In an interview with Servimedia he recalled that this type of operation “passes through Europe” and through the National Commission of Markets and Competition (CNMV), and “if the operation has been authorized, it is that, from the point of view of free competition, transparency and the normalized functioning of the market, does not offer any doubt ”.
He said this when asked about the open debate regarding the risk of a potential loss of rivalry between banks as a result of the intense process of merger and disappearance of entities that has experienced since the 2008 crisis, and crowned a few days ago by the creation of the largest national player with the integration of Bankia and CaixaBank, and which will be followed shortly by the union of Liberbank and Unicaja.
“I believe that beyond the fact that, indeed, the authorities have agreed that this operation can be carried out, it will be necessary to agree that nothing happens, that the market continues to be as transparent and as agile as it always is and that this operation in itself it will be good for its shareholders, but it does not distort the market in any way, “he remarked.
In this regard, he wanted to underline that, precisely in Spain, we have an “extraordinarily competitive and transparent mortgage market, despite everything we have experienced and despite the stories and, despite judgments” which, as he acknowledged, “some are sure we have deserved ”, but it has not altered that it continues to be“ extraordinarily competitive in quantity and quality ”in relation to“ our environment ”.
The reason behind this rivalry is, he said, that it is an “important ‘core’ product within the strategy of our bank”, where “financing citizens’ home purchases is a very important business” and links , causing that “all entities are in a position to offer mortgages.”
If you add to that that it is a “very mature” product, where “the differentiation of the mortgage product is frankly difficult,” he added that “the most significant variable of competition is price” and that is what is moving through part of entities that make offers “trying to attract”. “There are thefts of mortgages and indeed there is a level of renegotiation of the mortgage, well, of some importance,” he revealed.
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