At an awards ceremony held yesterday in New York, Isidro Fainé, Chairman of CaixaBank, 'la Caixa' and the 'la Caixa' Foundation, received the "Business Leader of the Year" award from the Spain - U.S. Chamber of Commerce. The award distinguishes business leaders that have made a significant contribution to the economic growth of Spain or the United States and to improving business relations between the two countries.
The awards ceremony was attended by more than 300 representatives from both Spain and the United States from the world of finance, business, politics, culture and charitable and social organizations.
The Chairman of the Spain - U.S. chamber of Commerce, Xavier Ruiz Coloma, praised the success of the "la Caixa" Group, noting that its success "has been possible thanks to the vision, courage, leadership and integrity of Isidro Fainé".
The Chamber of Commerce thus acknowledged the "important leadership and foresight" shown by Isidro Fainé at the helm of CaixaBank, in creating the bank and listing it on the stock exchange in order to adapt to the current difficult and complex circumstances, as well as his "proven commitment to society" via the "la Caixa" Foundation, which has made the group a "world champion of social responsibility".
"la Caixa" Foundation funds and runs social, educational, cultural and scientific programs and has an annual budget of 500 million euro, making it the second largest foundation in Europe and the fifth largest in the world. It also runs international development projects in more than 30 countries.
Spain's strengths for economic recovery
Isidro Fainé thanked the Chamber of Commerce for the award, saying the initiative represented "fresh encouragement" for CaixaBank to "strengthen our commitment to service: to our individual customers, to companies, to society and also to the world at large".
Fainé expressed his "firm conviction" that Spain "would recover soon" from its current economic difficulties thanks to its many strengths and assets and from having "learnt the crucial lessons that have been learned from this difficult period". He added that Spain will be a "better country" in the years to come and "will once again become a major player in the world economic sphere".
Among Spain's "strengths and assets", Fainé highlighted a "privileged geographic position", "human and entrepreneurial capital" and a globally recognised "positioning in the upper technological sectors". He also emphasised several signs of improvement in the Spanish economy, such as the "upward trend of the Spanish export sector, a significant recovery in terms of competitiveness, a correction of our foreign trade balance deficit, the tough banking restructuring being undertaken and measures being adopted to achieve the reduction of our public deficit".
Fainé pointed out that "la Caixa" Group has investments in top-tier companies (Telefónica, Repsol, Gas Natural or Abertis) standing at around 15 billion euro, "which allows it to participate in their decisionmaking processes with the aim of attracting and maintaining talent and knowledge in our country, generate wealth and jobs".
Committed leadership with global vision
The Chairman of CaixaBank called for what he considers true leadership during times of turmoil: "modern leaders, leaders with global vision and committed to making a better world today and a more prosperous and promising one for tomorrow". Fainé invited those in attendance to work toward creating a world built on "justice and good judgement, guided by wisdom and counsel that exercises sagacity and caution and is inspired by courage and action".
Furthermore, Fainé asked "to not let themselves be overcome by the frustration and pessimism of the economic crisis that is affecting some countries". "Neither the complexity of the situation nor the severity of the moment, nor the fragility of some economies must prevent us from correctly envisioning the comparative advantages we have at our disposal."
The Chairman of CaixaBank said, "now, more than ever, we must hold on to our perspective, and that means stepping back for a moment from the adversities, examining and reconsidering our strategies, conducting an in-depth analysis of our very foundations and highlighting our strengths as a company, but also as a country."
The Chairman of CaixaBank, Isidro Fainé added that the bank invests 25% of profits into social projects in the same country or territory in which it runs its financial and entrepreneurial activities. The "la Caixa" Foundation, as part of its commitment to education as a means of creating opportunity, has a student grants program that has helped 1,300 young Spanish graduates to study at prestigious universities in the United States, such as Harvard, MIT and New York's Columbia University.
About the Spain U.S. Chamber of Commerce
Founded in New York in 1959, the Spain-U.S. Chamber of Commerce fosters the economic ties between Spain and the United States and has grown to become one of the leading transatlantic business organizations. The Chamber is a private, not-for-profit, membership institution that represents the interests of companies that have established, or are interested in establishing business and commercial relations between these two countries.
The Chamber provides its members with access to practical, measurable business expansion opportunities by delivering high-calibre networking and targeted marketing platforms and events, as well as top-quality business intelligence and regulatory advice and influence. It also provides a forum in which Spanish business executives in the United States and American business executives with Spanish interests may identify, discuss and pursue common interests and opportunities regarding their activities.
About CaixaBank
CaixaBank group operates based on a universal banking model that provides personalised, high-quality and innovative services suited to the needs of its more than 13 million customers. The sales staff (26,728) at CaixaBank's extensive branch network (6,600) are at the heart of the bank's relations with its customers, supported by an efficient and forward-looking multi-channel distribution system.
The bank manages over 526,528 million euro in banking business, according to figures as per 30 September 2012, with total customer deposits of 295,774 million euro.
The bank, overseen by Chairman Isidro Fainé and CEO Juan María Nin, has consolidated its leading position in retail banking thanks to its strong commercial operations, risk-appropriate management, foresight and consistent innovation.
Isidro Fainé holds a PHD in Economics, an ISMP in Business Administration from Harvard University and a Graduate in Senior Management from the IESE Business School. He is also a tenured member of the Royal Academy of Economic and Financial Sciences and of the Royal Academy of Doctors. Isidro Fainé is currently Chairman of "la Caixa", CaixaBank, Criteria CaixaHolding and the "la Caixa" Foundation. He is Chairman of the Association of Spanish Savings Banks (CECA), Vice Chairman of the European Savings Bank Group (ESBG) and founding member of the Management Committee of the Deposit Guarantee Fund for Savings Banks. Mr. Fainé is also Vice Chairman of Telefónica, Abertis, Repsol and Sociedad General de Aguas de Barcelona. He is board member of The Bank of East Asia and BPI, Chairman of the Spanish Confederation of Directors and Executives (CEDE), the Spanish chapter of the Club of Rome and the Círculo Financiero. He is also Deputy Chairman of IPEMED (Institut de Prospective Économique du Monde Méditerranéen).
