Fainé and Oliu, the last bankers of an era

BarcelonaIf a family photo of the main bankers in Spain had been taken in 2007, two Catalan executives would have appeared in the image. They were Isidre Fainé (Manresa, 1942) and Josep Oliu (Sabadell, 1949). The former was president of the Pension Fund (when it was still a savings bank) and the latter held the same position at Banco Sabadell. At that time, shortly before the Great Recession, they both had a solid career and were in a moment of professional fulfillment as they approached the threshold of standard retirement: Fainé was 65 years old and Oliu was on his way to 59. Yes the same family photo we took 15 years later, of the bankers of that time we would still find two in the picture: Fainé himself, who will turn 80 in July and chairs the influential La Caixa Banking Foundation, and Oliu, who now he has 72. And nothing indicates that they are thinking of leaving him.

At the end of February, a meeting of the Board of Trustees of the Banking Foundation —which is the largest shareholder in CaixaBank and also decisive in Naturgy, Telefónica and Cellnex— was agreed to renew the board of trustees. And there, the continuity of Fainé in his current office was approved, the one with the most power in Catalonia, for another four years, until he was 83. The entry of two figures such as Pablo Isla was also approved ( former president of Inditex) José María Álvarez-Pallete, current president of Telefónica. In both cases, they entered to fill the vacancies of historians who could not continue due to statutes, such as Salvador Alemany (president of Saba) and César Alierta (predecessor of Álvarez-Pallete).

The regulations of the La Caixa Foundation divide its patrons into three groups and two of them have a temporary limitation on their position. Some can be patrons for a maximum of two years and some have a limit of 12 (three four-year terms), including Alemany and Alierta. But a third group, those with financial experience, does not set a time limit. This is where the Foundation frames Fainé and other board members such as Juan José López Burniol, vice-president of the organization; Isabel Estapé; Asunción Ortega, Javier Godó.

Sources from the foundation confirmed to ARA that there is no succession plan planned for the financier from Manresa, which is a delicate issue and often generates tensions in large companies. Fainé himself responded strongly to a journalist who, in April 2017, asked him, given his age, about his retirement. “If you want, you and I go out on the Diagonal and do a race,” he told her.

Oliu, 32 years in the dome

Josep Oliu had to face the same question ten days ago. A journalist asked him if he had any plans to resign and the president of Sabadell answered him with a question: “Do you know how long I have been president?”, He said. And he answered himself. “I have been president for 22 years and, if I add up the stage of CEO, 32”, replied the banker, son of another president of the Catalan entity based in Alicante. And after pointing out, he wanted to make it clear that he was in no hurry to fold: “I have no intention of leaving the presidency as long as the council believes my presence is necessary.”

Sources from Sabadell point out that the governance model applied by the entity is what the regulator is asking for. “Non-executive chairmen are the model promoted by the ECB in its best practice recommendations,” the bank said. In addition, in this case the statutes also play in favor of the continuity of the president of the bank. If he were executive president, Sabadell’s internal regulations set a retirement age at 75. But since last year, following the changes following the deep crisis it suffered in 2020, Oliu has delegated executive functions to the new CEO, César González-Bueno, in what was a difficult transition for the banker. Catalan but which has allowed him, of course, not to have a time limit in office.

As for his remuneration, Fainé does not receive a salary as president of La Caixa — yes he does for other positions—; Oliu received in the last year as executive president, in 2021, 1.7 million salary and 7.4 of remuneration from his pension plan.

It is worth mentioning that neither Fainé nor Oliu have had internal pressure to leave the post. The situation at La Caixa and Sabadell is very different from that experienced for months at Unicaja, where Braulio Medel (74) has shielded his continuity as president this week from its founding by voting for himself . One of the patterns, he revealed The confidentialreproached him for missing an “ethical and aesthetic” opportunity to step aside.