la Caixa Group passes the Oliver Wyman stress test with a capital surplus of 5.72bn euro

• Under Oliver Wyman's adverse scenario Spain's leading bank would have a capital surplus of 5.72bn euro and keep its Tier 1 capital ratio at 9.5%, 3.5% more than the required 6%.
• According to Isidro Fainé, Chairman of CaixaBank and "la Caixa", "the result confirms our financial strength and stability, as well as our capacity to withstand even the most adverse scenarios, thanks to prudent management and foresight as well as our leadership in the Spanish banking market".
• "The conclusions from this exercise represent independent confirmation that "la Caixa" Group is capable of strong and solvent growth and of achieving the targets laid out in our Strategic Plan", said Juan María Nin, CEO of CaixaBank.

"la Caixa" Group, the leading bank in the Spanish financial system, has comfortably passed the stress tests conducted by Oliver Wyman, an independent consultancy firm, under the supervision of Spanish authorities, the European Commission, the European Central Bank, the European Banking Authority and the International Monetary Fund. The bank's surplus in the adverse scenario would stand at 5.72bn euro, with a Tier 1 capital ratio of 9.5%, 3.5% higher than the minimum of 6%.

According to Isidro Fainé, Chairman of CaixaBank and "la Caixa", "the result confirms our financial strength and stability, as well as our capacity to withstand even the most adverse scenarios, thanks to prudent management and foresight as well as our leadership in the Spanish banking market".

"The conclusions from this exercise represent independent confirmation that "la Caixa" Group is capable of strong and solvent growth and of achieving the targets laid out in our Strategic Plan", said Juan María Nin, CEO of CaixaBank and Managing Director of "la Caixa".

The result confirms "la Caixa" Group's position among those banks that would require no additional capital in any of the tested scenarios. In fact, in the central scenario "la Caixa"'s surplus capital would stand at 9.42bn euro, with a Tier 1 capital ratio of 14.4%, 5.4% more than the 9% minimum. The Oliver Wyman assessment take into consideration the merger with Banca Cívica, completed on 3 August by CaixaBank, part of the "la Caixa" Group.

The significant capital surplus is a measure of "la Caixa"'s wise management in recent years, with the majority of its business concentrated in Spain.

The good results were also supported by the bank's leading position in terms of capital at the close of 2011, its early provision allocations and the bank's strong net operating income, as well as the quality of its loans.

Isidro Fainé also emphasized that "publishing the results of the Oliver Wyman stress test is an unprecedented, positive and demanding show of transparency, underscoring the strength of most of the Spanish financial system, and should, bring it the standing it deserves".