Banco Sabadell passed the comprehensive assessment conducted by the
European Central Bank (ECB) in the framework of the Single Supervisory
Mechanism, which examined the 128 largest banks in the euro area in cooperation
with the national authorities and in close collaboration with the European
Banking Authority (EBA).
The analysis, whose results were released today, concluded that the
values of Banco Sabadell's assets, collateral and reserves are appropriate and
that Banco Sabadell would not require additional capital in any of the
scenarios considered.
José Oliu, Chairman of Banco Sabadell, considers that the outcome of the
ECB's assessment "ratifies the
strength of Banco Sabadell's capital and evidences, once again, that our active
approach to managing the balance sheet and capital is appropriate; this
rigorous exercise in transparency also sends a message of confidence to our
shareholders, customers and employees; the outcome places us among Europe's
soundest financial institutions following the severe crisis of recent years and
at this historic moment, on the threshold of Banking Union".
Specifically, the Asset Quality Review did not lead to any adjustment in
the valuations presented by Banco Sabadell as of 31 December 2013, while the
stress test, which examined the balance sheet's ability to withstand stressed
scenarios, revealed that Banco Sabadell would have surplus capital amounting to
over 1.7 billion euro in the baseline scenario and over 2.2 billion euro in the
most adverse scenario. Banco Sabadell is the only Spanish bank whose initial
capital ratio was not adjusted as a result of the Asset Quality Review. Only 15
banks in all of Europe are in this position.
Overall, the ECB's comprehensive assessment revealed that Banco
Sabadell's Common Equity Tier 1 (CET1) ratio is 10.26% and that it would be
8.33% in the most adverse scenario, amply exceeding the required minimum of
5.5%.
The comprehensive assessment was a rigorous, exhaustive and homogeneous
exercise in transparency which, in the case of Banco Sabadell, involved
contributions from over 250 professionals in the finance, risk, legal,
operations, technology and audit areas who, over the last eleven months,
coordinated a review of transactions with a broad and significant sample of
customers as well as real estate appraisals.