The accounts were opened between 1987 and 1999, before Banco Bilbao Vizcaya's merger with Argentaria.

ECONOMIST: Down the abyss

In Spain, Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria fell 2.65% and Banco Santander dropped 2.2%, while the benchmark IBEX 35 index dropped 1.6% to 8353.60.

WSJ: European Stocks Slide

Spain's second-largest bank, Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria (BBVA), in September acquired Laredo National Bancshares, which has a 23% market share in the Texas-Mexico border area.

FORBES: Show Me the Dinero

These include Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria (BBVA), HSBC, ING and MetLife.

CENTERFORSECURITYPOLICY: Argentina��s Kirchner seizes private pension funds

Shareholders in Argentaria might still question whether to confirm the marriage.

ECONOMIST: Banks in Spain

The top banks here, which include a handful of foreign-run banks such as Citigroup and Spain's Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria SA, are widely seen as solid.

WSJ: Ch��vez Spurs Bank Fears

First, however, they must persuade Argentaria's shareholders to sign up.

ECONOMIST: Banks in Spain

The outcome was that Argentaria's share of the new group, just under 30%, was determined at a slight discount to the level at which shares closed on October 18th.

ECONOMIST: Banks in Spain

At the time, few knew of a Bank of Spain investigation into secret accounts kept by Banco Bilbao Vizcaya in Jersey, Liechtenstein and Switzerland before it merged in 2000 with Argentaria, formerly state-owned.

ECONOMIST: BBVA