The Latest: Catalan bank saw temporary run on deposits

MADRID – The Latest on the independence bid by the Spanish region of Catalonia (all times local):

12:45 p.m.

Caixabank, the third-largest bank in Spain that was until recently based in the region of Catalonia, says it suffered a "moderate" but temporary run on deposits due to the crisis over the region's independence bid.

Presenting the company's earnings for the first time in the city of Valencia, CEO Gonzalo Gortazar declined Tuesday to give details on the amount of deposits that were withdrawn but said it has "been reversed" and that the bank continued to grow.

Gortazar said the Oct. 6 transfer of its headquarters to Valencia was definitive. Local media reports quoted Gortazar as saying the bank does not currently plan to move any jobs out of Catalonia.

Caixabank, Catalonia's second bank, Sabadell, and more than a thousand other companies have moved their official base out of Catalonia to ensure they can continue operating under European Union laws should Catalonia press ahead with independence and be expelled from the bloc.

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10:30 a.m.

Spain's justice minister says Catalonia would have to do more than call regional elections if it wants to avoid the Spanish government stepping in and taking over its affairs.

Rafael Catala told Spanish National Radio on Tuesday that Catalan regional President Carles Puigdemont first would have to clarify if he declared independence in an ambiguous speech he gave Oct. 10 following a banned referendum that he said gave him a mandate to secede.

Spain's Senate this week is studying a Spanish government request to take partial control of Catalonia, including sacking Puigdemont and his ministers, after the Catalan leader on two occasions failed to state whether he had declared independence.

Speculation has increased in recent days that Puigdemont may call regional elections in a bid to avoid intervention.