By Ilan Brat
The chairman of Spain's largest bank said Monday that the
European Union could solve the problems in his country's financial
sector by contributing EUR40 billion in some form to some of its
most troubled banks, including Bankia SA (BKIA.MC), Spanish
state-owned news agency Efe reports Monday.
In comments to the news agency in Brasilia, Brazil, where he
accompanied Spain's king during an official visit, Emilio Botin, of
Santander SA (STD), rejected the prospect of a bailout for Spain's
government, saying any kind of "rescue" would be "bad for
Spain."
He advocated finding a way for some European entity or stability
mechanism to send around EUR40 billion to some of Spain's troubled
banks, including Bankia, Catalunya Caixa and others.
"Nothing more is needed," Efe quotes him as saying.
The Spanish government has been struggling to construct a viable
plan for recapitalizing Bankia, now the country's third-largest
bank by assets, after its management requested EUR19 billion from
the government in May.
Write to Ilan Brat at ilan.brat@wsj.com