12:01 PM EDT, 10/06/2025 (MT Newswires) -- (Updates with BBVA comments in the first two paragraphs)

Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria ( BBVA ) said Monday that it has filed a complaint against rival Sabadell with Spain's National Securities Market Commission, or CNMV, accusing it of trying to obstruct the 17 billion euro ($19.83 billion) takeover proposal.

"BBVA has reported to the CNMV widespread malpractice in Banco Sabadell's branch network, which is making it difficult for shareholders wishing to participate in the tender offer," the company said in an emailed statement to MT Newswires.

"We never wanted to be confrontational with them throughout this process... But this thing is really serious. If a shareholder of Sabadell wants to tender, and if you are making life difficult for that person, you're taking away the liberty of a shareholder," BBVA CEO Onur Genc said, according to The Financial Times.

In a separate Reuters report, Genc said that BBVA has 8 billion euros in capital for a mandatory cash offer for Sabadell if it fails to convince sufficient shareholders to accept the hostile offer.

Genc said his base case was that BBVA would get more than 50% of shares in Sabadell to clinch the takeover offer, according to Reuters.

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