European bankers have enlisted help from many quarters in the struggle against government regulation. But few can boast of a line-up put together by Miguel Castillejo, the president of Cajasur, in the south of Spain.
| Priest: In the name of the father, the son and |
Castillejo has been embroiled in a long struggle for control of the bank with the regional government, the Junta de Andalucia. Last month Castillejo finally prevailed, with a little bit of help from God and the trade minister.
Cajasur is an unusual financial institution. Founded by the church and part-owned by the regional government, it is also one of few banks in the world to be run by a priest: Castillejo himself. In commercial terms, Castillejo has certainly done a good job. "As in the miracle of the loaves and the fishes," one in-house eulogy told him, "you have had the wisdom to take a small savings bank from Cordoba and transform it into the second largest in Andalucia and one of the most important in Spain."