FUNDACIÓN HISPÁNICA HISTORY
Fundación Hispánica and Banco Popular
Several circumstances connect these two entities. Around the year 1970, Luis Valls felt it his duty to give back to society part of what the bank earned. This sense of responsibility materialized in the goal of supporting individuals or entities whose projects deserved assistance with part of the fruits of that successful business.
The origin of the Fundación Hispánica
Fundación Hispánica thus arose from Luis Valls’ desire to externalize and professionalize the social action of the bank by various means. He also wanted somehow to make it independent of the Bank, although the bank provided a significant part of its funding. The aim was to ensure complementarity while avoiding confusion. The Foundation would be the route used by the Bank to channel social action and fulfill its institutional commitments.
To get started, he invited the Board members of Banco Popular (and those of its subsidiaries) to waive their statutory rights to a share of profits in favor of social activities. These donations from Banco Popular appear in its annual accounts and can still be consulted at the CNMV.
Donations from Banco Popular
In an article published in La Vanguardia on 11 February 2014, the journalist Encarna Pérez1 gives a good explanation of how this worked when she says that the Fundación Hispánica had no operating expenses and operated thanks to the contributions from board members of up to 3% of the profits they would have received in the form of payments as Board members.
The Bank’s records show how this percentage evolved: from the maximum permitted by legislation and by the banks’ statutes, ranging over the years from between 1% and 5%.
In the generosity of this gesture it can be seen that Fundación Hispánica is a unique foundation. Being a non-profit entity promoted by bankers, aid is structured in the form of loans another aid. These are financing options with terms, guarantees, and interest rates adapted to beneficiaries, of a type normally excluded from traditional banking finance.
Banco Popular financed Fundación Hispánica from 1970 onwards, suspending this support between 1982 and 2008. During this time, Fundación para Atenciones Sociales (currently Patronato Universitario) was the non-profit entity which channelled the social action of the bank. From 2008 until 2017, when the Bank was subject to resolution, the donation returned to Fundación Hispánica.
Bibliography
(1) In an article published in La Vanguardia on February 11, 2014
