Wednesday, Spain’s competition authority, the CNMC, approved Banco Bilbao (NYSE: BBVA ) Vizcaya Argentaria’s (BBVA (BME: BBVA )) proposed acquisition of Banco Sabadell, after a thorough review that lasted over a year.

This decision moves the potential consolidation forward, now awaiting final approval from the government.

The CNMC had expressed concerns that the merger of the two banks could negatively impact competition within certain segments of the retail banking and payments markets.

However, after evaluating the measures proposed by BBVA to mitigate these issues, the watchdog deemed them "adequate, sufficient, and proportionate" to address the potential problems arising from the merger.

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