Caja Mediterráneo
The Caja Mediterráneo or Caja de Ahorros del Mediterráneo , CAM for short , is a Spanish savings bank based in Alicante on the Costa Blanca . It emerged from the gradual amalgamation of 29 financial institutions, the first of which was founded in Alcoy in 1875 . It is one of three savings banks in the province of Valencia . The CAM has 963 branches, 954 of which are in Spain. 7,600 employees look after 3.3 million bank customers. Abroad, CAM is represented with 9 branches in Switzerland , the People's Republic of China , Poland , Great Britain , Morocco , Mexico , Cuba , the Dominican Republic and in Miami .
Like other savings banks in Spain, CAM has got into financial difficulties due to the crisis on the Spanish real estate market. For 2011, CAM had a credit default rate of around 9.0 percent.
Current crisis
In May 2010, the merger of CAM with three other savings banks ( Cajastur , Caja Cantabria and Caja Extremadura ) was agreed to form the third largest savings bank in Spain. The new association - with total assets of 130 billion euros - should be led by the CAM. It should be called Banco Base. The negotiations failed in March 2011 because of doubts about the solvency of the CAM. The merger agreement was canceled by the other savings banks. The risks from CAM's strong commitment in the real estate sector did not seem to the other savings banks to be calculable. At the end of March 2011, CAM applied for state aid of 2.8 billion from the Spanish bank rescue fund (so-called Frob fund ). It can not meet the requirements of the Banco de España for an equity ratio of at least 10 percent. On July 22, 2011, FROB took control of the institute. After CAM had accumulated losses of EUR 1.73 billion in the first nine months of the year, Banco Sabadell finally took over CAM on December 7, 2011 for EUR 1. FROB supported this merger with a guarantee for up to 80% of the losses from the real estate portfolio of CAM. The new bank is the fifth largest credit institution in the country.
history
The Sparkasse received its current name in 1988 . Until then it was called Caja de Ahorros de Alicante y Murcia , which means "Sparkasse of Alicante and Murcia". It then merged with the Caja de Ahorros Provincial de Alicante y Valencia (1990) and the Caja de Ahorros de Torrent (1988).
administration
- President: Modesto Crespo Martínez
- General Manager: Maria Dolores Amorós Marco
Holdings
| sector | society | Participation |
|---|---|---|
| Bank | Mexico: Crédito Inmobiliario | 100% |
| Bank | Morocco: BMCE Bank | 5% |
| Bank | EBN Banco de Negocios | 20% |
| Bank | Inversis Banco | 15.5% |
| Bank | CAMGE | |
| property | Mediterranean | |
| Gestión | Fonomed | |
| Inversion | Gesamed | |
| Inversion | Gestimed | |
| Inversion | Gesfinmed | |
| insurance | Mediterráneo Mediación | |
| insurance | Mediterráneo Vida | |
| insurance | Mediterráneo Seguros Diversos |
The CAM in the real estate boom
The CAM owed rapid growth to the Spanish property boom. It doubled its balance sheet volume to 74 billion euros in 2010 compared to 2005. This made CAM the fourth largest savings bank and the eighth largest financial institution in Spain. Almost a quarter of CAM's credit volume was in the real estate and construction sectors. The bursting of the Spanish real estate bubble hit CAM particularly hard. In the major bankruptcies in the real estate industry such as Martinsa-Fadesa, Polaris World or Llanera, the CAM was one of the victims. By the end of the 2010 financial year, according to the daily newspaper "El Mundo", 80 percent of the companies in the construction and hotel sector, in whose activities CAM is involved, were in the red. Countless private individuals could no longer service their mortgage loans in the wake of the economic crisis. Experts estimate the CAM loan default rate to be 9 percent. The business newspaper "CincoDias" assumes that the CAM is sitting on real estate worth 3.5 billion euros, which it is desperately trying to get rid of.
Political influence
In addition, the influence of state politics has had a damaging effect on the CAM. The law guarantees state and local politics a 33 percent representation in the committees of the savings banks. The filling of board positions at the savings banks has always been a political issue. As a result of the influence of politics, the CAM invested in ruinous products such as the Terra Mítica theme park near Benidorm or the Ciudad de la Luz film studios in Alicante .
Banco Base
On May 24, 2010 , based on government instructions, the CAM reached an agreement with the three savings banks Cajastur , Caja de Extremadura and Caja Cantabria for the establishment of a Sistema Institucional de Protección (SIP) (in English: Institutional Protection System), which operates in the Spanish banking sector as fusión fría (in German: cold fusion) is called.
The CAM, together with Cajastur, should have the main shares of this new bank with 40% each, in addition, the Caja Extremadura should hold 11% and the Caja Cantabria 9% of the shares.
In July 2010 the board of directors of CAM approved its integration into a SIP bank, which should also include the Caja de Ahorros del Mediterráneo, the Caja de Extremadura and the Caja de Ahorros de Santander y Cantabria. With this alliance, the fifth largest Spanish bank and the third largest Spanish savings bank should arise. This newly founded SIP bank was given the provisional name Banco Base at the end of December .
On March 30, 2011, the representatives of the savings banks Cajastur, Caja Extremadura and Caja Cantabria voted against merging with the CAM to form the Banco Base, because the financial situation of the CAM turned out to be worse than had been thought. Only the CAM itself votes for a merger with the other savings banks to form the Banco Base. Therefore, the CAM had to apply for state aid from the Banco de España in the amount of 2.8 billion euros, which it needs for recapitalization. This suggests that the CAM could be nationalized, while those in charge of the CAM on the one hand repeatedly emphasize its independence, but on the other hand a sale to another major Spanish bank, e.g. B. the Banco Santander would welcome.