BBVA Said to Weigh Moving 50 Bond Bankers to London in Consolidation Plan
BBVA Said to Consider Moving 50 Fixed-Income Bankers London
Denis Doyle/Bloomberg
BBVA is seeking to curb its reliance on Spain, which accounts for about half of its profit.
BBVA is seeking to curb its reliance on Spain, which accounts for about half of its profit. Photographer: Denis Doyle/Bloomberg
Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria SA (BBVA), Spain’s second-largest bank, plans to move about 50 bankers in bond origination, sales and trading to London as it seeks to compete better with firms based in Europe’s biggest financial center, three people with knowledge of the plan said.
Ricardo Laiseca, who runs BBVA’s global markets unit, will move from Madrid to London as part of the plan to consolidate its wholesale operations in New York, London and Hong Kong, said the people, who declined to be identified because the talks are private. The moves will start in coming days, the people said.
BBVA is seeking to curb its reliance on Spain, which accounts for about half of its profit, compared with 22 percent at rival Banco Santander SA. (SAN) The bank has made investments in China and spent $9 billion in 2007 buying Birmingham, Alabama- based Compass Bancshares Inc. BBVA Chairman Francisco Gonzalez agreed in November to pay $5.8 billion for a stake in Turkish lender Turkiye Garanti Bankasi AS (GARAN) to expand in emerging markets.
“If they are to be considered a serious player in that space, moving to the main financial hubs, where information and deal flow is located, makes a lot of sense,” said Pau Morilla, who helps to manage about $3 billion as head of alternative investments, equities and commodities at London & Capital Group Ltd. “As the domestic market is expected to remain subdued for a long time, Spanish banks have no other option but to expand internationally.”
London is home to about 240 overseas banks, including the European bases for JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Morgan Stanley. About 80 percent of Europe’s hedge funds and about 60 percent of the region’s private equity firms are based in Britain. The U.K. also accounts for about 37 percent of global foreign exchange trading and 46 percent of all trading of over-the-counter interest-rate derivatives, according to lobby group TheCityUK.
Paul Tobin, a Madrid-based spokesman at BBVA, declined to comment.
To contact the reporters on this story: Esteban Duarte in Madrid at eduarterubia@bloomberg.net Ambereen Choudhury in London at achoudhury@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Paul Armstrong at Parmstrong10@bloomberg.net Edward Evans at eevans3@bloomberg.net
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