Cajamar, our local savings bank whose hq is in Almería, has been forced into a number of shotgun marriages over the last two years, as the central government made it merge with poorer, on-the-brink savings banks from across the country, and today will see the signing of the greatest merger of them all, as Cajamar merges with Ruralcaja to become Spain’s largest savings bank, with 44% of the national market.
The signing will take place today at La Envía Hotel in Vícar, and sees the final culmination of the mergers of 22 different entities to become one strong bank, with a 63 billion euro turnover, 38 billion euros worth of assets, 3,3 million clients and 6352 workers across 1465 offices nationwide. It’s solvency coefficient will be 12,33% at the point of merger, making it one of Spain’s most liquid banks (that’s the ratio of internal resources to risk assets – the EU sets the minimum level a bank should have at 8%).
The new savings bank will be called “Caja Rurales Unidas, SCC” and will keep its HQ in Almería city. The new President of the bank will the current VP of Cajamar, Juan de la Cruz Cárdenas Rodríguez, as current President Antonio Pérez Lao will be stepping down in order to give the new company “a relevant and fresh approach”, whatever that means.
Goodbye Cajamar, hello CRU.