Goldman Sachs turns down southern Europe banks as crisis lingers

Banco Popular Espanol SA’s 2.5 billion-euro ($3.2 billion) rights offering had several takers except for the No. 1 stock underwriter in Europe. Goldman Sachs declined a role because the protection to avoid possible losses on the sale was not good enough. With 17 percent of the European stake, Goldman can be choosey and still return later if it wants to, says Christopher Wheeler, a bank analyst at Mediobanca SpA in London. Goldman also declined to underwrite Italy’s UniCredit SpA and Portugal’s Banco Espirito Santo SA share sales.