Catalan independence: Major banks and businesses move out of Barcelona

A NUMBER of high profile companies have already announced that they will move their head offices out of Barcelona and others are considering their future.

It seems that the Sabadell Bank has made the decision to move in the event of independence to either Alicante or Madrid whilst it is strongly expected that CaixaBank will decide at an Extraordinary General Meeting to look to move to the Balearics.

Other companies who are definitely moving are telecommunications operator Eurona which has properties acquired following takeovers in Madrid whilst dental specialists Proclinic Expert have their eyes set on Zaragoza.

In addition and supposedly not due to the possibility of independence, Oryzon, a biotech company founded in Barcelona in 2000, confirmed through the Spanish  stock exchange that it will be moving its head office to Madrid.

Independence could prove to be a major problem for banks headquartered in Cataluña as in the event that the new Catalan State should fall into financial difficulty, it would be unlikely to underwrite the liabilities of banks based there, whilst those who have head offices in Spain would continue to receive protection.

Share prices fell with the announcement of the result of the referendum but for those who have either announced or indicated the likelihood of moving out of the region have seen some very significant gains.