In 2023, Spanish banks made a record-breaking €39 billion before taxes, thanks to the sudden increase in interest rates set by the European Central Bank (ECB) to combat inflation. However, this comes at a cost for many families as their savings take a hit. On the other hand, banks have benefited from the remuneration offered by the Bank of Spain on their deposits, which has increased from -0.5% to 4% in just over a year.
Despite this, some groups are not happy with the lack of transparency and have called on the Bank of Spain to disclose how much money is being paid to each entity. The bank responded that this information is subject to professional secrecy, an idea developed by its own CEO Pablo Hernández de Cos during his time in Congress.
In response to this declaration, Yolanda Díaz’s parliamentary group announced that they would denounce the bank before the Administrative Courts for not providing this information. Meanwhile, during his speech in Congress, Hernández de Cos did not mention anything about a possible merger between BBVA and Sabadell but did express concern over the optimal level of concentration in Spain’s banking sector.
Carlos Martín raised questions about this level of concentration but mostly focused on monetary policy and how it benefits Spanish banks. He also questioned the transfer of €8 billion made by the Bank of Spain for depositing €250 million from bank liquidity into savings accounts, which represents 65% of the profits obtained by Spanish banks. However, when asked about these details, the official response from the Bank of Spain was that information disclosed by entities is subject to professional secrecy obligations.
Sumar has announced that they will denounce the bank before Administrative Courts if they do not provide information on how much profit has been made by banks from their deposits. Accessing transparent and accurate information is crucial for proper supervision and analysis of economic policies and financial practices
