National bank mergers can pave way for cross-border deals, ECB’s De Guindos says

MADRID, June 7 (Reuters) – National bank mergers must come before cross-border deals, the vice-president of the European Central Bank Luis de Guindos said on Friday, without elaborating if the ECB would approve BBVA’s takeover bid for domestic rival Sabadell.

Earlier this week, BBVA (BBVA.MC), opens new tab asked the ECB to authorise its more than 12 billion euro ($13 billion) hostile bid for Sabadell (SABE.MC), opens new tab.

“Fundamentally, what we believe creates a European banking market is cross-border mergers, but sometimes, in order to get to cross-border you have to do national ones,” De Guindos told Spanish radio station Onda Cero, when asked about BBVA’s Sabadell bid.