Spanish Banks

Spain, already struggling to contain its public debts, may need to pump more taxpayer money into its ailing banks to clear away tens of billions of dollars in bad real estate loans, the International Monetary Fund reported on Wednesday. In an overview of the country's financial system , the IMF said that despite extensive restructuring, Spain's banking sector "remains vulnerable. " It needs more capital and a strategy for quickly clearing away the legacy of a collapsing property bubble.

Most reports about business leaders—whether they come from academics, journalists, or consultants—tend to focus on the best cases, with lengthy attempts to explain why a particular company or its leader has been successful. But what about the worst? All too often, glaring examples of business leadership gone wrong get pushed aside, tossed into the dustbin of history with little reflection on how others might avoid similar fates. If failure really is a better teacher than success, then we're wasting a chance to learn from the corporate...

Most reports about business leaders—whether they come from academics, journalists, or consultants—tend to focus on the best cases, with lengthy attempts to explain why a particular company or its leader has been successful. But what about the worst? All too often, glaring examples of business leadership gone wrong get pushed aside, tossed into the dustbin of history with little reflection on how others might avoid similar fates. If failure really is a better teacher than success, then we're wasting a chance to learn from the corporate...

Ireland may need a further round of European help to keep its financial bailout program on track as it faces fallout from the region's deepening recession, the International Monetary Fund reported Monday. The euro zone's slowdown prompted the IMF to cut its forecast for growth in Ireland , which is the only bailed-out country to see its economy start expanding again. The other two, Greece and Portugal, have continued to slide. The IMF said European countries should step forward with more help for Ireland.

ATHENS — Europe's economic woes escalated Friday as fears mounted over troubled Spanish banks and the credit rating agency Fitch further downgraded Greece's debt, citing heightened worries that the country might be forced to abandon the euro. Concern was focused on Madrid a day after a dramatic sell-off of troubled Bankia, one of Spain's biggest banks. Rumors of a quickened pace in depositor withdrawals — denied by officials — were fueling investor fear. Underscoring the mounting concern over Spain's financial...

MADRID — Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said Thursday that he was in talks with fellow European leaders about shoring up this nation's troubled financial system, with a deal possibly taking shape behind the scenes that could see Madrid ultimately receive what some have dubbed a "bailout lite. " Rajoy said at a news conference that he was waiting to determine how much cash the country needs to stave off a full-blown banking crisis before settling on a final figure needed to recapitalize Spain's...

Portugal may need in excess of $100 billion to keep functioning while it restructures its economy in coming years, a top European official said Thursday, as European leaders began to come to grips with the latest crisis in their region. European Union heads of state gathered in Brussels for a two-day summit intended to focus on new efforts at bolstering the European economy, but it will likely be dominated by Portugal's possible need of an emergency bailout. ...

LONDON — Two and half years after the start of Europe's debt crisis, Spain on Saturday became the fourth and by far the largest euro-zone nation to seek an international bailout, with financial leaders from the currency bloc declaring a deal that could inject as much $125 billion into the country's ailing banks . The humbling request — by a nation of 47 million that sought to fend off the embarrassment of a bailout for months — came...

MADRID — Spain's recession worsened in the second quarter as the government's austerity push to reduce the euro area's third-biggest budget deficit and a slump in consumer spending offset growth in exports. Gross domestic product fell 0.4 percent from the previous quarter, when it declined 0.3 percent, the Madrid-based National Statistics Institute said Tuesday. That's in line with an estimate published July 30. Separately, Spain's borrowing costs fell to the lowest in three months at an auction...

Ireland may need a further round of European help to keep its financial bailout program on track as it faces fallout from the region's deepening recession, the International Monetary Fund reported Monday. The euro zone's slowdown prompted the IMF to cut its forecast for growth in Ireland , which is the only bailed-out country to see its economy start expanding again. The other two, Greece and Portugal, have continued to slide. The IMF said European countries should step forward with more help for Ireland.

MADRID — Spain's recession worsened in the second quarter as the government's austerity push to reduce the euro area's third-biggest budget deficit and a slump in consumer spending offset growth in exports. Gross domestic product fell 0.4 percent from the previous quarter, when it declined 0.3 percent, the Madrid-based National Statistics Institute said Tuesday. That's in line with an estimate published July 30. Separately, Spain's borrowing costs fell to the lowest in three months at an auction Tuesday after the...

LONDON — Two and half years after the start of Europe's debt crisis, Spain on Saturday became the fourth and by far the largest euro-zone nation to seek an international bailout, with financial leaders from the currency bloc declaring a deal that could inject as much $125 billion into the country's ailing banks . The humbling request — by a nation of 47 million that sought to fend off the embarrassment of a bailout for months — came...

MADRID — Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said Thursday that he was in talks with fellow European leaders about shoring up this nation's troubled financial system, with a deal possibly taking shape behind the scenes that could see Madrid ultimately receive what some have dubbed a "bailout lite. " Rajoy said at a news conference that he was waiting to determine how much cash the country needs to stave off a full-blown banking crisis before settling on a final figure needed to recapitalize Spain's...

MADRID — Spain's treasury minister said Tuesday that his country was being choked off from access to credit, sounding the country's clearest call for help yet in the 2 1 / 2 -year-old crisis that could leave one of Europe's largest economies on life support. Only three small euro-zone countries have resorted to international bailouts and the hard conditions that come with them, and Spain, the currency union's fourth-largest economy, is desperate to avoid becoming by far the largest...

LESS THAN 11 months ago, the Spanish lender BFA-Bankia passed the European Banking Authority's "stress test" with flying colors. According to the firm's July 15 news release, the results confirmed that "BFA-Bankia has excess capital which can be used to deal with any adverse scenario. " By March, BFA-Bankia was hemorrhaging cash so fast that the Spanish government had to intervene, at a cost last estimated at $24 billion — and possibly rising. Investors in Spain and Europe and around the world fear that...

U.S. and European officials, who just weeks ago seemed to be getting a handle on the euro zone's financial crisis, are now scrambling to prevent a new round of problems from pulling down some of Europe's largest economies. European Central Bank President Mario Draghi warned in Brussels on Thursday that he considered the euro zone's current structure "unsustainable," and said the region's governments must surrender far more budget and regulatory power to a central authority if the...

LESS THAN 11 months ago, the Spanish lender BFA-Bankia passed the European Banking Authority's "stress test" with flying colors. According to the firm's July 15 news release, the results confirmed that "BFA-Bankia has excess capital which can be used to deal with any adverse scenario. " By March, BFA-Bankia was hemorrhaging cash so fast that the Spanish government had to intervene, at a cost last estimated at $24 billion — and possibly rising. Investors in Spain and Europe and around the world fear that BFA-Bankia's plight is just the beginning for...

Spiralling inflation. A collapsed banking system. Hundreds of billions of dollars in unpayable debts and likely isolation from the world financial community. That much Greece can count on — at least initially — if its political paralysis continues and it leaves the euro. But the fallout would extend well beyond Greece's borders, and analysts have been struggling to grasp whether it would upend markets as the collapse of Lehman Brothers did in 2008 or — if Europe's financial systems...

ATHENS — Europe's economic woes escalated Friday as fears mounted over troubled Spanish banks and the credit rating agency Fitch further downgraded Greece's debt, citing heightened worries that the country might be forced to abandon the euro. Concern was focused on Madrid a day after a dramatic sell-off of troubled Bankia, one of Spain's biggest banks. Rumors of a quickened pace in depositor withdrawals — denied by officials — were fueling investor fear. Underscoring the mounting concern over Spain's financial...

Spiralling inflation. A collapsed banking system. Hundreds of billions of dollars in unpayable debts and likely isolation from the world financial community. That much Greece can count on — at least initially — if its political paralysis continues and it leaves the euro. But the fallout would extend well beyond Greece's borders, and analysts have been struggling to grasp whether it would upend markets as the collapse of Lehman Brothers did in 2008 or — if Europe's financial systems...