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By Jeannette Neumann 

MADRID--The chairman of Spain's CaixaBank SA is stepping down to take control of the lender's large charitable foundation, an expected move that complies with a Spanish law requiring the head of a bank and the head of a foundation to be separate.

CaixaBank will submit the appointment of Jordi Gual as chairman to the board on Thursday, replacing Isidro Fainé, the bank said in a regulatory filing. Mr. Gual is the bank's chief strategy officer.

Investors and analysts say they still expect Mr. Fainé to hold considerable sway at the bank he has transformed from a regional savings bank into the third-largest lender in Spain by market value behind international giants Banco Santander SA and Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria SA.

"The appointment of Mr. Gual is a mere step to comply with the banking foundation law," Fidentiis analyst Mario Ropero wrote in a research note on Wednesday morning after local Spanish media reported the management changes. "We do not foresee any strategic changes at the bank."

CaixaBank shares were up around 3% after the regulatory filing was published, as were most Spanish stocks.

Write to Jeannette Neumann at jeannette.neumann@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

June 29, 2016 04:26 ET (08:26 GMT)