NCG, Catalunya Banc, Unnim Banc Get Temporary Approval for Aid

Spanish lenders NCG Banco, Catalunya Banc and Unnim Banc, which were created this year as part of the restructuring of Spain’s savings bank system, won temporary European Union approval for their recapitalizations.

“Strengthening the capital of these banks is paramount to their ability to continue lending to the real economy and to implement the restructuring that they will need to undergo as a result of the significant subsidies received from the” country’s bank-rescue fund, EU Competition Commissioner Joaquin Almunia said in an e-mailed statement today.

Final approval by the European Commission, the 27-nation EU’s executive agency, depends on the submission of a restructuring plan “that ensures that the banks will be viable in the long-term, that shareholders adequately share the burden of restructuring and that distortions of competitions are limited,” said the Brussels-based regulator.

To contact the reporter on this story: Stephanie Bodoni in Luxembourg at sbodoni@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Anthony Aarons at aaarons@bloomberg.net

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Sept. 30 (Bloomberg) -- Fernando Fernandez, a professor at IE Business School, discusses the recapitalization of Spain's saving banks and the outlook for the country's economy. Fernandez speaks from Madrid with Owen Thomas on Bloomberg Television's "On the Move." (Source: Bloomberg)