The weakest links in the crisis of the Spanish Savings Banks

The bail-out of the Spanish financial system was the largest in the Eurozone. The Spanish savings banks were the main direct recipients of public support between 2010 and 2012 and most of the bail-out money was transferred to the savings banks after a series of mergers and acquisitions were completed among these entities. This article analyses the evolution of the savings banks in the years of economic growth preceding the crisis and their performance in the early aftermath of the 2007 crash using previously unexplored data from the annual financial statements of the 45 savings banks. We conclude it is possible to observe distinct behaviours among the savings banks during the boom years and we estimate the largest part of the bail-out money corresponds to losses registered by a small number of savings banks that were already severely impaired before the merger process got under wa