Caja Madrid, formally the Caja de Ahorros y Monte de Piedad de Madrid, headquartered in
Madrid,
[Inicio]
." Caja Madrid retrieved on January 7, 2011. "Plaza de Celenque, 2. 28013 Madrid" was the oldest of the
Spanish savings banks. It was founded on 3 December 1702, by
Francisco Piquer, an
Aragon
Aragon ( , ; Spanish and an, Aragón ; ca, Aragó ) is an autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. In northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces (from north to sou ...
ese priest. Caja Madrid was the regional-owned bank of the
Community of Madrid
The Community of Madrid (; es, Comunidad de Madrid ) is one of the seventeen autonomous communities of Spain. It is located in the centre of the Iberian Peninsula, and of the Central Plateau (''Meseta Central''). Its capital and largest munici ...
(Comunidad de Madrid).
On 30 July 2010, Caja Madrid signed an agreement to merge with six other savings banks to form
Bankia
Bankia () was a Spanish financial services company that was formed in December 2010, consolidating the operations of seven regional savings banks, and was partially nationalized by the government of Spain in May 2012 due to the near collapse of ...
on 3 December 2010.
Caja Madrid held a 52.6 percent controlling interest in the new company.
History
The Monte de Piedad de Madrid did not charge interest on its loans until 1836 when a charge was introduced to cover operating costs of the organisation. In 1838, by royal decree, the Caja de Ahorros de Madrid was founded as a savings bank on the British model following the ideas of
Jeremy Bentham
Jeremy Bentham (; 15 February 1748 Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates">O.S._4_February_1747.html" ;"title="Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.html" ;"title="nowiki/>Old Style and New Style dates">O.S. 4 February 1747">Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.htm ...
. Initially the Caja de Ahorros and the Monte de Piedad worked closely together but remained separate institutions.
In 1869 the two institutions were merged and became the Monte de Piedad y Caja de Ahorros de Madrid. Later, to show the importance of the savings side of the operation, the title of the merged institution was reversed and it became the Caja de Ahorros y Monte de Piedad de Madrid.
Former business
Caja Madrid was the fourth largest financial group in Spain, with a turn-over of 180,700 million euros in 2005. It had 12,800 employees in a national network of 1,900 offices, and four foreign branches in
Miami,
Lisbon,
Dublin and
Vienna. It also had 330 bank branches within the offices of the insurance company,
Mapfre
Mapfre, S.A. (, officially typeset MAPFRE) is a Spanish multinational insurance company, based in Majadahonda, Madrid. The name comes from the old mutual origin of the company (''Mutualidad de la Agrupación de Propietarios de Fincas Rústicas ...
.
Apart from its traditional banking business, Caja Madrid participated in a collection of companies, either directly or via the
holding company, Corporacion Financiera Caja Madrid..
Social responsibilities
Caja Madrid carried out social work through two entities that it set up: Obra Social Caja Madrid and Fundación Caja Madrid. These carried out work on its behalf in the fields of social work, teaching, cultural matters and the environment. For example, Fundación Caja Madrid set up
La Casa Encendida in Madrid in 2002. In 2005 the amount spent by the two bodies on behalf of Caja Madrid reached 161 million euros. Some of the bank’s users criticised it, along with the other Spanish savings banks for having lost its charitable character in the course of developing its business as a bank.
New headquarters
In 2009 Caja Madrid acquired a new headquarters in a newly completed sky-scraper office block known as Torre Caja Madrid (
Caja Madrid Tower). The tower had been intended for the Spanish company
Repsol, and the principal architect was
Norman Foster. The tower is now leased by
CEPSA
Compañía Española de Petróleos, S.A.U. (''Spanish Petroleum Company''), commonly known as Cepsa, is a Spanish multinational oil and gas company. It operates in several European countries as well as in Algeria, Canada, Colombia, Morocco, Brazi ...
and it is now known as Torre CEPSA. It is situated in the district of
Fuencarral-El Pardo
Fuencarral-El Pardo is one of the 21 districts that form the city of Madrid, Spain.
Overview
Fuencarral-El Pardo is the district number 8 and consists of the following neighborhoods: El Pardo (81), Fuentelarreina (82), Peñagrande (83), Pilar (84) ...
in Madrid. The tower has 45 floors and is 250 metres high.
See also
*
Bankia
Bankia () was a Spanish financial services company that was formed in December 2010, consolidating the operations of seven regional savings banks, and was partially nationalized by the government of Spain in May 2012 due to the near collapse of ...
References
External links
Caja Madrid site
{{Authority control
Banks established in 1702
Mounts of piety
Defunct banks of Spain
1702 establishments in Spain
Buildings and structures completed in 1702
Banks disestablished in 2010
2010 disestablishments in Spain
Companies established in 1702