Spain Takes Control of Bank, Suspends Its Stock

The Bank of Spain named a provisional management committee to replace the directors of Banesto, the country’s fourth-largest bank. The Spanish central bank acted just hours after Banesto’s stock was suspended from trading on the country’s stock exchanges. Over the past four months, Banesto’s share price has fallen 33% in reaction to a spate of negative news, including poor results from investments in Spain’s recession damaged industrial firms and growing loan losses. The central bank named Alfredo Saenz Abad, vice president of Banco Bilbao Vizcaya, to head the Banesto committee and guaranteed the accounts of depositors in Banesto.