1 Reason to Watch Out for These Banks

The following video is part of our "Motley Fool Conversations" series, in which senior analyst Anand Chokkavelu, CFA, discusses topics around the investing world.

Here's a scary number: 8.7%. What is it? It's bad loan percentage for Spanish banks per the Bank of Spain (as of April).

To put that in perspective, Synovus, a U.S. bank I've warned against for its poor lending standards never hit that mark during the financial crisis. Looking at current numbers, Synovus stands at 4.3%. Going to larger U.S. banks with histories of bad lending standards, Citigroup is at 1.8% and Bank of America 3.0%.

Looking at individual big Spanish banks, the bad debt picture is better than 8.7%, but still scary: BBVA is at 4.4% and Banco Santader is at 4.3%.

Check out the following video for Anand's thoughts.

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The article 1 Reason to Watch Out for These Banks originally appeared on Fool.com.

Anand Chokkavelu owns shares of Bank of America and Citigroup, long-dated options in Bank of America, and warrants in Citigroup. The Motley Fool owns shares of Bank of America and Citigroup. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools don't all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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