Domestic banks continue to dominate Spanish market

The Spanish derivatives market remains dominated by local banks, with Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria (BBVA) topping Risk España's annual rankings for the third year running.

Banco Santander Central Hispano took second place ahead of Deutsche Bank, the highest-scoring foreign bank.

Higher volatility in the equity and credit markets meant many local banks retreated to their traditional bases of interest rate and currency derivatives (both led by BBVA, with Santander in second place), leaving the international banks to dominate the equity and credit derivatives markets. JP Morgan came first in credit products ahead of Deutsche Bank; Société Générale led the equity category, with BBVA second.

The domestic players have used their greater coverage of the Spanish market to take on more short-term risk in the pre-distribution stages of non-recourse financing deals.

The full rankings will be published in Risk España later this month.