The president of Banco Santander, Ana Botín, has announced the consequences that the approval of drastic measures in mortgage matters may have for the most vulnerable. The second vice president and Minister of Labor, Yolanda Díaz, had demanded a day before, the presentation of BBVA results, that the cost be capped. Botín has insisted that the entity is willing to sit down and reach agreements, as has been seen in the new codes of good practice, but fully understanding the consequences that it can bring to all mortgagees. In this regard, she has recalled what happened in Mexico, when the country went almost 20 years without giving credits after allowing them to pay. “It would not be right to put conditions that expel the most vulnerable, as happened in Mexico,” said the bank, who recalled that since 2012, the entity has always been willing to help the mortgaged.
European Central Bank (ECB) with its rate hikes and remember that the EBA also requests that this rate rise be transferred to the price of mortgage loans. “We are very competitive, we finance mortgages with an average of 2.91%, which is below 60 basis points below the risk rate, compared to Germany, which is 100 basis points above,” he has ruled.
Botín has also referred to the government’s criticism of the benefits of registering that different banks are presented and has recalled that the bank “does not cover the cost of capital in Spain.” Botín has insisted on the important role that the financial sector has in the good progress of the economy, “supporting companies that invest with financing”. On a day when the unemployment data for the month of January was released, and which he already blamed on the change in the cycle, Botín pointed out that “in order to lower unemployment, more investment must be encouraged.” and Europe is growth, because without growth there are no jobs, there are no taxes and there are no social aids”, the bank has ruled.
Criticism of the tax and remuneration of the liability
During her speech, the board charged the banks with the special budget, which the bank calculates will amount to 220-230 million euros and will be accounted for in the first quarter of the year. “We agree that governments have to collect”, but he recalled that “the tax rate is around 31% on average for the entity. In 2021 we contribute 5,000 million euros” and has criticized that banks pay 5 points more than the rest of the companies. In this regard, Botín has insisted that the tax must be on profits and not on income, since if the taxes are applied on income there will be fewer credits and it will harm the economy. Botín recalled that “a part of the benefit comes from outside Spain” and recalled that the country has had years in which it did not provide benefits.
The president of Banco Santander has left the door open to remunerating deposits, but, in her opinion, it arose from competition and here in Spain it is enormous, however “she has indicated that during the years of negative rates, the entity did not charge for them, as it happened in other countries”.
Botín has recognized that European banks have not done well on the stock market. In the case of Santander, we have done every year what we said we were going to do, “improving profitability year after year” and the best example that this “is being recognized by the markets is the rise this Thursday in Santander’s shares on the Stock Market, which rises by 5%”. Botín has insisted that if they continue to do so as up to now, it will end up reflecting on the stock market. The intention of the Council is that when possible the intention is to increase the ‘pay out’ which is now at 40%.
