BFA confirms caja IPO plan

Banco Financiero y de Ahorros (BFA), the Spanish savings bank SIP that has Eu339bn of assets and includes Caja Madrid, Bancaja and five other cajas, will IPO in 2011, the group’s chairman said on Monday as it reported a Eu9.2bn charge to clean up its balance sheet. The move follows announcements last week from Caixa Barcelona and reports that Banco Base, another SIP, also plans a listing.