The Spanish government is creating a "bad bank" into which all the toxic property assets of its debt-laden banking sector can be off-loaded. The move is aimed at helping the country's troubled banks draw a line under the debt crisis and move on.
The Bank of Spain will assess the value of the assets being transferred into the "banco malo" and the banks will receive cash, debt or shares in return. The bad bank could last 10 to 15 years. The idea is that the toxic assets being off-loaded must have a value that will allow the bad bank to make a profit in the long-term.
However, the final regulations are not in place and there are still many uncertains about how the whole process will work. Not even how will be fixed the value of the assets to be transferred, one of the crucial points in all this matter. We will know more next month.