At a news conference, SRB Chair Elke Koenig and senior official Dominique Laboureix said the outflow of deposits at Spain's sixth largest bank was so rapid that the Board had to act overnight to resolve the situation rather than wait, as would be more typical, until a weekend.

SRB plans drawn up months ago for a possible resolution of Popular had not been for such an outright sale, Laboureix said, but had changed strategy because of the liquidity situation.

(Reporting by Alastair Macdonald; editing by Robin Emmott)

Stocks treated in this article : Banco Santander, Banco Popular Espanol