* Chairman Gonzalez seen consolidating position after clash
* New COO has been CFO, but seen lacking retail experience
* Analysts divided on implications for acquisitions
By Elisabeth O'Leary
MADRID, Sept 30 (Reuters) - Shares in Spain's BBVA fell on Wednesday as investors fretted that the departure of its veteran chief operating officer would deprive the bank of retail experience and perhaps open the way to more acquisitions.
Shares in BBVA lost 1.01 percent at 12.22 euros at 0836 GMT, while European banks were up 0.2 percent in reaction to news late on Tuesday that COO Jose Ignacio Goirigolzarri would be replaced by Angel Cano, until now head of human resources and IT.
Cano, while a former chief financial officer, is untested in retail banking.
Chairman Francisco Gonzalez was confirmed in his role, strengthening his already firm grip at the bank, Europe's no 4. in terms of its 46 billion euros ($67.02 billion) market capitalisation.
While analysts were aware of clashes between Gonzalez and Goirigolzarri, none was expecting the number two, with years of experience in the bank's main profit-provider, retail banking, to step down just as the business is hit by recession.
Some fear that, unchecked, Gonzalez might be tempted to seek the kind of purchases which could endanger the bank's core capital ratio, its main buffer to protect against losses, of 6.9 percent.
"Aside the remarkably high market reputation of Goirigolzarri, we think that given the current cyclical headwinds that BBVA's core markets are facing and its implications at the operational level for the bank ... (the decision) could generate some concerns among investors about the timing," said Bank of America Merrill Lynch analyst Sergio Gamez in a note to clients.
BIG CHALLENGES AHEAD
Investors have given Goirigolzarri much of the credit for BBVA's relatively good performance during the financial crisis, despite what JP Morgan described as a "challenged geographical mix" including Spain, Mexico and the United States.
They also saw his influence behind above-average profitibility and efficiency ratios over the past eight years.
Spain's listed banks avoided most of the subprime crisis due to strict regulation by the Bank of Spain, which also imposed demanding provisioning requirements.
Yet BBVA faces big hurdles, especially in its home market, where the after-effects of a housing market collapse are expected to linger and push up non-performing loans.
The COO was also seen as a balancing influence over the chairman, who rose from being a powerful stock broker to become the country's second-most prominent banker.
"Besides Goirigolzarri's strong reputation, the move may generate concerns over the bank's strategy, particularly in terms of future, possibly more aggressive, merger moves," said Flemming Barton, equity strategist at CM Capital Markets.
BBVA has been markedly more conservative than its local rival Santander, the euro zone's biggest bank, which took advantage of the financial crisis to swoop in and pick up troubled banks abroad such as Britain's Bradford & Bingley and Alliance & Leicester and Sovereign in the United States.
BBVA has made only minor aquisitions since taking over Bancomer in Mexico in 2000, and most recently bought the assets of failed U.S. lender Guaranty Bank. BBVA's current core capital ratio is 6.9 percent, a
"The main question mark might relate to whether new management would apply a more aggressive acquisition strategy in this new environment, though a priori no material changes should take place," said JP Morgan analysts in a client note.
Although Cano lacks retail banking experience, he had been rewarded for heading the bank's transformation plan, which focused on cost optimization. Like Gonzalez, he joined BBVA when it was formed by the merger of BBV and Argentaria. (Editing by David Cowell)