The pain in Spain it’s the Banks who are to blame

Spain's troubled Bankia - formed of the merger of seven floundering savings banks - has reported a record loss.

The bank, which received aid of 18bn Euros, made a loss of 19.2bn Euros (£17bn, $25.2bn) for 2012 and put aside provisions of 26.8bn Euros.

Last year, Bankia and its parent firm, BFA, asked for EU funds to help rebuild its capital.

Spain's bank rescue fund said Bankia itself had a negative value, although its parent had some worth.

Bankia was born out of the merger of seven savings banks that were highly exposed to Spain's property sector, which crashed five years ago.

The Bankia-BFA group as a whole made losses after tax of 21.2bn Euros in 2012.

Bankia's seven component banks were severely damaged by their loans to property developers and home buyers during the country's property bubble that ended in the late 2000s.

The above train wreck graphically underscores the need for strict controls of all financial reporting and a robust monitoring of valuations of assets.

As evidenced by this fall-out in Spain unrealistic valuations either through deviousness or sheer incompetence will ultimately bring disastrous consequences.