The president, Carlos Torres, and the CEO, Onur Geng, offer different versions each step about the bank's interest in making acquisitionsThe CEO of BBVA, Onur Genç, and the Chairman, Carlos Torres |Europe PressBBVA has begun to tire investors out with its lack of clarity about its purchase and merger policy.For months, the main managers of the bank have sent contradictory messages on this matter, which is key for the future.As different financial sources and analysis houses, who prefer to remain anonymous, point out to THE OBJECTIVE, an entity of such magnitude should not adopt such an attitude and claim an unalterable position to generate trust.The problem, according to these sources, is that the division of opinions is a symptom of the fracture in the understanding between the management team.And although President Carlos Torres came out a few days ago to publicly defend the CEO, Onur Genç, the market is convinced that there is a distance between the two.A clash that has been the talk of the BBVA headquarters since at least this summer, when within the entity the 'number two' was paid off.The battle between both executives comes from afar.Two years ago at least.Then, the CEO won the battle when the negotiations broke down to integrate Sabadell and bet on the Turkish Garanti.Genç, of Ottoman origin, managed to get the board of directors to support his strategy of making a new investment in his country of origin despite the uncertainty of the economy and to leave the Catalan bank aside.And that despite the ECB's reticence about this turnaround.Since the breakdown of the talks with Sabadell, in November 2020, the two main managers of BBVA have opened and closed the doors to acquisition processes continuously over time, with opposing versions, which is causing a fed up among the analysis houses and investment banks.For example, when BBVA launched its new strategic plan in November of last year, Torres had no problem giving wings to the possibility of new negotiations with the Catalan entity to address a merger.A few days ago, he saw this eventuality and any other operation of this type as very complicated."The efforts to integrate an entity are not worth it," said the president.Also in these last days of September, the CEO of BBVA has given different versions to the market.In two conferences with analysts, Genç has expressed the group's interest in exploring acquisitions in Spain and other markets in which it operates.An interest that days later had completely vanished, since he himself assured that the bank "has no plans to grow with mergers."BBVA has excess capital to undertake a corporate operation.And investors have been asking the Spanish group to carry out some to increase its diversification after leaving the US, which reported a cushion of more than 8,000 million to spend.This money has already been invested in part in the repurchase of shares to raise the remuneration to shareholders (3,500 million) and in the increase of the participation in the Turkish Garanti up to 86% (1,400 million), as well as in some investments in digital entities such as the Brazilian Neon.Precisely the path marked out by BBVA is to grow through purchases in the digital world and by entering a market where it does not operate with its online franchise.For this reason, investors do not understand why the bank's leadership does not stop confusing its position on acquisitions of traditional entities and makes it clear, once and for all, that it will only put money on platforms that operate remotely.Although at the moment, all the placements in this field are generating losses for the Spanish group.In fact, Torres himself pointed out a few days ago that BBVA intends to continue with its strategy of landing in a European country with its digital banking.A year ago it launched in Italy in this way and already has 108,000 customers, exceeding the objectives set at its launch.Now, after this success, it is preparing to reach other markets where it is not yet present with this formula.In Mexico, its main market, BBVA has not been able to attend the Banamex sale process due to competition issues.And it has decided to take a leap in its activity organically to try to maintain leadership in the Aztec country.And in other countries, the opportunities have not been many.Santander, after analyzing the operation, has dropped out of the process, leaving La Caixa as the only Spaniard with the possibility of taking advantage of this opportunity through its partner Inbursa, owned by businessman Carlos Slim.In Spain, the purchase opportunities have not presented themselves either, since after the intense restructuring process the options have been considerably limited.At the moment, no entity is willing to embark on an integration.Not even Sabadell, which is the eternal candidate.The Catalan group is immersed in a solo project, like the rest of its main rivals.Copyright The Objective Media, SL 2022. 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