The president of the Spanish Banking Association, Miguel Mart\u00edn, stated today that Spanish banks managed to achieve good and recurring profits in 2008 amidst the international financial collapse, although they must now take on the challenge of preparing to operate, without losing any of their competitive advantages, in a new international banking map whose foundations have already begun to be laid.<\/p>\n
\u201cInternational authorities are developing the foundations of a new financial system to replace the model that led to the current crisis. Nothing will be the same after the crisis and our entities must be aware of this because the Spanish market will have to adapt to the upcoming new regulatory framework,\u201d said Miguel Mart\u00edn during the presentation of the Spanish banks’ results for the past fiscal year.<\/p>\n
In 2008, banking groups operating in Spain achieved attributed results of \u20ac16,603 million, 12% less than those recorded in the previous year, after allocating \u20ac15,726 million to insolvencies and provisions, more than double the amount from a year earlier. Despite this decline, the president of the AEB described the results as “good and recurring” since they were obtained “in the year of the collapse of the international financial system.” “Our banks have managed to weather the storm and survive while many of their rivals have been unable to do so.” <\/p>\n
For the current fiscal year, the president of the AEB pointed out that the main objective of Spanish banks must be to adopt strategies that allow them to prepare to compete in a radically different scenario. “These days, governments and international organizations are forging the foundations of the 21st-century international financial system, which will fundamentally transform the framework in which all entities will have to operate.” <\/p>\n
The president of the AEB explained that the resolution of the crisis will involve a profound change in the financial system. In his opinion, not only will the banking business model change, but the financial services industry will be transformed; securitization markets different from current ones will appear; capital requirements will be strengthened; and innovative ways of competing and managing risk will emerge. All of this will be organized around a new regulatory framework, and the supervisory and regulatory institutions that appear in the future will also be new. <\/p>\n
In this regard, Miguel Mart\u00edn specified that “none of this is foreign to the Spanish economy or to our banks, which will have to adapt quickly and effectively to the new conditions of financial activity, while preserving the competitive advantages that have so far allowed them to successfully stand out from their national and international rivals.”<\/p>\n
\u201cThat is the objective on which our entities must concentrate all their efforts if they want to emerge stronger from the financial and economic crisis. To do so, they will have to further enhance their solidity and competitiveness, and they can only do this with strategies that take into account the new framework of activity and allow them to seize the opportunities that come their way, as well as with excellent management of risks, resources, costs, and capital and liquidity levels. Spanish banks are aware of this and have already begun to do so,\u201d he noted.<\/p>\n
For this task, Spanish banks start with an advantage, according to Miguel Mart\u00edn, as they possess a viable business model of customer-focused commercial banking with recurring income and a low risk profile; significant capital surpluses over minimum requirements; and credit activity that is 80% funded by customer deposits.<\/p>\n
He did not hide, however, that Spanish entities face challenges such as the continued closure of wholesale financial markets\u2014which hinders an adequate funding structure\u2014a drop in income due to lower economic activity, an increase in non-performing loans, and the ongoing deep adjustment of the real estate market.<\/p>\n
Faced with these challenges, which are added to the imminent change on the international scene, the president of the AEB emphasized that “the banking sector must emerge from the crisis stronger and more competitive so that the Spanish economy can emerge from its deep recession.”<\/p>\n
In this context, the president of the AEB considered it of vital importance that, should any eventual actions on Spanish entities be necessary, the undesirable side effects on the competitive framework currently being observed in Europe be avoided. “The rules of the game that have worked with great efficiency in Spain must be preserved and maintained,” he stated, subsequently calling for “transparency and competitive equality within and outside our borders.” <\/p>\n
Under these conditions, Miguel Mart\u00edn expressed his conviction that “Spanish banks will know how to meet their responsibility to manage the recession of the Spanish economy in the part that concerns them, namely, the granting of credit.” He reiterated “the firm and categorical commitment that our banks have to Spanish society to emerge from the crisis and overcome the deep recession of the Spanish economy.” <\/p>\n
Miguel Mart\u00edn predicts that the resolution of the crisis will bring significant changes to the regulation, supervision, and business model of the international financial system.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"template":"","etiquetas-prensa":[921,920,805,803],"class_list":["post-38627","notas-de-prensa","type-notas-de-prensa","status-publish","hentry","etiquetas-prensa-crisis","etiquetas-prensa-miguel-martin","etiquetas-prensa-results","etiquetas-prensa-spanish-banking"],"yoast_head":"\n