The moment of difficulty for credit institutions does not only concern Italy. In Spain, the Banco Popular Español, the sixth institution in the country, has ended up in the crosshairs of institutions and investors, currently grappling with very serious economic difficulties that could compromise its survival.
On the Madrid Bolsa, after the substantial losses accumulated in recent weeks, the title of Banco Popular Español was hit by a veritable storm of sales. At 15.00 the decrease recorded is equal to 15,5%.
The cause of the collapse is the serious crisis that has hit the bank, which is currently engaged in examining all possible hypotheses aimed at covering the substantial losses in the balance sheet, including that of putting it up for sale. Already last Friday the stock had lost 17% on investor fears about a possible bail-in. Even the declarations of President Emilio Saracho, "we are solvent and we have positive capital", or passing the stress tests did not help to calm spirits. We recall that the bank avoided the bail-out with public money but failed to resolve its problems despite the two capital increases made in recent years, the first of 3,2 billion in 2012, the second 2,8, 2016 billion in XNUMX.
According to rumors, no one would be willing to shell out a euro to save it and there would be no buyer on the horizon. Given that the sale of assets, already initiated by management, is unable to revive the company's fortunes, bankruptcy seems to be a plausible scenario. The bank will discuss options with the European Central Bank tomorrow, according to Bloomberg reports this morning. Among these would be a possible additional loan from Frankfurt.
