The public consultation initiated by the government, which allows citizens and businesses of all kinds to comment on BBVA’s takeover offer for Banco Sabadell, will be available on the website of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry until next Friday, May 16. The aim of this consultation is for citizens, businesspeople, organizations, and associations to express their opinions on the extent to which the project could harm the public interest and how they will be affected.
In a press statement prior to participating in the 40th meeting of the Cercle d’Economia, which will take place from Monday to Wednesday at the Palau de Congressos de Catalunya, the department’s head, Carlos Cuerpo, explained that this is not a simple “yes or no” consultation on the takeover. Rather, the government intends to address general criteria that must be evaluated in this third phase. “Do you consider that, in addition to the protection of competition, there are other criteria of public interest that could be affected by the BBVA/Banco Sabadell transaction?” the government asked during the consultation.
Although the outcome will not be binding on the government, the consultation aims to gather all the necessary information to make a comprehensive assessment of whether or not to submit the transaction to the Council of Ministers. According to Cuerpo, this is a “procedure that fully complies with the regulations” and follows the deadlines established in the Law on the Protection of Competition, referring to Article 10.4 of that law. The ministry emphasized in a statement that the consultation is being conducted “respectfully” of the procedures, deadlines, and responsibilities of all institutions involved in the process.
The government plans to publish the responses to the takeover bid to ensure transparency in the consultation and emphasizes that this will not affect the deadlines for the transaction. Cuerpo emphasized that the decision on whether to submit the takeover bid to the Council of Ministers must be made by May 27, with seven working days remaining until May 16.
Questionnaire Functions
The questionnaire is accessed after entering participant data and requires participants to answer the question whether there are any general interest criteria other than the protection of competition that could be affected by the takeover bid. If the answer is yes, participants are invited to comment on the potentially affected general interest criteria.
Aspects available include national defense and security, the protection of public safety or health, the free movement of goods and services, environmental protection, the promotion of technological research and development, and ensuring adequate fulfillment of the objectives of sectoral regulation. There is also the option to present their own perspective in a maximum of 2,000 characters under “Other.”
The questionnaire asks participants to assess whether measures can be taken to protect the aforementioned general interest criteria. If the assessment is positive, participants will also have the opportunity to make suggestions for protecting these criteria.
