Banco de Sabadell Profile
Banco de Sabadell, S.A. engages in banking business. The company operates mainly in Spain, the United Kingdom, and Mexico.
The main activity carried out by the company in the different jurisdictions in which it operates is banking, and fundamentally commercial banking through a wide range of products and services for large and medium-sized enterprises, SMEs, retailers and self-employed workers, professional groups, other individuals, and bancassurance.
The company's banking business operates under the following brands:
Banco Sabadell is the company's main brand. This is the leading brand in the Spanish market providing services to individuals and corporates.
TSB is the company's leading brand in the United Kingdom. It became part of the company in 2015 to provide greater competitiveness and serve an increasing number of customer needs, thus improving the banking experience in this country.
Banco Sabadell Mexico is the brand under which the bank operates in Mexico.
Furthermore, the company carries out part of its social action through Sogeviso, a subsidiary engaged in managing some of the complexities of social housing, and the Banco Sabadell Private Foundation, whose mission is to promote outreach, training and research activities in the educational, scientific and cultural fields, and to foster and support young talent.
The company was organized into the following businesses in 2022:
Banking business Spain, which groups together the Retail, Business and Corporate banking business units, where Retail and Business banking are managed under the same Branch Network:
Retail Banking: Retail Banking offers financial products and services to individuals for personal use. These include investment products and medium- and long-term finance, such as consumer loans, mortgages and leasing or rental services, as well as short-term finance. Funds come mainly from customer deposits and current accounts, savings insurance, mutual funds, and pension plans. The main services also include payment methods, such as cards and insurance linked to consumer loans and mortgages.
Business Banking: Business Banking offers financial products and services to companies and self-employed persons. These include investment and financing products, such as working capital products, loans and medium- and long-term financing. It also offers customized structured finance and capital market solutions, as well as specialized advice for businesses. Funds mainly come from customer deposits, current accounts and mutual funds. The main services also include collection/payment methods, such as cards and PoS terminals, as well as import and export services.
Corporate Banking (CIB): This unit is responsible for managing the segment of large corporations which, because of their unique characteristics, require a tailor-made service, supplementing the range of transaction banking products with the services of the specialized units, thus offering a single, all-encompassing solution to their needs, taking into account the features of the economic activity sector and the markets in which they operate. It has units that develop custom products for large corporations and financial institutions. The units responsible for the development of these custom products do so for the entire Banco Sabadell Group, extending their capabilities to the Corporate and Institutional Banking segment. Through its presence abroad in 17 countries, with representative offices and operational branches, it offers financial and advisory solutions to large Spanish and international corporations and financial institutions. It has branches operating in London, Paris, Lisbon, Casablanca and Miami.
Banking business UK: The TSB franchise covers business conducted in the United Kingdom, which includes current and savings accounts, loans, credit cards and mortgages.
Banking Business Mexico: Banking Business Mexico Offers banking and financial services for Corporate Banking and Commercial Banking.
Business
Retail Banking
The Retail Banking business unit offers financial products and services to individuals for personal use. These include investment products and medium- and long-term finance, such as consumer loans, home mortgages and leasing or rental services, as well as short-term finance. Funds come mainly from customer deposits and sight deposit accounts, savings insurance, mutual funds and pension plans. The main services also include payment methods such as cards and insurance products in their different forms.
Main Products
The main Retail Banking products are described here below:
Mortgages
In 2022, the distribution model of mortgage specialists has been consolidated, with a total of 220 specialists deployed in the branch network and 40 specialists working remotely. It will continue to be developed over the coming months in order to ensure that this ratio of mortgages generated remotely continues to grow, offering a specialised service designed to improve the experience of customers during the process to take out a mortgage with Banco Sabadell.
Consumer Loans
With regard to short-term financing solutions available to individuals, the Sabadell Credit Line product (formerly the Expansion Line) continued to record very good usage and uptake levels among customers.
Payment Services
Banco Sabadell cards have been added to GooglePay, complementing the previously available offer through ApplePay and SamsungPay. Alternative payment systems, such as Bizum still continue to record good levels of uptake, with sharp growth among Banco Sabadell customers in terms of the number of both users and transactions.
Sight Deposit Accounts
The main offering of retail accounts comprises the following:
Sabadell Online Account: for new retail customers, opened digitally.
Sabadell Account: for retail customers.
Sabadell Premium Account: exclusively for Private Banking customers.
The main offering is supplemented with the offering aimed at customers with specific needs: non-residents, minors under the age of 18, and the basic payment account for those at risk of exclusion.
Protection Insurance
The company's insurance business is based on a comprehensive offering that meets customers' personal needs and cash requirements. The subscription itself is carried out through insurers in which the Group holds a 50% stake through the agreement between Zurich Group, BanSabadell Vida and BanSabadell Seguros Generales. The first of these insurers, which has the largest business volume, occupies the top spots in insurance firm rankings, based on premiums issued.
Furthermore, in 2022, the distribution model of specialists has been consolidated, with a total of 197 specialists deployed in the branch network and 87 specialists working remotely.
The main products that contribute to the insurance business are life insurance, home insurance and health insurance products.
The strategy for the insurance business in Retail Banking consists of offering the best option for protection insurance to the customers of the bank.
Private Banking
Through SabadellUrquijo Private Banking, Banco Sabadell offers comprehensive solutions to high-net-worth individuals who require specialised advice and attention. It has 175 private bankers, with MiFID II level 2, over 75% of whom are also certified by the European Financial Planning Association. They are distributed across offices and assistance centres to serve those of the bank's customers with a net worth of over 500 thousand euros located throughout Spain.
Customers to whom the bank offers wealth management advice numbered 29,359, with total business figures standing at 32,543 million euros, of which it is worth noting that 29,225 million euros are in funds, with a 39% contribution in mutual funds and SICAVs, while 2,462 million euros are under discretionary management contracts.
Sabadell Consumer Finance
Sabadell Consumer Finance is specialising in consumer finance at the point of sale. It carries out its activity through various channels and lines of business, entering into cooperation agreements with different retail points of sale. The company continues to develop its product offering, adapting it to the needs of the market and ensuring a rapid response to the needs of customers.
In 2022, Sabadell Consumer Finance executed 196,023 new transactions through more than 11,933 points of sale located throughout Spain, which translated into an inflow of new investments amounting to 1,099 million euros, placing the total outstanding exposures of Sabadell Consumer Finance at 1,919 million euros.
Business Banking
The Business Banking business unit offers financial products and services to legal persons and natural persons for business purposes, serving all types of companies with a turnover of up to 200 million euros, as well as the institutional sector. The products and services offered to companies are based on short- and long-term financing solutions, cash surplus management solutions, products and services to guarantee the daily operations of collections and payments through any channel and geographical area, as well as risk hedging and bancassurance products.
Banco Sabadell has a clearly defined relationship model for each business segment, which is innovative and differs from the competition and allows the bank to be very close to its customers, gaining extensive knowledge about them, as well as a strong level of engagement.
Large enterprises (turnover > 10 million euros) are basically managed by specialized branches. The rest of the companies (SMEs, Businesses and Self-Employed) are managed from the branches. All of these have access to managers specialized in the segment, as well as expert advice from product and/or sector specialists.
All this allows Banco Sabadell to be a trendsetter for all enterprises and a leader in customer experience.
The various segments, specialists and commercial products within Business Banking are described below.
Customer segments
Large enterprises
Banco Sabadell has been at the side of large enterprises, providing end-to-end customer management through specialized managers to help them make the best economic decisions and with a pool of specialists who have supported customers depending on their business' needs.
Enterprises
Banco Sabadell has continued to bet on its forward-looking approach and has been by the side of businesses to meet their needs.
Banco Sabadell continued to support the daily activities and new projects of self-employed workers, retailers and businesses, focusing on the development of the customer value proposition and making a concerted effort in 2022 to strengthen the bank's position as a specialist in the minds of customers of this segment.
Institutional Businesses
The Institutional Businesses unit was created to develop and enhance business related to public and private institutions, so as to position Banco Sabadell as a key player in this segment.
To achieve this, it is necessary to have a specialized range of products and services in order to provide a comprehensive value proposition to general governments, financial institutions, insurers, religious organizations and the third sector.
Religious Institutions and the Third Sector
The Religious Institutions and Third Sector Division offers customers a range of products and services adapted to the unique characteristics of these groups. They cover everything from transactions to specialized advice on financial assets.
Segment Specialists
Franchising
Banco Sabadell is a leader in the Franchising segment, where it has experience reaching agreements with the foremost franchising brands, which refer potential customers wishing to open new franchises in Spain.
Banco Sabadell offers specific customized financing, transactionality and protection solutions via the branch network with the support of a team of franchise managers specialized by sector.
Agriculture Segment
In 2022, Banco Sabadell's agriculture segment, which includes the agricultural, livestock, fisheries and forestry production sub-sectors and has more than 300 specialized branches, has increased its customer base, as well as the portfolio of specific financial products and services with features tailored to the demands of customers in the sector.
During 2022, Banco Sabadell's agriculture segment has participated in nine fairs of the agri-food sector and has sponsored 37 events throughout the nation.
Hotel and Tourism Business
Banco Sabadell is the first financial institution to receive the 'Q seal of Tourism Quality', granted by the Institute for Spanish Tourism Quality, cementing its position as a leader and trendsetter in this sector, offering expert advice coupled with the very highest quality standards.
The value proposition for this segment focuses mainly on offering specialized financial solutions to a diverse and highly fragmented group of customers, in three main areas: expert advice, a catalogue of specialized products and rapid response.
Professional Associations and Associate Banking
Banco Sabadell is a leader in the management of agreements with professional and business associations and bodies throughout the country. Its differentiation lies in the close relationship it has with these groups, which starts with the support provided by specialized managers in order to meet the needs of its members through a range of tailored and differentiated financial products and services. During 2022, the bank has participated in many events and sessions organized by these professional associations and bodies.
Associate Banking continues to strengthen the link with corporate and business customers, based on a differential range of products and services for their executives and employees, as a significant channel for acquiring individual customers at Banco Sabadell.
Corporate Pensions
By means of its Corporate Pensions unit, Banco Sabadell Group offers solutions and responses to customers to help them better implement, manage and develop their welfare schemes through pension plans and group insurance policies.
During 2022, the bank has made progress in the development and launch of Sabadell Flex Empresa, a fully digital flexible remuneration platform that enables companies to optimise their remuneration model at a very low cost. Worthy of note is the inclusion, in the last quarter of 2022, of the health insurance product in the mix of options available on the online platform and which, together with the Flexible Remuneration Retirement Plan, comprise a savings solution that makes it possible for executives or employees to maximise their savings and increase their net disposable income through fiscal optimization. Furthermore, the bank has seen great demand for joint life-cycle plans - with an investment profile adapted to age - among small and medium-sized companies.
Real Estate Business
The Real Estate Division focuses on integrated services to the residential real estate development business by means of a mature specialized management model.
The Investment Property Division focuses on boosting new transactions and home deliveries so as to minimize the potential negative impact, as well as monitoring sales in progress.
The main strategy is to maintain the bank's leadership in the sector and to consolidate its market share, prioritizing the best business opportunities by pinpointing the most notable projects and soundest customers, with the aim of minimizing risk and maximizing profit for Banco Sabadell.
BStartup
BStartup by Banco Sabadell is the pioneering and benchmark financial service in Spanish banking for startups and scaleups.
Specialised banking is based on a team of dedicated relationship managers for startups and scaleups in those territorial divisions with the highest concentration of this type of companies, as well as on a specific risk management process, specific products and a team of specialists that drive the business throughout Spain.
BStartup has 4,412 startup customers.
In 2022, BStartup's specialization has been given a definite boost. The Catalonia Territorial Division manages all Business Banking and Network startup customers from the main branch in Barcelona, with six managers and one representative, all of them exclusively engaged in startups, scaleups and their investors. Moreover, all large startups have also been assigned to a single specialized relationship manager in terms of Large Enterprises Banking. This Territorial Division also has a risk analyst dedicated exclusively to this segment. Within the Central Territorial Division, in the Madrid autonomous community, a BStartup representative and a new specialized relationship manager have joined this year, meaning that there are now four exclusively dedicated BStartup enterprise managers located in the main Madrid branch, where most startups in this autonomous community are based. The main branch of the Eastern Territorial Division is located in Valencia and has a fully dedicated startup manager, and the bank expects to bring on board a new branch manager at the beginning of 2023. The other regions still have 23 BStartup branches with relationship managers that without working exclusively in this segment regularly receive specialised training and have a specific risk management process in place.
Companies Hub
The Companies Hub is Banco Sabadell's business hub, an instrument of communication of the Institution with SMEs, businesses and the self-employed, under a single brand based on valuable business content that is of great use to its customers and that at the same time highlights the specialisation in enterprises of Banco Sabadell, as well as its proximity to its customers.
Sabadell Associates
Sabadell Associates is a lever for acquiring customers and business for the branch network via cooperation agreements with referrers.
Commercial Products
Business Services
Payment Methods
The bank has maintained its policy of offering an advanced and personalized service to retailers and, to that end, has strengthened its network of PoS and e-commerce specialists. In addition, the PAYCOMET subsidiary, specialized in digital payments, has continued to roll out innovative products and services.
In May, Banco Sabadell launched to the market Smart PoS, a terminal featuring Android technology that, in addition to payments, enables the use of third-party applications (loyalty, order management, tax free, etc.). 29,153 Smart PoS devices had been installed at shops and stores.
In addition, on 22 September 2022, the bank announced that it was in the process of analyzing a possible strategic agreement with an industrial partner specializing in its merchant acquiring business.
Company Insurance
During 2022, the bank has made progress in the development of the value proposition for businesses and the self-employed. The intention is to make Banco Sabadell a leader in company insurance.
Business Loans
In 2022, more than 1.3 billion euros of green loans have been mobilised, mainly used in energy-efficient construction projects, renewable energies and self-consumption, sustainable mobility and efficient water and waste management.
Leasing and Rental of Capital Goods
The rental of capital goods in 2022 was mainly focused on the road transport and equipment sectors.
Vehicle Leases
The year saw the impact of the sale of the vehicle leasing subsidiary to ALD Automotive at the end of 2021, which entailed a complex migration and integration process.
Official Agreements and Guarantees
The Official Agreements and Guarantees Division continues to manage agreements with various public bodies with which the bank maintains a relationship. The bank has signed new cooperation agreements that enable it to meet the financing needs of its customers.
These agreements include both national bodies (ICO, mutual guarantee societies and/or autonomous community entities) and supranational entities, such as the EIB (European Investment Bank) and the EIF (European Investment Fund).
In addition and through its BSCapital division, the Institution has signed an agreement with the European Investment Bank to provide growth-stage startups with venture debt.
As regards the EIF, Banco Sabadell Group has adhered to the Invest EU guarantee programme, which will allow banks to offer financing to companies with a guarantee from this body.
Corporate & Investment Banking
Corporate & Investment Banking (CIB) offers financial solutions and advisory services to large corporations and financial institutions, both Spanish and foreign, through branches throughout Spain and in 15 other countries.
CIB is one of the three core units of the bank, together with Retail Banking and Business Banking, a division structured by differentiating the needs of customers and the capabilities of each of the three banking business lines to provide the best service to them.
CIB structures its activity around two pillars: the customer pillar, whose aim is to serve its natural customers across the entire spectrum of their financial needs, defined by their nature and which includes the large Corporate Banking corporations, financial institutions, Private Banking in the U.S.A., and the venture capital business developed through BSCapital and, secondly, the Specialised Businesses unit, which groups together the activities of Structured Finance, Treasury, Investment Banking and Trading, Custody and Research, whose aim is to advise, design and execute tailor-made transactions that anticipate the specific financial needs of its customers, whether companies or individuals, extending its scope from large corporations to smaller companies and customers, insofar as its solutions are the best response to increasingly complex financial requirements. In 2022, CIB added a new specialised business unit, the CIB Sustainability unit, focused on offering sustainable product solutions and ESG advice to CIB customers.
Customer Pillar
Corporate Banking Europe
Corporate Banking is the customer unit within CIB in charge of managing the segment of large corporations which, because of their size, complexity and unique features, require a tailor-made service in which the more traditional financial product range and transaction banking services are supplemented by specialised units; the result is a comprehensive solution model for their needs. The business model is based on close strategic relations with customers, providing them with end-to-end solutions that are tailored to their needs, to that end taking into account the specific features of their economic activity sector and the markets in which they operate.
This unit also includes a series of branches and offices abroad, notably in London, Paris, Casablanca and Lisbon, from where the international activity of the bank's domestic customers is supported and served, and the international business of Corporate Banking is carried out.
In addition, this customer unit integrates the activity carried out by BSCapital, which carries out the Group's venture capital and private equity activities, managing the industrial (non-real estate) investees. Its activity is articulated through the acquisition of temporary shareholdings in companies, with the aim of maximising the return on its investments. In addition, it offers support to companies through alternative financing (senior debt fund, venture debt or mezzanine loans).
Corporate Banking and Private Banking USA
Banco Sabadell has been operating in the United States for almost 30 years through an international full branch managed from Miami and through Sabadell Securities USA, incorporated in 2008 and operational since then. These business units together manage the international corporate banking and private banking business in the United States and Latin America.
The Banco Sabadell Miami Branch is the largest international branch in Florida. It is one of the few financial institutions in the area with the capacity and experience to provide all types of banking and financial services, from the most complex and specialised services for large corporations to international private banking products, including those products and services that may be required by professionals and companies of any size. To supplement its structure in Miami, the bank has representative offices in New York, Peru, Colombia and the Dominican Republic.
Sabadell Securities USA is a stockbroker and investment advisor in the securities market that complements and strengthens the business strategy aimed at private banking customers residing in the United States, responding to their needs by providing investment advice in the capital markets.
Specialised Businesses
Structured Finance
The Structured Finance Division encompasses the Structured Finance and Global Financial Institutions units. This Division operates globally and has teams in Spain, the U.S., the U.K., Mexico, France, Peru, Colombia and Singapore.
The Structured Finance activity focuses on the study, design, origination and syndication of corporate finance products and operations, acquisitions, leveraged buyouts (LBOs), project & asset finance, global trade finance and commercial real estate, with the capacity to underwrite and syndicate transactions at the national and international level, as well as being active in the primary and secondary syndicated loans markets.
The Global Financial Institutions unit manages the commercial and operational relationship with the international banks with which Banco Sabadell has collaboration and correspondent agreements (some 3,000 correspondent banks around the world), thus guaranteeing maximum coverage for Banco Sabadell Group customers in their international transactions. Thus, it ensures optimal support of customers in their internationalisation processes, in coordination with the Group's international network of branches, subsidiaries and investees.
Treasury and Markets
Treasury and Markets is responsible, on one hand, for selling Treasury products to the Group's customers, through the Group's units assigned for this purpose, both from commercial networks and through specialists and, on the other hand, for managing the bank's current liquidity, as well as managing and complying with its regulatory ratios. It also manages the risk of trading activity in interest rate, foreign exchange and fixed income products, mainly due to flows of transactions with customers, both internal and external, originated through the activity of the distribution units themselves and the activity arising from short-term liquidity management.
Investment Banking
Investment Banking (IB) is the CIB Division that coordinates the channelling of institutional investors' liquidity to Banco Sabadell customers, through both debt products and capital instruments.
IB continues to focus on offering tailor-made financing solutions, in bond or loan format, in various sectors, from real estate and infrastructure to renewable energy project finance and corporate finance in the domestic middle market segment.
Trading, Custody and Research
Trading, Custody and Research (TCR) is the unit responsible, as product manager, for the company's equities, performing equity execution tasks through the trading desk, both in domestic markets, where it acts as a member, and in international markets, as a mere intermediary.
Banking Business United Kingdom
TSB (TSB Banking Group plc) offers a wide range of retail banking services and products to individuals and small and medium-sized enterprises in the U.K. TSB has a multi-channel distribution model, which includes fully digital capabilities (internet and mobile), telephony channels and a network of branches located throughout Great Britain.
TSB offers current and savings accounts, personal loans, mortgages and credit/debit cards for retail customers and a broad range of current, savings and lending products for SME customers.
Banking Business Mexico
Its operations in Mexico materialised through an organic project with the launch of two financial vehicles: firstly, a SOFOM (multi-purpose financial institution), which began operating in 2014, and subsequently a bank. The banking licence was obtained in 2015 and the bank started operations in early 2016.
The rollout of business capabilities considers the two vehicles mentioned above and the following business lines:
Corporate Banking, focusing on corporations and large enterprises: three main branches (Mexico City, Monterrey and Guadalajara) and sector-specific specialisation.
Business Banking, which mimics the Group's original business banking model: launched in 2016, it has been expanding ever since.
Strategy
The company's strategic priorities include an increased focus on core businesses in Spain, with different levers of action for each business that will strengthen the bank's competitive position in the domestic market; and a significant improvement in the profitability of international businesses, in both the United Kingdom and other geographies.
