less than the result recorded in December 2012.

2010-2012: Acute crisis

The first signals followed back in 2010, when the so-called "kahi," regional savings banks began to experience the most serious difficulties. It turned out that they are literally head over heels in bad loans, and meanwhile they accounted for most of the deposits of the Spaniards. The acute crisis was somehow hushed up by a large-scale program of unification and absorption of these banks, but in the end, instead of many small sick places, they got several large ones.

Reducing the number of national banks from 45 to 13

As a result of nationalizations, mergers, reorganizations and acquisitions from 45 banks of the national level by May 2012, only 15 remained, and by August 2012 - only thirteen:

• Santander,
• BBVA (Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria),
• CaixaBank,
• Bankia,
• Banco Sabadell,
• Banco Popular,
• Catalunya Caixa,
• Kutxa Bank,
• NovaGalicia Banco,
• BMN (Banca Mare Nostrum),
• Ibercaja – Liberbank,
• Bankinter,
• Unicaja.

In mid-May 2012, Moody's downgraded the ratings of the 17 largest Spanish banks, noting the weakening of the sector due to recession and high unemployment, as well as the government's inability to support them alone if the situation worsens further.

In May 2012, the Spanish financial system began to shake for real. At the beginning of the month, it became known that the third largest bank in the country, Bankia, is on the verge of insolvency. Without state aid, he didn't stand a chance.

The government of Mariano Rajoy in a hurry began to figure out how to save the situation. The collapse of such a bank would have entailed a similar development for dozens of other financial institutions. As a result, the question was decided simply - to issue a life-saving loan, while nationalizing the bank. Actually, they did the same as in other European countries in a similar situation.

However, it turned out that much more money would be needed than originally expected. The government expected to cost several billion euros, but the bank announced that it needed no less than 23.5 billion. This is 5 times its market capitalization at that time. But Spain itself does not have that kind of money either. The special Managed Bank Restructuring Fund, which was created during the crisis, has about 5 billion euros. It became clear that Madrid itself would have to borrow. In 2012, investors do not want to lend money to the Spaniards^[1] Spain's choice, in fact, is small: seek help from Brussels.

37 billion euros for recapitalization of 4 banks

On June 10, 2012, it became known that Spain would send a formal request for emergency financial assistance to recapitalize banks. This was reported by Agence France-Presse, on June 9, Spanish Finance Minister Luis de Guindos^[2].

According to the minister, the provision of financial assistance will not entail any obligations from the Spanish government to reduce budget spending. De Guindos also clarified that the assistance will be loans to Spanish banks on preferential terms, which will be determined later.

According to Reuters, the finance ministers of European states at a meeting on June 9, 2012 approved the provision of assistance in the amount of up to 100 billion euros.

The statement of the Eurogroup finance ministers also notes that assistance will be provided from the European Financial Stability Fund. The International Monetary Fund, from which Spain requested to minimize assistance, will eventually limit itself to the role of observer of reforms in the banking sector.

By August 2012, the debt of banks in Spain to Europe rose to 338.736 billion, and then began to gradually decrease.

On November 26, 2012, it became known that four nationalized Spanish banks - Bankia, Novacaixagalicia, Caixa de Catalunya and Banco de Valencia - will receive 37 billion euros from the European Union for recapitalization. This, according to the EFE agency, said the country's Minister of Economy Luis de Guindos.

For "bad" assets, which amount to more than 180 billion euros, it is planned to create a separate financial organization - Sareb. The bank will buy the assets and sell them to investors at a substantial discount. About 60-65 percent of these assets are unfinished real estate or generally unfinished land plots, the interest in which investors are low.

Madrid expects private investors to own at least 55 percent of "bad bank" shares^[3] in^[3].

On November 25, 2012, El Pais wrote that the total amount of aid that the EU will provide to Spanish banks will amount to 40-42.5 billion euros. Of these, 37 billion will be spent on the recapitalization of nationalized banks, 2.5 billion dollars will be directed to the capital of Sareb, the remaining 2-3 billion euros can be spent on helping other financial organizations. The first 35 billion euros, according to the publication, will be sent to Madrid in mid-December 2012 in exchange for large-scale layoffs in nationalized banks.

Until 2010: Financial and mortgage boom

In the pre-crisis (until 2010) years, the Spanish economy was on the rise. Rapid economic growth, an influx of foreign investment, liberalization policies led to significant structural changes in the Spanish economy, which became dominated by the service sector. In particular, the tourism industry came in second in the world after the United States, and its share in Spain's GDP reached 5%. Significant growth was observed in the field of construction and in many other industries. The growth of the economy, the inflow of investment, the creation of a large number of jobs, the influx of immigrants from other countries, the increase in domestic demand, including real estate, as well as the tremendous work on the introduction of the Euro in the country, were accompanied by the growth and development of the Spanish banking system.

By 2009, there were approximately 150 different credit and financial institutions in Spain, which had a total of 17,727 branches and branches. Almost 140 thousand people worked in this system. 45 banks had national status. The rest are regional, local and foreign banks.

However, these same factors contributed to the outstripping growth of mortgage lending, largely due to foreign loans. This mortgage lending turned out to be a time mine that undermined the Spanish economy. It turned out that the population of Spain in the last decade lived in debt. The debts of the population significantly, by 25-30%, exceeded its income. The global financial crisis served as a detonator, and this mine exploded. The most severe crisis broke out, which also hit the Spanish banking system.

Spanish bank account for Russians

2022

After the outbreak of the conflict in Ukraine, the account is opened only to the owners of the residence permit

After the outbreak of the conflict in Ukraine in 2022, Russian citizens can open an account with a Spanish bank only after receiving a residence permit (see Residence permit in Spain).

Restrictions on the size of the account of Russians up to 100 thousand euros

On February 25, 2022, a day after the start of Russia's military operation in Ukraine, the EU limited deposits of Russian citizens in European banks. The amount was declared up to EUR 100,000.

The sanction applies to Russian individuals and legal entities with accounts in the EU. But there are a number of exceptions.

1. The measure does not apply to Russians with a residence permit or EU citizenship.

2. Accounts that are used "for non-prohibited cross-border trade in goods and services of the European Union and the Russian Federation."

3. If the purpose of the deposit is emergency expenses or meeting basic needs, then on a written application it may be allowed to exceed the established limit.

4. If the account is open for humanitarian purposes or for the restoration of democracy in the Russian Federation.

5. It does not apply to those who have entered into several accounts with different EU banks, each of which is less than EUR 100,000.

6. Account holders who are open to offshore companies.

7. If the individual or legal entity is not Russian (according to documents and taxes).

EU financial institutions are prohibited from:

• It is in the interests of Russians to buy or sell financial instruments.

• Sell securities to Russians, which will be issued on April 12, 2022 or later.

• Exchanges are prohibited from listing shares of state-owned companies in Russia (with state shares of 50% or more) on European exchanges.

Until May 27, 2022, data from the EU financial sector on deposits of Russians that exceed the threshold will fall into the European competent authorities. They will be supervised until May 2023. Also, data on Russian investors who purchased "golden visas" or passports will be sent to officials.

In mid-March 2002, European banks asked Russians living in Europe to confirm the legality of their stay in the country. As Deutsche Bank explained to Idel.Realii, this is not about blocking or freezing the bank account itself, but about freezing amounts exceeding 100 thousand euros. This means that Russians who have not confirmed the legality of their stay can continue to participate in payment transactions with an amount of up to 100 thousand euros in a current account, savings deposits, etc. Amounts exceeding this size are blocked.

The sanction is lifted individually upon presentation of a residence permit or other suitable document to the bank. Russians are asked to contact a consultant to their bank.

Restrictions of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation

From March 10, 2022, the Central Bank of Russia:

• It is allowed to credit to the accounts of citizens in foreign banks currency received from non-residents in the form of wages, rents, coupons and dividends on securities and other interest payments;

• Citizens will be able to transfer funds in foreign currency from their foreign accounts opened with foreign banks until March 1, 2022, to their other foreign accounts, information about which has been disclosed to the Russian tax authorities^[4].

2014: Very simple account opening procedure

To open an account with a Spanish bank, it is best to fly yourself for two or three days to Spain. If you are fluent in Spanish or English, it is worth considering third-party help in your negotiations with the bank.

How to choose a bank

If you are going to transfer money to the Bank of Spain from a Russian bank, it is advisable to consult with your Russian bank. They will tell you which bank in Spain it is best to transfer your funds to. Perhaps your bank has a cooperation agreement with any Spanish bank. In this case, the commission will be minimal.

Recommendations - plus

It will be best if you are recommended by any of the clients of a Spanish bank, for example, any of the Russian compatriots who already have a bank account there, or by a Spanish real estate agency, which usually has good connections with many banks. Then your protege will be able to stipulate in advance the time of the meeting and the preconditions of your loan.

Need NIE and Passport

Some banks, before opening an account, may ask you to first make a NIE - the identification number of the foreigner. However, in fact, this is not a much-needed condition, and if the bank is interested in you, it will open an account for you without any unnecessary formalities.

Of the documents, it is enough to have only a passport. When opening an account, you can immediately put money on it (in cash).

Transfers from a Russian bank

Then you get access to Internet banking and can replenish your Spanish account directly from your Russian account. The cost of transferring money consists of a commission to the bank from which you transfer funds (about 1%). It is also possible to commission a Spanish bank or intermediary bank.

The Russian bank will ask you to obtain permission for international transfers from your tax office. It's simple. Visit your tax office and ask them to register your foreign account. You fill out the details of your Spanish bank in the form and receive from the tax paper with a stamp, which you then present to your Russian bank. Now you can move your money freely from Russia to Spain and vice versa.

If you gradually replenish your account with direct permanent transfers from Russia, this will significantly strengthen your authority in the eyes of the bank. After all, a client who has constant stable financial receipts looks much more trusting.

The procedure for opening an account for buying real estate in Spain is described in more detail here.

See also

• Banks in Russia