Spain’s Banco Sabadell approved on Wednesday the move of its headquarters to Catalonia, the first major firm to do so after thousands left following a failed 2017 independence bid.
The move was agreed by the board of creditors at an extraordinary meeting and comes as Sabadell fights off an aggressive takeover bid by its biggest rival BBVA.
The bank, which was founded in 1881 in Sabadell, a city of about 200,000 people north of Barcelona, has cited its importance to the economy of the wealthy northeastern region as one reason to oppose a takeover bid launched in May.
The board decided that “it is the right time to return to its place as the conditions that caused its movement seven years ago no longer exist,” said Sabadell’s statement.
The bank moved its official headquarters to Alicante in the neighboring region of Valencia in October 2017, shortly after Catalonia went ahead with secession talks deemed illegal by the courts that were followed by a temporary declaration of independence.
About 7,000 companies of all sectors moved their headquarters to Catalonia during that period, including Sabadell’s rival CaixaBank.
Many customers have withdrawn their deposits from Catalonia-headquartered banks to protect themselves from the possible impact of a joint declaration of independence.
If Catalonia were to succeed in breaking away from Spain, the European Central Bank’s deposit insurance scheme would no longer protect bank customers in the region.
The head of Catalonia’s regional government, Salvador Illa of Spain’s ruling Socialist party, said Sabadell’s decision was “good news” and showed that “we are on the right track”.
Illa became head of Catalonia’s government last year following regional elections, which ended more than a decade of apartheid rule.
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