The Government renews half of the CNMC, urged by the BBVA-Sabadell takeover bid

This Monday, the Council of Ministers addressed the largest restructuring in the history of the National Markets and Competition Commission (CNMC), with the renewal of five of the ten positions of directors of the supervisory body. Among the new features, Ángel García Castillejo stands out, current director of Audiovisual Policies, Public and International Service of RTVE, who from now on will serve as vice president of the CNMC, under the tutelage of the current president Cani Fernández. For the other four remaining councilor positions, the Government has proposed María Vidales, Enrique Monasterio, Pere Soler and Rafael Iturriaga.

With this decision, the government unblocks the current problems of the competition and regulatory supervision chambers, which have been operating with fewer resources than expected after the departure of the two counselors last summer and the death of the vice president. Simultaneously, yesterday the Government approved a Royal Decree-Law reforming the Law creating the CNMC and the Information Society Services Law to expand the powers of the body, now responsible for the coordination of services. digital services, in line with the European Regulation on digital services, fully applicable since last February 2024. To exercise these functions, the CNMC adds a new Digital Services Directorate, now having five directorates in its organizational chart along with the Competition Directorate, Telecommunications, Energy and Transportation and Postal Service.

For their part, the entry of the new directors implies the departure of Xabier Ormasetxea and Bernardo Lorenzo, both with responsibility at the CNMC since September 2017, and whose mandates expired a year ago. To the previous profiles, the vacant positions were added after the dismissal of the counselors María Ortiz and María Pilar Canedo, who left the Calle de Alcalá organization in July and September 2023, respectively, due to expiration of their mandate, in addition to the position of vice president, orphaned after the death of Ángel Torres, on August 19. The proposal for renewal of the CNMC occurs at a moment of special importance, due to the processing of the concentration file on BBVA’s takeover bid for Banco Sabadell.

Aside from the pressure, the remodeling of the CNMC was one of the issues entrenched in the Government, pending for more than a year. The immediate agenda of the new directors is presumed delicate since different associations have already advanced their intention to appeal the CNMC verdict on the BBVA-Sabadell takeover bid. This is the case of the association of minority shareholders of Sabadell, which judges the denial of the takeover bid as an “unjustifiably restrictive interpretation”, which “ignores the special historical connection” of its associates with Sabadell.

Yesterday, the Catalan Competition Authority sent a report to the CNMC in which it warned that the operation represents “a high risk” for competition in Catalonia and that it could increase the cost of borrowing for families and companies. And so on. Up to 79 interested parties asked to appear and have been met with a refusal, according to ElCorreo Vasco.

Until now, the CNMC had resolved all banking concentration operations in Phase I, with the banks assuming commitments to guarantee competition. BBVA needs permission and approval from the CNMV to formally launch the takeover bid. In its case, the CNMV has already indicated that it will not rule on the operation until the CNMC does so.

According to the rule that regulates the CNMC, before the election of the directors, the candidates have to appear before the Economic Commission of the Congress of Deputies, a forum that will endorse the appointments by absolute majority, although the possibility of vetoing is reserved. any candidate within one calendar month. After this period, if there is no express declaration from Congress, the appointments will be deemed to have been accepted, with a maximum period of six years without the possibility of re-election.

Maria Vidales She is the current director of the Competition Promotion Area at the CNMC and a doctor in Economics and a member of the senior body of Commercial Technicians and State Economists. Enrique Monasterio Beñarán is an industrial engineer and doctor in Thermal Engineering. He has developed his career at the Basque Energy Agency (EVE), an entity of which, since 2017, he has been its Director of Development and Innovation. Pere Soler He has been general director of the Catalan Competition Authority (ACCO), president of the Arbitration Court of Terrassa and has held various public positions in Catalonia and in Terrassa, where he became a councilor. Rafael Iturriaga He has a degree in Law from the University of Deusto and has an MBA in Business Management from the Madrid Business Institute.

With the renewal of the CNMC, the Government plans to shelve the pending re-elections in public organizations after the appointment in recent months of the governor of the Bank of Spain to José Luis Escrivá and deputy governor Soledad Nunez; as well as those of Carlos San Basilio and Paloma Marinpresident and vice president, respectively, of the National Securities Market Commission (CNMV).

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