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Spain’s competition watchdog cleared Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria’s acquisition of Banco Sabadell putting the final decision on the year-long takeover battle in the hands of the government. The CNMC, which flagged that a combination of the two Spanish banks would threaten competition in certain parts of the retail banking and payments markets, late Wednesday concluded that the remedies put forward by BBVA to address its concerns are “adequate, sufficient, and proportionate to solve the problems that this concentration poses.” BBVA is Spain’s second largest bank by market capitalization but makes the bulk of its business in emerging markets like Mexico and Turkey, and set its sights on Catalan lender Sabadell a year ago to bolster its presence in its home market.