Spain's largest grouping of savings banks, Bankia, on Monday named four banks to handle its planned share flotation: Bank of America-Merrill Lynch, Deutsche Bank, JP Morgan and UBS.

Spain's largest grouping of savings banks, Bankia, on Monday named four banks to handle its planned share flotation: Bank of America-Merrill Lynch, Deutsche Bank, JP Morgan and UBS.
Along with investment bank Lazard, which has been appointed advisor, the banks will be charged with drawing up the structure of the major initial public offering.
Deloitte will handle the accounting.
"It is one of the largest entries into the (Madrid) stock market in the past four years," said Bankia, a union of seven regional savings banks.
Spain's 17 regional savings banks, considered the weak link in the country's financial system, are still struggling under the weight of loans that turned sour after the 2008 property bubble collapse and are at the heart of fears the country could need an Irish-style international rescue.
According to figures published by the Bank of Spain, Bankia is the institution that requires the most capital to meet tough government requirements announced last month.
Under the new regulations, the banks must raise the proportion of core capital they hold to 8.0 percent of total assets from the current six percent, or 10.0 percent if they are unlisted.
Bankia needs 5.775 billion euros to reach a level of 10 percent of core capital, but only 1.795 billion if it enters the stock market.
Bankia made known its intention of listing on the stock market in late January as a means to increase its core capital.
"Bankia's flotation will help boost its solvency, expand its shareholder base and provide a market in liquidity for current and future shareholders of the group," it said Monday.
The Bank of Spain announced on Thursday that a total of 12 banks will need 15 billion euros to clean up their balance sheets, less than the government's ceiling of 20 billion euros and well below the predictions of experts.
Bankia emerged last year from the merger of Caja Madrid, Bancaja, Caja Insular de Ahorros de Canarias, Caixa Laietana, Caja de Avila, Caja Segovia and Caja Rioja. It claims to have more than 10 percent of the market in Spain.

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