Sabadell Bank remains in a phase of leadership transition after the departures of former chief executive Jaume Guardiola and former financial director Tomás Varela. The organization’s current chief, César González-Bueno, announced his retirement on Monday. Michael Montes has steered Sabadell through a decade of major integrations involving assets aligned with the group. Notably, the CAM acquisition propelled the bank forward, cementing its position among Spain’s top financial institutions.
At present, the responsibilities of Organization and Resources Director and the head of Retail Banking will be redistributed among administrators Jorge Rodríguez and Sonia Quibus, the current compliance director. González-Bueno will oversee the remaining areas, as outlined during the annual meeting of the organization’s Advisory Councils, an event attended by the vice president of the European Central Bank, Luis de Guindos.
Montes began his career across several prominent institutions, including Catalan Bank, Atlantic Bank, Bancotrans, and most notably Deutsche Bank Spain. In 2001 he joined Sabadell as director of operations, electronics business, and technology, later taking on broader leadership roles during the integration era.
The image accompanying Montes captures one of his early visits to Alicante following CAM’s acquisition by Sabadell. His presence symbolized the start of a new chapter in the bank’s history.
Over a professional career spanning more than four decades, Montes played a central part in Sabadell’s consolidation strategy, which included the sequential assimilation of Banco Atlántico, Banco Urquijo, Banco Guipuzcoano, Banco CAM, Banco Gallego, and the British institution TSB. The core success of these integrations lay in the robust systems Montes promoted, which accelerated the transfer of vast data and client assets to Sabadell servers, ensuring smooth, timely operations and minimizing delays.
Sabadell reorganizes in Spain and stops selling its British subsidiary
Montes’s approachable leadership style facilitated collaboration with middle management and staff at Alicante’s savings institution, smoothing the integration and strengthening ties with the local business community. After the process concluded, the CAM business became part of what was then known as the Sabadell Regional Este, under the direction of Jaime Matas, who later served as president of the Solvia real estate arm and as a non-executive director during the TSB integration, an operation that presented notable technical challenges.
With a reshaped leadership team, César González-Bueno took charge of the individuals division, one of the three major segments that structure Sabadell’s operations. The reorganized hierarchy reflected a broader strategic shift across the group.
Regarding fiscal policy, González-Bueno urged the removal of the banking tax during the Advisory Councils meeting, a topic Montes announced would be temporary and not harmful to competition, according to European press coverage. The bank’s position highlighted its tax contributions, noting roughly 800 million euros paid last year on a net profit of about 530 million euros, alongside other surcharges that reflected a higher tax burden compared with many other sectors.
González-Bueno underscored the point that Sabadell’s tax contribution was substantial and pointed to peers in the industry, including BBVA, who warned that such taxes could have unintended consequences by dampening economic momentum in Spain due to the sector’s crucial role. The executive also signaled that the bank’s transformation would continue on a promising path, firmly anchored by a strong franchise and improving quarterly results over recent years, which have boosted confidence among analysts and investors.
Looking ahead, the leadership acknowledged ongoing uncertainties from tax changes, rising interest rates, the broader economic context, and energy market pressures. Still, Sabadell anticipated that the positive effects of rate hikes could be significant, while inflationary pressures and costs would likely be manageable within a reasonable range. The bank remains focused on sustaining growth and maintaining prudent control over risk and expenses as it progresses through this period of transition.