por carl_ » Lun Nov 08, 2010 3:29 pm
EU approves bailout of Spanish bank CajaSur
English.news.cn 2010-11-09 02:14:57 FeedbackPrintRSS
BRUSSELS, Nov. 8 (Xinhua) -- The European Commission on Monday approved Spanish aid for the restructuring of CajaSur, a saving bank, and the sale of its banking activities.
"The commission is satisfied that the restructuring of CajaSur and the sale of its banking business in an open and competitive tender ensures the viability of the banking activity and limits the distortions of competition," said Joaquin Almunia, commission vice president in charge of competition policy.
CajaSur provided retail banking services in the region of Andalucia, in southern Spain. It came into financial difficulties in particular due to its significant exposure to developers and other real estate-related transactions, prompting the Bank of Spain to give a capital injection of 800 million euros (1,113 million U.S. dollars) and a liquidity line of 1,500 million euros (2,088 million U.S. dollars) to bail out the bank.
In July BBK SA, another Spanish saving bank, agreed to buy the banking business of CajaSur after an open and competitive tender.
The commission decision found that the liquidation of CajaSur and the sale of its banking business in an open and competitive tender ensured that the sold business became viable without continued state support.