Allowing crippled banks to fudge their loan losses is not the way to deliver a healthy banking market.
Western Europe
Latest articles from Spain
Eastern presence keeps growing
July 2, 2012The Banker's Top 1000 new entrants list is dominated by Asia-Pacific-based institutions, with the largest new entrant coming from South Korea and 13 Chinese institutions entering the rankings.
Credit Suisse helps put a shine on Santander's Polish ambitions
June 1, 2012Credit Suisse's Madrid-based FIG team's input into Bank Zachodni's all-share merger with KBC's Kredyt Bank has allowed Santander to build the market presence it wanted in Poland without putting the squeeze on its capital ratio.
Who is going to save Spain's savings banks?
June 1, 2012A sharp increase in provisioning requirements is likely to drive consolidation in the Spanish banking sector. But the country's largest banks – many of which have remained profitable thanks to their operations in other regions – are cautious about what may lurk on the balance sheets of the troubled savings banks.
Basel risk weights leave banks with unequal burdens
March 26, 2012The process of risk-weighting assets will become even more crucial to calculating bank capital adequacy under Basel III than it is already. Which is why there is growing dissent about the unexplained discrepancies between how different banks are measuring the same risks.
Europe’s sovereign-linked issuers adapt to the new normal
March 1, 2012The eurozone sovereign debt crisis has not just affected national treasuries, but also European supranationals and government-related entities. Philip Alexander hears from a range of larger and smaller borrowers across the eurozone and beyond.
Andorran banks forced to look further afield
February 1, 2012Traditionally reliant on neighbour Spain for their customer base, Andorra’s banks have been forced to reassess their strategies in light of the country’s – and the rest of Europe’s – economic malaise. Instead, they are targeting the Latin American market, as well as disillusioned clients of Swiss banks, attracted to a national banking sector renowned for its discretion and stability.
Spain's big players cushioned, cajas struggle
June 30, 2011Spain's biggest banks are shrugging off the full impact of the weak domestic economy and the collapse in the country's property market, but the country's cajas are not faring so well.
José María Roldán says don't forget Basel II
December 8, 2010The leading member of the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision explains some of the key concepts of Basel III, and how it relates to Basel I and II. Writer Michael Imeson
Cajas shrug off stress test failure
August 30, 2010Despite five of Spain's savings banks featuring among the seven institutions to fail the EU stress tests, the surprising results can be seen as a positive turning point in the cajas' 200-year history, with reform, consolidation and new access to foreign capital likely to strengthen their vaults. Writer Jules Stewart