This meant that private sector solutions were prioritised, as has been seen in the processes that have unfolded in the past few months. Today, it is fair to say that the restructuring and recapitalisation of Spain’s financial institutions is well under way. It is now just a case of formalising and implementing the agreements reached. As a result, Spain’s deposit institutions that did not already have sufficient capital have now secured it, either from the markets or from the FROB. The Banco  8  BIS Review 86/2010  de España has conducted stress tests to verify that all institutions – banks, savings banks and credit co-operatives – will actually have sufficient capital available, not only for what would currently seem to be the most reasonable scenarios, but also for complex growth scenarios in the near future. Accordingly, before end-June, the Banco de España will take the steps necessary to formalise the processes already agreed and to ensure they are correctly implemented. If, by month-end, any of these processes has failed, or any institution has been left behind, the Bank will act, using the mechanisms envisaged for this purpose in the FROB legislation. Moreover, the Bank intends to publish the results of these stress tests, to reveal the deterioration estimated, the consequent capital requirements and the capital funding committed, to provide the markets with a perfectly clear idea of the situation of the Spanish banking system.
Miguel Fernández Ordóñez: Presentation of the Annual Report 2009 Address by Mr Miguel Fernández Ordóñez, Governor of the Bank of Spain, to the Governing Council of the Bank of Spain on the Presentation of the Annual Report 2009, Madrid, 16 June 2010. *  *  *  Ladies and gentlemen, The presentation of the Annual Report for 2009 is taking place at a particularly complex juncture for Europe and, most especially, for the Spanish economy. What began as an isolated fiscal crisis episode in a euro area Member State has turned into an event of systemic scope that has obliged the European authorities and national governments to adopt measures on an unprecedented scale to defend the stability of the area. At the same time, the spread and heightening of tensions have firmly focused analysts’ and markets’ attention on the situation and on economic policy responses in those countries which, like Spain, face comparatively more demanding challenges and are, consequently, perceived as potentially more vulnerable. This is a demanding conjunctural situation, for which it is difficult to find points of reference in our recent past. And more than ever before, it is important to diagnose accurately the true scale of the challenges our economy faces, to prepare promptly the tools needed to meet the challenges and to use them as decisively and forcefully as the situation requires.