BBVA and Banco Santander agreed on the need to complete the banking union in the eurozone in order to compete under the same regulatory framework in all parts. And Onur Genç, CEO of BBVA, and his colleague from Banco Santander Hector Grisi, They agreed to greater European integration because, although there is common supervision, there is no banking union.

Both directors met at the first round table of the conference “Strategic challenges and priorities of the banking sector for the next European legislative cycle”, organized by the Spanish Banking Association. During his speech, Grisi focused on the need to create a regulatory framework that allows banks to compete not only in Europe, but also in other markets, and insisted that we must adapt to new times.

In this sense, the CEO of BBVA called for greater European integration, since although there is unified supervision, there is no banking union. “Complete the creation of a banking union and a capital markets union, that’s what I have to tell the authorities,” He added that the request, which the CEO of Banco Santander immediately signed.

Regarding competition, both managers praised the role of the other bank, emphasizing the importance of competition. However, in this aspect, Grisi recalled that they are competing with Apple, the largest fintech company in the world, with different rules and having access to all the data. “Real-time data is the most important thing.”. And he added that they should have the same capabilities and that the point is to ensure the security of that data.

At the same time, Onur Genç added that Spanish banks, in this case he spoke on behalf of BBVA, but also mentioned Banco Santander: “We are not ready for everything digital, we are constantly reinventing ourselves.” For this reason, he noted that it is important to partner with fintech companies because banks have structure and fintech companies focus on strategy.

Both bankers agreed that Spain, like the rest of Europe, needed “profitable banks” to be able to finance the economy and succeed. Genç insisted that banking must be able to support the green and technological transition in the Old Continent.

In the same spirit, Banco Santander CEO Héctor Grisi stressed the importance of understanding that without economic growth it will be “very difficult” to make this transition and face European challenges such as demographics or globalization.