Spain will overhaul its bank regulations to allow the partial nationalization of its ailing savings banks and enable the injection of fresh capital into them, in an attempt to calm investor concerns over the health of the country's financial system, The Wall Street Journal reported. The change in regulation would allow Spain's state-backed Fund for Orderly Bank Restructuring, or FROB, to acquire direct equity stakes in the cajas for up to five years, Finance Minister Elena Salgado said at a news conference Monday.

As neighboring Portugal seems to move inexorably toward requesting a bailout, Spanish Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero pledged to accelerate the cleanup of his country's opaque network of savings banks known as cajas, The Wall Street Journal reported. This means the cajas for the first time will disclose the extent of their exposure to troubled real-estate and construction loans, a move that could trigger injections of government funds into some of the banks. The cleanup effort is part of Spain's attempt to convince investors it isn't another Portugal or Ireland.

China's Vice Premier Li Keqiang said China will sign $7.3 billion worth of deals with Spain on Wednesday, according to a Spanish official, after reiterating Beijing's pledge to back the crisis-ridden European nation's austerity measures and offer of potential support for Spain's future fundraising, The Wall Street Journal reported. Mr.

China supports Spain's economic reforms and will continue buying Spanish government debt, Chinese Vice Premier Li Keqiang wrote in a newspaper editorial, the latest sign of China's growing role in protecting the stability of the European Union, its largest export market, The Wall Street Journal reported. Spain has faced increasing difficulties in financing a yawning budget deficit after Greece's financial meltdown in early 2010 sparked concerns about the problems of other fiscally frail euro-zone countries.

Spain said that its regional governments are on track to meet their budget targets this year, its latest effort to quell investor fears that it could be the next European country to need a financial bailout, the Wall Street Journal reported today. Facing intense market pressure, Spain for the first time opened its regions' books before year-end in a bid to address investor worries that the regions' deteriorating accounts could derail the government's austerity drive.

Many smaller Spanish companies are fighting for survival amid the country's biggest economic slump in decades, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported today. Spain is also at the heart of a sovereign-debt crisis in Europe, which has been boiling over in recent weeks. Financial markets fear Spain will follow Greece and Ireland and eventually need a bailout, but a bailout for the larger Spanish economy is the worst-case scenario for markets that fear it could destabilize the euro zone.

For months, Spain's residential mortgage sector has performed an impressive feat: Despite tumbling home prices and sky-high unemployment, just a small portion of mortgage borrowers have fallen behind on their payments. Now, some analysts and economists are wondering if Spain is in for a wave of defaults in coming months amid further job cuts meant to address the country's broader economic problems, The Wall Street Journal reported.

With markets increasing pressure on Spain, Prime Minister José Luis Rodriguez Zapatero is running out of the political capital necessary to force through difficult reforms that could ease investor concerns, The Wall Street Journal reported. in the wake of Ireland's €67.5 billion ($88.7 billion) bailout, sovereign-debt concerns have risen in Spain and Portugal. Pressure is building on Mr.

Spain faces a problem as empty homes left over from the housing boom go up for sale: determining just how much the properties are worth, The Wall Street Journal reported. Analysts, property-sales representatives and economists said data coming from the government and even some large appraisal companies understate the drop in real-estate prices. That is causing confusion and scaring off some investors who could help banks clear their backlog of homes. The discrepancies are owed, in part, to a quirk in how some Spanish home-price data are calculated.

Spanish officials are mounting an aggressive campaign to dismiss fears that Europe's fiscal woes—which have already leapt from Greece to Ireland and may soon spread to Portugal—will reach their shores, The Wall Street Journal reported. This week, Spanish officials hastened to throw up a firewall around their country with a volley of positive comments about the progress of Spain's fiscal reforms and the soundness of its banking sector. The message they are emphasizing: Spain is not Ireland, which is on track for an estimated €80 billion ($109 billion) international bailout.