Monday, Mar 30, 2009

Hidden on bbc website, spanish banks in the doodoo

Bbc: Spain bank bail-out hits shares

The Bank of Spain is to take over Caja Castilla la Mancha in the first bank bail-out in Spain since the global financial crisis began.

Posted by mark @ 11:08 AM (920 views) Add Comment

10 Comments

1. uncle tom said...

Given the implosion of the Spanish property and credit bubble, and the crisis affecting banks worldwide; the notion that the likes of Santander are somehow free from difficulty is somewhat short of credibility.

If they admitted to manageable difficulties, it would be somewhat reassuring.

The possibility that they are concealing an impossible trading position, and are about to go down Enron-style, should not be ruled out..

Monday, March 30, 2009 12:00PM Report Comment
 

2. george monsoon said...

The implications of this are frightening...

Monday, March 30, 2009 12:04PM Report Comment
 

3. baroo said...

"Hidden on bbc website"? It's on the front page of the business section!

Monday, March 30, 2009 01:38PM Report Comment
 

4. icarus said...

UT - but I'm not sure that Santander is a Spanish bank - any more than HSBC is a Hong Kong & Shanghai bank.

Monday, March 30, 2009 01:38PM Report Comment
 

5. Crunchy said...

I remember a big name shorting Santander months ago. It's right on the daily trendline now.

Monday, March 30, 2009 01:39PM Report Comment
 

6. This comment has been removed as it was found to be in breach of our Blog Policies.

 

7. crunchy said...

I remember a big name shorting Sandander months ago. It's price is currently on a swing high trendline now. Will it break!

http://www.lse.co.uk/ShareChart.asp?sharechart=BNC&share=banco_san

Monday, March 30, 2009 01:44PM Report Comment
 

8. uncle tom said...

icarus,

Until the 1999 group merger, Santander was virtually a 100% Spanish operation. Just about every town in Spain has branches - they must be very exposed on the domestic market.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banco_Santander

Monday, March 30, 2009 01:54PM Report Comment
 

9. Notaguru said...

Santander's business interests are well spread around the world and are not particularly linked to property. In Spain, the cajas (similar to our building societies) are most exposed to mortgages and other property related debt.

While Santander will not be unafected, it will not have the same effect as that seen in the UK with HBOS or Northern Rock.

What it's almost certain is that more spanish Cajas and/or banks with proportionally larger exposure to property (Banco Popular?) will also have to be rescued.

Monday, March 30, 2009 02:07PM Report Comment
 

10. icarus said...

UT - you may well be right - it's difficult to get info on Santander's exposure by country and type of investment. It claims to be an old-fashioned retail banker that didn't go for exotic financial instruments but it has a $3+ billion exposure to Madoff...

Monday, March 30, 2009 02:57PM Report Comment
 

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