Ownership, Control, and Pyramids in Spanish Commercial Banks
Posted: 12 Aug 2009
Date Written: August 10, 2009
Abstract
Using the law and finance approach we analyze how the ultimate ownership and control structure influences the performance of Spanish commercial banks during the period 1996-2004. Our evidence shows that 96% of Spanish commercial banks have an ultimate controlling owner. Also, we observe that whenever there is a gap between the ultimate controlling owner's cash flow and control rights, then the bigger the gap, the poorer the bank’s performance. We find that whenever there is no difference between the ultimate controlling owner's cash flow and control rights, there is a non-monotonic relation between ownership concentration and the bank’s performance.
Keywords: ownership, control, bank, pyramids, corporate governance
JEL Classification: G21, G34
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation