Spanish government takes over one of country’s largest banks to quell anxiety

Hoping to put an end to a four-year banking crisis, the Spanish government effectively took over Bankia SA, one of the country’s biggest banks, after days of market anxiety over its viability.

The centre-right government of Mariano Rajoy told Spaniards the banking sector was safe and said more measures to strengthen ailing banks would be announced today after reforms in February proved insufficient.

The pledges to reform the banks pulled Spanish stocks off the nine-year low they hit a day earlier, with the blue-chip index rebounding 3.66% yesterday amid heavy trade in top banks BBVA and Santander.