Sabadell resolved a long chapter by finally closing the lingering debts and assets tied to CAM, the collapsed lender that left a string of toxic holdings behind. The era included the liquidation of Mediterranean Resorts Investments (IRM) and the former Alicante savings group, along with Bancaja, Banco de Valencia, and Banco Popular in 2009. Polished assets from Polaris World helped settle heavy liabilities, marking one of the bank’s most notable job cuts in its recovery drive.
Even before these closures, Sabadell had started shedding the land holdings and loans once linked to CAM’s organizer in Murcia. The startup called Operation Chloe, initiated in 2016, saw Sabadell selling additional troubled assets acquired from CAM. The January settlement finalized the IRM liquidation and completed a complex regulatory odyssey registered with the Trade Registry, closing a difficult chapter that had stretched over years.
What remains is a clear view of the group’s annual accounts for TIP and its subsidiaries—the holding that coordinates most of the real estate activities once managed by Caja Mediterráneo. In the wake of the latest liquidation, TIP is left planning the exit from a pair of remaining stakes. CAM’s long tail of debt and support networks contributed heavily to the collapse, underscoring how intertwined the regional financial network had become.
From 2011 onward, Sabadell faced substantial losses within the holding. The cumulative red figures surpassed 2.1 billion euros, and the most recent year added another 11 million to the red ink. Under the Asset Protection Program, the bank led by Josep Oliu (sic) set up safeguards to shield itself from the toxic assets originally tied to the Alicante market, keeping a firm grip on the process as it unwound the legacy positions.
Within CAM’s broader investment portfolio, Polaris World stood out as a key example. The Murcia-based developer symbolized the Spanish real estate boom of the early 2000s, and its Alicante financing commitments were among the main drivers of the debt cluster. When the crisis hit, a strategic alliance formed with other influential entities to take over the collateral and contain losses. The Bank of Spain’s assessment of CAM’s intervention noted that assets from Alicante, Bancaja, the Bank of Valencia, and the People’s Bank moved into the broader pool—amounting to around 1.2 billion euros in Polaris-related holdings.
Sales of finished homes through real estate channels and the placement of residual assets into mutual funds were part of the plan to streamline the portfolio. After years of paperwork, the IRM liquidation reached completion in January, with Sabadell owning a controlling stake via TIP, which held roughly 55 percent of the shares.
Polaris World, by comparison, faced bankruptcy proceedings in 2017. The Commercial Court of Murcia No. 2 declared the company insolvent in a ruling issued last November, underscoring the broader fragility within the sector during the period. Citations tracing these outcomes include official reviews from financial regulators and court records, which provide the authoritative backdrop for the sequence of restructurings and divestitures that defined the CAM legacy.