By Leire Barrera
Of EFE DOW JONES
MADRID (EFE Dow Jones)--Rodrigo Rato, the former managing
director of the International Monetary Fund, is set to become the
chairman of Spanish savings bank Caja Madrid early next year, a
person familiar with the matter said Wednesday.
Rato, who was also Spain's finance minister between 1996 and
2004, could take up the post in the country's second-largest
savings bank by assets in January or February.
Rato, aged 60, will be taking over a lender that has been
largely paralyzed during the last year by infighting between the
political parties and unions that control the bank. Caja Madrid is
also struggling to cope with a fast-growing pool of souring loans.
This paralysis has so far left Caja Madrid out of the merger
activity that's engulfing many of its rivals in Spain.
According to the person familiar with the situation, Rato would
have a mandate to turn Caja Madrid into a consolidator of savings
banks with the goal of increasing its size beyond that of its chief
rival, Barcelona-based La Caixa. Rato would also seek to expand the
lender's footprint abroad.
Caja Madrid has about EUR192 billion in assets, well below La
Caixa's EUR266 billion.
Last year, Caja Madrid bought a small lender in Florida, and it
also owns part of a mortgage lender in Mexico. It is the top
shareholder of Spanish airline Iberia Lineas Aereas de Espana SA
(IBLA.MC), which is planning to merge with British airways PLC
(BAY.LN).
Company Web site: www.cajamadrid.es
-By Leire Barrera, EFE Dow Jones, +34 913958130,
leire.barrera@dowjones.com