Business News & Financial News

In Spain 3rd February 2026

Santander Acquires Webster, Becoming the 10th Largest Bank in the U.S. After Posting €14.1 Billion Profit in 2025

“If you are not in the U.S., you cannot aspire to be a global bank,” stated Ana Botín, Executive Chair of Banco Santander, explaining the acquisition of Webster for $12.2 billion—an all-stock transaction. She described the move as a “growth operation” that will “allow us to increase earnings by 7% and positions us to be one of the most competitive banks in the U.S., with the expectation of reaching an…

European economy, In Europe 2nd February 2026

Eurozone growth loses momentum in Q4 2025, but unemployment rate returns to historic lows

Bankinter | Growth lost momentum in Q4 2025, as expected, but the unemployment rate returned to historic lows in December. Preliminary GDP was up 1.3% year-on-year in Q4 2025, in line with expectations and compared to 1.4% previously. The unemployment rate was 6.2% in December, compared to the estimated and previous rate of 6.3%. Bankinter analysis team’s view: European growth continues to be led by the peripheral countries. Spain and…

In the World 3rd February 2026

Trump confirms Kevin Warsh as Jerome Powell’s successor at helm of Fed

Renta 4 | We have finally received confirmation from Trump that Kevin Warsh will replace Powell at the helm of the Fed starting next May, something that the market had already been anticipating since Thursday afternoon. For his confirmation, approval by the Senate Banking Committee and then by the Senate itself is required. We recall that Republican Tillis, of the Banking Committee, said he would not approve any candidate until…

“We need to approach negotiations with the U.S. on terms that are completely different from those currently being proposed”

Says Antonio Bonet, president of the Club of Spanish Exporters and Investors. He points out that “Europe has a single tariff applied by all member states, but the U.S. applies a tariff to each country, meaning it can decide that the tariff applied to Spanish black olives is higher than that for Italian olives, as it did at one point. So there is a part of the negotiation between Europe…

“Fifteen years ago, the European economy was larger than that of the U.S. Today, the U.S. economy is one and a half times that of Europe”

“It is a shame that we are able to mobilize economic resources for large-scale projects abroad, but not in our Spanish market”

In an interview with Consejeros magazine, Sacyr’s coordinating advisor, Elena Jiménez de Andrade, explains that now “We have great capacity to win projects, a capacity that until now contrasted with a series of financial limitations and balance sheet size. However, in this strategic cycle, we are going to eliminate those barriers. That is why we have set an ambitious goal for 2033: to triple the value of our assets. We…

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