Spain's Banco Sabadell agreed on Wednesday to move its headquarters back to Catalonia, the first major company to do so after thousands left as a result of the region's 2017 independence bid.
The decision was approved by the lender's board at a separate meeting and comes as Sabadell struggles to fend off a hostile takeover bid from its biggest rival BBVA.
The bank, which was founded in 1881 in Sabadell, a city of around 200,000 north of Barcelona, has been cited as important to the economy of the wealthy north-eastern region as one of the reasons for opposing the takeover bid launched in May.
The board decided “it is time to return to the place from where it came now that the conditions that prompted its move seven years ago no longer exist,” Sabadell said in a statement.
The bank moved its legal headquarters to Alicante in the neighboring region of Valencia in October 2017, shortly after Catalonia went ahead with a secession referendum that was deemed illegal by the courts and subsequently confirmed or -short-term dependence.
Around 7,000 companies from all sectors moved their headquarters out of Catalonia at the time, including Sabadell's competitor, CaixaBank.
Many customers had withdrawn their deposits from banks with headquarters in Catalonia to protect themselves from the possible consequences of a unilateral declaration of independence.
If Catalonia had succeeded in breaking away from Spain, the European Central Bank's deposit insurance scheme would no longer protect bank customers in the region.
The head of Catalonia's regional government, Salvador Illa from Spain's ruling Socialist party, said Sabadell's decision was “good news” that shows “we are on the right track”.
Illa became head of Catalonia's government last year after a regional election, ending more than a decade of separatist rule.
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