banking sector
September 15th, 2008
Not only are Spain's economic woes a more extreme version of what's happened in the past year in the U.S. and U.K., they're likely to last longer because of the shallow roots of Spain's recent economic success. A strong rebound isn't out the question, if the government undertakes key reforms, ...
Continue reading More Pain to Come But Spain Should Recover
October 9th, 2008
Santander now owns a substantial chunk of the UK’s banking sector. Is that a good thing? Can we be assured that our deposits are in safe hands? What, if any, are Santander’s exposures to the Spanish property market? Santander is considered to be better capitalised than many UK banking groups, as ...
Continue reading Santander Safety?
December 31st, 2008
Spain escaped exposure to U.S. subprime assets but risks its own property debt crisis in 2009 as defaults soar among real estate and construction firms that account for half of all Spanish corporate credit. Over 1000 Spanish property and building firms will have filed for bankruptcy protection in 2008 and more ...
Continue reading Spanish Subprime Risk
April 21st, 2009
Spanish property prices fell at their fastest rate since records began in the first quarter, government data showed on Wednesday, while analysts forecast more big falls in property values. House prices in Spain fell 6.8 percent in the March quarter, compared with the same period in 2008. On a quarter-on-quarter basis ...
Continue reading Spanish Property Prices Continue to Fall
May 1st, 2009
Economy to begin recovery in 2010 after 3 percent decline in 2009 Housing correction will take time Banks holding up well but facing difficult market conditions The global economic crisis has hit Spain hard. Domestic demand is declining and job losses are mounting, driven by the downturn in construction. Confidence has declined because of ...
Continue reading IMF: Hard Landing for Spain
May 27th, 2009
In a series of recent gloomy economic forecasts by the European Commission, the European Central Bank, the Spanish Central Bank and government institutions, the Spanish unemployment rate could soar to a staggering 20 percent and possibly to one in four workers in 2010.“The momentum is clearly there for something well ...
Continue reading Spanish Unemployment Could Reach 1 in 4
June 29th, 2009
A €99 billion bailout fund for healthy as well as struggling Spanish financial institutions is to be approved by the Spanish Cabinet at one of its regular meetings. Cadena Ser radio, which cited a copy of the proposal, said that banks without capital shortages may have access to the fund if ...
Continue reading Spanish Banks Gain €99B Support
July 7th, 2009
The European Central Bank will keep interest rates at a record low for more than a year and may yet need to expand its use of unconventional tools as it battles the worst recession since World War II, economists said. ECB officials meeting in Luxembourg will leave the benchmark rate at ...
Continue reading ECB: Interest Rates on Hold to End of 2010
July 28th, 2009
The ninth-biggest Spanish savings bank will be created with the merger of Caixa Sabadell, Caixa Terrassa and Caixa Manlleu in Catalunya. Three savings banks in northeastern Spain said they had agreed to merge at meetings on Tuesday, with the aim of creating the ninth-biggest Spanish savings bank. The three savings banks, near ...
Continue reading Three Spanish Building Societies Merge
July 28th, 2009
My star article this week is Realism Rules in Overseas Property. Although not specifically addressing the Spanish property market, it contains 10 pithy and basic questions to ask yourself when buying abroad - anywhere. The most important one for me is No. 9 - "A property is a long-term commitment ...
Continue reading Spanish Property Speculation Burst the Bubble
