The future of TSB as an independent bank is hanging in the balance.
Spanish banking giant Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria (BBVA) has taken the unprecedented act of launching a hostile takeover of Sabadell, which owns the TSB.
BBVA has proposed an all-share merger worth some £10.5bn directly to Sabadell shareholders. Analysts believe that this is just the first offer and BBVA will have to come back with more money if it wants to win the takeover battle. One suggestion is that BBVA could propose to sell TSB, which Sabadell bought for £1.7bn in 2015, and use the money to offer a cash element to shareholders. The consequences for TSB jobs and terms and conditions of employment of a forced sale could be catastrophic.
In any event, this takeover is not going to be over anytime soon and TSB’s future is going to be decided in Spain and not the UK. The TSB Board are bit players and will have no influence whatsoever over what happens next.
That is borne out by the presentation from BBVA explaining the rationale for the takeover. You would be forgiven for thinking that TSB didn’t exist, it’s not mentioned once. BBVA say that the: “integration [is] expected to be seamless.”. That’s exactly what Sabadell said when it took over TSB and nearly destroyed the bank because of the incompetence of senior executives.
The Prudential Regulatory Authority (PRA) do have a role to play because TSB is a UK registered bank and the takeover can’t go ahead without their approval. TBU will be writing to the PRA asking it to ensure that jobs and terms and conditions of employment are protected.
Members with any questions should contact the Union’s Advice Team on 01234 716029 (Option 1).
MEMBERS SHOULD PASS THIS NEWSLETTER ON TO THEIR COLLEAGUES SO THEY TOO CAN BENEFIT FROM THE ONLY INDEPENDENT TRADE UNION IN TSB.