The mess between the Government and the bank does not stop. After months of negotiation to carry out an agreement that helps those with mortgages in trouble, which had white smoke last week and to which the entities are already adhering, the rough edges remain. Mainly on the side of the extraordinary tax on the financial sector, which has already received the green light from Congress and only needs to be approved by the Senate. A rate that is directly opposed by banks due to the negative effects it can have on the economy. Among those responsible for each entity, María Dolores Dancausa, CEO of Bankinter, has been forceful about whether they will appeal the lien. “We will do it the day after paying it,” she said this Monday at a financial forum organized in Madrid.
The regulatory change agenda has been very tight since last July. It was then that the Executive announced by surprise the proposal for a new extraordinary tax for energy companies and banks. Regarding this rate, the group of entities maintains that it is unjustified and that it will have a negative impact on the economy. “A tax on a specific sector is made only when you want to restrict an activity,” recalled the CEO of BBVA, Onur Genç, during his participation in the KPMG Financial Meeting and Expansion, where he has said that the bank will analyze if he appeals it. Like Gonzalo Gortázar, CEO of CaixaBank (of which the State has a 16% stake): “If we believe that it does not conform to the law, we will have to appeal it.” Along the same lines, Antonio Simões, CEO of Banco Santander in Spain, has pronounced: “It seems to us a wrong measure, it is not the best way to combat inflation. The sector as a whole will be able to finance 50,000 million euros less for this additional cost”.
The first swords of the entities that have passed through the forum have repeated that they are waiting for the final text to decide if they will appeal the tax payment. Víctor Iglesias, CEO of Ibercaja, has advanced that “it is very likely” that his entity will do so: “The courts will agree with us.” The tax, which has already passed through Congress, expects to raise 3,000 million in two years by applying a rate of 4.8% on the interest margin and net commissions of banks for their business in Spain for those that exceed 800 million between both figures, as well as foreign entities that operate in the country and are under direct supervision of the ECB. The Executive justifies the rate by the need to obtain an extra contribution of the financial sector, considering that it will benefit from rate hikes that, had it not been for inflationary pressures, would have occurred more gradually.
Another of the issues highlighted during the financial meeting have been the criticisms that have reached the rate of international organizations. For example, the European Central Bank (ECB) called for a comprehensive analysis before it comes into force and ensured that this cost should be passed on to customers, as stated in the recommendations of the European Banking Authority (EBA). . However, on this point, the Executive introduced its prohibition in its proposal. Banks, faced with this situation, prefer to wait for final approval to decide how to act, although they are clear that one way or another this will have an impact. “Customers will end up paying for it,” said César González-Bueno, CEO of Sabadell. These differences, according to the executive, are the result of the haste with which the tax has been designed: “They have not had the calm that any regulation should have”, added the CEO of Sabadell. Something in which the president of the Spanish Banking Association (AEB), Alejandra Kindelán, has had an impact.
More provisions for mortgage aid
The other great issue on which the financial meeting has revolved has been aid for mortgaged people in distress. A broad package of measures that was approved last Tuesday by the Council of Ministers that consists of updating the Code of Good Practices and creating an alternative mechanism for income of up to 29,400 euros. The forecast of the Government and the bank is that this may apply to around one million customers, although consumer associations reduce these estimates. “The important thing is that families have this social shield available in case they want to pull it if they are in trouble,” argue Administration sources.
The banks, a week after concluding the negotiations and during the study of the entities of the plan for their adhesion (they have already done so, for example, CaixaBank, Sabadell and Unicaja), consider that it was very important to reach a point of equilibrium. The big problem, in his opinion, is the increase in endowments for possible non-payments that it can cause. “It will have a significant impact on provisions, but the priority is to help our customers,” recalled Simões, from Santander.
This point, precisely, has been one of those responsible for the delay in the negotiation. Economy finally wanted to solve these reluctances by including a safeguard that prevents all refinancings forcing customers to automatically become doubtful. Thus, for the exception added in the Code of Good Practices as well as for the new mechanism, it has been included that the part of the loan not amortized will not accrue interest at a rate such that it implies a reduction of 0.5% of the net present value of the loan. That is, below the limit from which the reclassification of credits would be automatic.
On the other hand, José Manuel Campa, president of the European Banking Authority (EBA), recalled that there is concern about the macroeconomic deterioration and that there is a part of the assets at risk: “We continue to think that the covid crisis it was not completely transitory and that there is a certain pool of potentially defective assets that has to be managed in the medium and long term, which can come together as delinquencies in the banking sector”.
Regarding the aid, the banks also maintain that they will go even further after studying each case with the clients who need it. “We will go further and apply it to more people or different people [de lo que recogen los protocolos aprobados]”, has advanced the CEO of Sabadell. Of course, he has once again recalled, like his CaixaBank counterpart, that at the moment there is no rebound in non-performing loans, which remains below 4% according to the Bank of Spain, at historically low levels.
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