Marvellous idea. Our own Unicaja (formed several years ago out of a merger between several provincial cajas), also known as El Monte de Piedad y Caja de Ahorros de Ronda, Cádiz, Almería, Málaga y Antequera (or UNICAJA – Caja del Sol) is Andalucias biggest financial entity and is based out of Malaga. It has a huge portfolio, sound financial rating and little exposure of dodgy debt.
Caja Castilla la Mancha is a second rate Caja working out of Cuenca, which has just been downgraded to BB+ rating, large exposure to toxic debt and a slight political concern (it is rumoured) about possibly being the first Spanish caja to go under due to the credit crunch.
So… let’s merge them! It won’t (much) affect Unicajas’ debt, as Unicaja has a large surplus and can squirrel away the toxic assets without anyone being the wiser. It’s a blow to the prestige of the (P.P.) president of Castilla La Mancha, and gives old Prezzie for life Chaves (PSOE) some national coverage.
More politics than anything else, but it’s nice to see that it’s not just Madrid (province) that’s taking political control of the Cajas.
There was a run on CCM last summer which for some mysterious reason didn’t make the press. God knows how they’ve hobbled along since then. Someone should probably go to prison at some stage – a good friend of mine benefited considerably from their willingness to ignore Banco de España rules.
It’s an amazing article in favor of all the online people; they will take benefit from it I am sure.