In his participation at the round table "Companies in Mexico and Social Responsibility" together with the Deputy Secretary for Social Development of the government of Mexico and other leaders from private organizations, Ignacio Deschamps explained that the BBVA Bancomer Financial Group assumes its social commitment in a number of different ways, ranging from commercial actions those linked to social development and philanthropy.

BBVA Bancomer supports its clients at these times of crisis by promoting financial education through the Adelante con tu Futuro (Forward with your future) program and the various support and social development actions sponsored by the Foundation. Ignacio Deschamps explained BBVA Bancomer’s activity in this field at the conference, which was organized by the Carolina Foundation, the Embassy of Spain in Mexico and the Euroamérica Foundation. The aim was to debate the impact of the crisis on responsible practices, the measures that could be taken to mitigate negative effects, and to set out strategies that used responsible practices as a tool to combat the effects of the crisis and to contribute to recovery.

“Companies prove themselves in the crisis,” said Ignacio Deschamps. “At Bancomer we know that in the midst of this crisis there are millions of Mexicans who are waiting to access banking services and that at BBVA Bancomer we support them.  Another form of helping overcome the crisis is the major 900-million dollar investment we have announced to construct a new corporate headquarters in Mexico City. The money is to be invested precisely over these three difficult years."

On the way that BBVA Bancomer supports its clients’ efforts to tackle the crisis, Ignacio Deschamps said that lending had not been suspended even in the months of greatest volatility between October and March; BBVA Bancomer granted 60% of lending to the productive sector and is providing one out of every three mortgages.  Around a million support schemes have been granted to refinance debt for individuals facing difficulties in meeting payments.

In addition to this, BBVA Bancomer has developed the Adelante con tu Futuro Financial Education Program in partnership with the Interactive Museum of Economics. The program helps people access the banking system in a responsible and well informed way by giving them information on subjects such as choosing products wisely, how to use a credit card, or what an Afore pension fund administrator is for.

In addition, Ignacio Deschamps outlined the Por los que se quedan (For those left behind) Integration Scholarship program aimed at areas where there is greatest emigration: “From the business of remittances we know that the phenomenon of migration is linked to family disintegration. We think that this is the most important problem in Mexico in the 21st century. For this reason we have set up a scholarship program that gives 1,000 pesos a month to families over three years of secondary school to allow young people to continue their studies. Research we have carried out shows that this amount represents between 25% and 30% of the average income of these families. We already support 15,000 young people in 143 municipalities across 18 states in the Republic. The most important point is that there are 700 employees of BBVA Bancomer who are godparents to these young people; they accompany them and stimulate them to continue their studies and maintain good grades.”

The conference also heard a talk by Antoni Ballabriga, Director for Corporate Responsibility at BBVA. He described the main features of this subject for our Group at a global level and pointed out that we have to work to lay the basic foundations that can support sustainable development. These foundations are: adequate regulation, effective supervision and in the case of companies, incorporation of responsibility into the business model. "Companies that operate with transparency, prudence and integrity and move from ideas to everyday practice, can obtain what are two very important assets for financial companies: trust and credibility with all their stakeholders,” he explained.

Also taking part in the conference was Jorge Sicilia, Chief Economist for Mexico and the United States, who spoke at the session called "The economic and financial crisis in Latin America and the Caribbean and growth problems".

Thus, both at an international level through BBVA and locally through BBVA Bancomer, our Group demonstrates that it is a very active participant in subjects of Social Responsibility and shares the commitment of the institution to achieve a better future for people, as we have declared in our Corporate Culture.