In the last three months of 2005, BBVA received fresh recognition of some of its activities related to corporate responsibility. Such recognition included the following:

· Prizes awarded by the Spanish Business Administration and Accounting Association and by the Institute of Auditors for the best Spanish sustainability report in 2004 (ie, BBVA’s annual corporate responsibility report).

· Fifth place among Spanish companies (an improvement of three places) in the list of “world’s most respected companies” prepared by PricewaterhouseCoopers and the Financial Times.

The group also undertook numerous new activities in the fourth quarter. The more important ones are described below, grouped by area:

Customers: BBVA introduced new products and services with features related to corporate responsibility, such as Cuentas Claras Internacional (a personalised system of fees and commissions that is clear, simple and less costly for immigrants). Other examples include BBVA Bancomer's system of guarantees (a new form of commitment to customers with wider guarantees of service quality and security that specifies compensation in the case of non-compliance) and consumer finance for pensioners via Banco Express, a new affiliate of BBVA Chile.

Employees: the bank signed an agreement with the bank’s unions to promote equality and reconciliation of family life with working hours. It also launched new initiatives connected with the Passion for People programme (including a household multi-assistance service and an option to acquire BBVA shares periodically through salary deductions).

Social work: BBVA Bancomer co-ordinated donations from its customers and employees for victims of the Stan and Wilma hurricanes. These were complemented by contributions from the BBVA Bancomer Foundation.

Training: one of the most worthy actions in this area was the Euro Solidarity campaign. Group employees in Spain could volunteer to donate one euro from their monthly salary (to be matched by the bank) to an education scheme run by the Entreculturas Foundation for the extreme poor in the Andes region of Peru. By year-end, 4,522 employees had joined the scheme. BBVA Banco Provincial (Venezuela) and the Central Region University of Technology also reached an agreement to provide comprehensive training and advice to micro-firms. In Spain, the bank awarded the second round of Blue Joven Prizes for “Enterprising People of Andalucia” and announced the 2006 edition of the Ruta Quetzal BBVA, visiting Mexico, Belize, Guatemala and Spain.

The environment: significant events also took place in this area. They included internal items (such as the ISO 14001 certificate for environmental management at the HQ building on Paseo de la Castellana 81 in Madrid) as well as sponsored activities (membership of the CeroCO2 initiative to offset CO2 emissions and opening of the Cap Salines Coastal Research Station in Mallorca – sponsored by the BBVA Foundation).

Knowledge enhancement: BBVA has joined an important medical project to create a Spanish Cardiovascular Research Centre. Meanwhile the BBVA Foundation has actively continued promoting and distributing scientific knowledge. It presented the results of various research projects, including one on the Internet in Spain and “The Sustainable Enterprise”. In addition the economic research department unveiled a new web site for the handicapped and Banco de Crédito Local sponsored a second edition of the Local Forum Observatory Prize for contributions to the development and modernisation of local government.

Culture: BBVA either sponsored or organised four exhibitions during the period. They were Masters of Collage (at the Miró Foundation in Barcelona); Hasta pulverizarse los ojos (Madrid and Bilbao); the 17th Audiovisual Exhibition (Bilbao) and an exhibition on the Belem Palace (Lisbon). Furthermore, the bank organised a series of competitions for the employees’ children in Spain and Latin America as part of the Passion for People campaign. The winning entry from these, complemented by an international competition, became the illustration on the corporate Christmas card.