The third largest bank in Spain begins operation Midnight today marks the start of business for the third largest Spanish bank in terms of assets, with a balance sheet of 340,000 million euros and a retail banking market share of more than 11%. The seven savings banks' customers will be able to withdraw money from ATMs belonging to any the companies that make up the Group, commission- free, throughout January. The new Group pools 100% of its profits and integrates the financial policy, treasury, capital market, risks and intervention management policy of its seven shareholders. 1 January 2011- The beginning of the new year sees the official launch in the Spanish market of the financial Group made up of Caja Madrid, Bancaja, La Caja de Canarias, Caja de Ávila, Caixa Laietana, Caja Segovia and Caja Rioja. It is the third largest bank in the country, with 340,000 million euros in assets, and the leading corporation in terms of turnover in retail and company banking (over 390,000 million euros). Clients from the seven savings banks will be able to use their debit cards to withdraw money, commission-free, at any of these entities' ATMs throughout January. They can carry out all other operations in their usual branches: cash deposits, reimbursements, cashing cheques, transfers, balance enquiries, movements, replacement cards, bill payments and other banking transactions. Today the company has also launched its new corporate website, www.bancofinancieroydeahorros.com, offering access to all of the legal, financial and institutional information, significant events, presentations to investors, corporate documentation and the Press Room, among other contents. From the functional point of view, the Group has integrated operational and technological activity and centralised business policies and strategies. Thus, from today activities related to financial management, treasury, capital market, risks and general intervention, amongst other areas, take on a single strategy which is determined by the Group. The first corporate operations to be carried out will be in the treasury department, in the shape of its regular daily actions in the repo market. 1 The integration formula, in which members do not lose their distinct character, works in a similar way in several European countries. Successful examples of this model include Crédit Agricole, in France and Rabobank in Holland. All set to begin operations From the regulatory point of view, the parent company is officially registered with and maintains a banking record in the Banco de España's Register, making it possible to keep track of operations performed by clients of the seven savings banks that make up the ISP. It was officially entered into the Register in December, following a process that saw the ISP gain all of the necessary authorisations to establish the new bank, in record time. In barely three months, the General Assemblies of the seven savings banks have approved the constitution of the ISP, obtained all the relevant administrative authorisations, including those of the National Commission for Competition and the three autonomous communities of Madrid, Catalonia and Castile Leon and created the Board of Directors. On 3 December the IPS was entered into the Mercantile Register as a public limited company, and the Banco de España's Register of Companies. In addition, the main management positions have been filled, in order to be able to operate in full capacity from the very first day. The integration will gradually allow the seven savings banks that make up the IPS to provide new common products, which will coexist with those currently offered by each company. It is planned to bring all of the products and services together onto one common technological platform, with the aim of offering clients the same standards of quality in any office in the Group, in all parts of Spain. Synergies and a new brand The alliance of the seven members will allow the new institution to increase synergies, which will reach 500 million euros a year from 2013. In order to achieve this, the new Group has set the objective of improved efficiency, which is why it will enforce an intense cost-saving policy. This process will allow a more efficient company to be created, by eliminating superfluous costs, growing in dimensions so as to gain access to new markets, increasing diversification opportunities and heightening the organisation's ability to generating its own resources. The Group hopes to make profits of around 2,000 million euros by 2013. Details of the Bank's new commercial image will be announced shortly. Together with the development of the new name and logo, the company has established a brand deployment plan, which will see the brand implemented on the corporate website, institutional communications, correspondence with clients and all of the 2 Bank's external elements, through a process whereby it will coexist with the brands of the seven savings banks that belong to the IPS. Leader in retail banking At the time of its inception, the bank is the leader in retail banking in Spain, with a market share of 11.8% in deposits and of 11.4% in loans. It has a presence in all of the provinces of Spain, with a market share of more than 10% in ten of them. Besides its broad national coverage, the company has international presence in Beijing, Dublin, Lisbon, London, Miami, Milan, Munich, Porto, Paris, Shanghai, Warsaw and Vienna. The new Group, whose registered name is Banco Financiero y de Ahorros, S.A., has its company headquarters in Valencia and operational base in Madrid. 100% of all profits from its seven shareholders will be integrated today: Caja Madrid has a 52.06% stake in the Group, Bancaja 37.70%, La Caja de Canarias 2.45%, Caja de Ávila 2.33%, Caixa Laietana 2.11%, Caja Segovia 2.01% and Caja Rioja 1.34%. 3.