Banca March
 | |
| Family-owned company | |
| Industry |
Banking Financial services |
| Founded | 1926 |
| Headquarters |
Av. d'Alexandre Rosselló, 8 07002 Palma de Mallorca |
Area served | Spain, mainly the Balearic and Canary islands |
Key people |
Carlos March, Chairman Francisco Verdú, CEO |
| Products |
Retail banking Commercial banking Investment banking Investment management Private Equity |
| €148.3 m (2009) | |
| Total assets | €12.1 bn (2009) |
| Total equity | CHF7,834m (2009) |
Number of employees | 1,434 (2009) |
| Subsidiaries | Corporación Financiera Alba |
| Website | bancamarch.es |
Banca March is a Spanish bank headquartered in Palma de Mallorca.
The bank was founded in Palma de Mallorca by Juan March Ordinas in 1926. In the beginning, its sphere of influence was limited to Majorca but it eventually grew to be the leading independent bank in the Balearic Islands. In 1974 it initiated an expansion onto the Spanish peninsula and in 1989 it began serious operations in the Canary Islands.
At the beginning of the 21st century Banca March has continued to expand its operations in the Balearic and Canary Islands, has begun operations in the tourist destinations of Andalusia and is in the process of modernizing it offices in Madrid, Barcelona, and London.
2010 EU banking stress test exercise
On July 2010 Banca March came on top of the European Union banking stress test exercise in terms of Tier 1 capital ratio. According to the Financial Times:
While most scrutiny on Friday focused on the seven banks, of the 91 tested, that fell short of the 6 per cent tier one capital ratio pass mark, the exercise also shines the spotlight on the banks with the strongest capital positions.
Banca March, with a stressed tier one capital ratio of 19 per cent, is an anomaly in the Spanish financial system. Neither caja nor stock market-listed lender, March is an 84-year-old family-owned bank and equity investment group based on Mallorca.
A small branch network serves mainly wealthy clients, business families and companies looking for one-stop retail and corporate banking, asset management and financial products such as insurance and pensions. Non-performing loans account for 3.5 per cent of total assets, compared with a system average of 5.5 per cent.
As other Spanish lenders grapple with offloading multi-billion euro property portfolios acquired via foreclosures, debt-for-equity and debt-for-equity swaps, March is sitting on just €97m ($125m) of real estate. Its only exposure to sovereign debt is €105m of Spanish bonds.[1]