Financial system

Throughout its history, BBVA has played a prominent role in the economic and social development of Spain, propeling its progress and constantly adapting the bank in order to be at the forefront of innovation and technology. Since it was first established in the mid-19th Century (1857), BBVA has been known for being a visionary bank, with the ability to anticipate the trends that will change the financial industry and the future needs of its customers. Some of its noteworthy milestones include financing the construction of the Madrid subway system; being the first bank to allow women to do their banking without the permission of a legal guardian through the creation of the  Women’s Bank; and being the first bank to introduce credit cards as a payment method. A track record that has established BBVA as a crucial ally to face future challenges and thus encourage economic growth and the transformation of businesses.

BBVA Chair Carlos Torres Vila and Spanish Minister of the Economy Carlos Cuerpo launched the 41st edition of the APIE Seminar in Santander, Spain on Monday. The event focuses on the role of companies in the new economy. In his presentation Torres Vila emphasized BBVA's support for Spanish businesses, particularly SMEs, which he identified as key drivers of the country’s growth and development. Specifically, he said, “our view of the importance of SMEs is one of the reasons for the offer we presented to Banco Sabadell shareholders a little over a month ago,” as the bank holds a strong position in this segment. “The transaction represents a clear commitment to SMEs, and will further reinforce our commitment to this kind of businesses,” Torres Vila stated.

A takeover bid happens when an investor or a group of investors offers to buy shares from all the shareholders of a listed company. They usually offer a specific price for these shares or other securities that give them an ownership stake in the company.

Luisa Gómez Bravo has been CFO of the Group since September 2023. She recognizes that the first few months in her new role have been very intense. After all, the Finance unit is responsible for the Group’s financial planning and monitoring, for capital, for managing liquidity and structural balance sheet risks, for relations with the Group’s investors and shareholders, and many other functions. After a historic 2023 in financial terms, Gómez Bravo predicts that 2024 will be another great year for BBVA. This will be possible, she maintains, thanks to the Group’s structural strengths:  leading franchises in high growth markets and a strategic focus based on the opportunities provided by innovation, digitization and sustainability. And these focal points have been the main drivers of the bank’s growth. “BBVA’s ability to combine profitability and growth is unique in the European banking sector and it sets us apart from our competitors,” she stressed.

BBVA has completed the sale of a portfolio of secured non-performing loans (NPLs). The portfolio has a gross value of approximately €330 million. This is BBVA's second such sale in 2023.

BBVA has updated the Group's Tax Strategy, last published in 2015. The bank thereby addresses rising interest among analysts, investors and wider society in corporate decisions with an impact on environmental, social and good governance issues. The new strategy strengthens the governance, oversight and control structure by creating a specific tax compliance body and integrating ESG criteria in tax decision-making.

BBVA’s Turkish franchise is strategically reinforcing its commitment to enhance customer accessibility by extending remote banking services to corporate clients.

BBVA has stood out in the 2023 stress test of the European Banking Authority (EBA).  The exercise is carried out every two years and examines the banks’ capacity to maintain minimum capital levels and own resource requirements under two scenarios: a baseline and an adverse one. In the baseline scenario BBVA would generate 326 basis points, to a maximum fully-loaded CET1 of 15.87 percent as of December 2025. In the adverse scenario, BBVA would see a capital depletion of 295 basis points, to a fully-loaded CET1 of 9.66 percent. This impact is significantly lower than the average of the European banks surveyed (459 bps). BBVA is the third bank with lowest impact among its comparable group¹.

BBVA has given a new boost to its Wealth Management unit within the Private Banking area in Spain to enhance its range of services for individuals with a net worth of over €2 million. With a view to more personalized support for customers, BBVA Private Banking has recruited 28 new bankers (an increase of 38%), bringing the total team to 101 professionals. Of these new entrants, 13 will focus on the Ultra High Net Worth segment (net worth of more than €10 million).

BBVA reported a total tax payment in 2022 of €10,948 million (+33 percent vs. 2021) across all the countries in which it operates, of which €5,023 million (+65 percent) were its own taxes and €5,925 million (+14 percent) were third-party taxes. This was the highest tax payment ever recorded by the Group, in line with its earnings performance during the past year. In Spain, BBVA generated a total tax contribution of €2,759 million, of which €1,326 million consisted of its own taxes (+42 percent).

After achieving 160,000 customers in its first year in Italy BBVA has set itself a new goal for 2023: to attract another 160,000 customers. And it is doing so with a 100% digital and free financial proposal that includes a wide range of services and tools so that users can make the best decisions and improve their financial health.

In 2022, digitization continued to be a priority for regulators on a global level, and 2023 is expected to be just as intense in the regulation of digital issues, with a focus on open finance and digital assets.

After a 2022 shaped by the developments in the Basel III framework, post-COVID regulation or the first European banking climate stress tests, 2023 is looking set to be a key year in terms of digital regulation. Thus, the regulatory framework for cryptoassets and the digital euro will be two of the major issues on the agenda in the coming months. There are also expectations that the Basel III regulation will be finalized, that progress will continue to be made in sustainability and that proposals will be presented in Europe to improve the crisis management framework.

The BBVA Board of Directors approved Wednesday the bank adhering to the measures included in the new  Code of Good Practice (CBP in Spanish) to help customers at risk of vulnerability with mortgages, as well as the expansion of the Code of Good Practice, which has been in force since 2012.

World Finance, one of the world's leading business and finance magazines, named Garanti BBVA ‘Türkiye's Best Retail Bank’ for the eighth consecutive time. The Turkish franchise was also singled out as ‘Europe's Best Retail Bank’ for the fifth time.

The finalization of Basel III, post-COVID regulation, artificial intelligence and the crypto world, or international coordination in the supervision of sustainable finance are some of the trends that will mark the regulatory agenda in 2022. Santiago Fernández de Lis, Head of Regulation at BBVA, reviews the keys to financial regulation in the year that has just begun.

The BBVA Group is debuting fully digital retail banking in Italy, with a unique value proposition and customer experience. BBVA is entering the Italian market with free digital banking; one of the most secure cards in the world - as there are no printed numbers on the card, and a dynamic CVV - unmatched in Italy; and financing products at competitive prices.

The Latin American Federation of Banks (Felaban) organized its 2nd regulatory meeting in Madrid. The employers' association, which gathers the main banking associations in the region, participated in a working meeting with BBVA executives where they analyzed the outlook for Latin America post-pandemic.

World Finance magazine awarded Garanti BBVA as the best retail bank in Turkey for the seventh consecutive year in its 2021 awards. The publication also found BBVA's Turkish subsidiary to be the best bank in Europe, an award it has won for the fourth year.

To measure and understand a banking entity's credit quality, several metrics must be considered as an interrelated whole. One indicator in isolation cannot give a full picture of credit risk. The three most widely used metrics are the NPL ratio, the coverage ratio and the cost of risk. These metrics enable us to analyze the volume of non-performing assets in relation to the size of an entity's loan portfolio, the provisions recognized to cover future default losses and the annual cost of generating this buffer of provisions.

Starting Jan. 1, 2022, BBVA will be required to meet a volume of own funds and eligible liabilities (MREL) of 24.78 percent of its risk-weighted assets (RWAs), in line with expectations. As of March 31, 2021, the bank already complies with this requirement, reaching 29.23 percent, as well as with the new subordination requirement.

How do you know if a banking product is sustainable and contributes to the protection of the environment? In 2020, 26 banks including BBVA, tested how the European Union's taxonomy on sustainable activities could be applied to core banking products. Common criteria for determining which products are sustainable could allow banks to drive sustainable financing for the entire economy.

In an interview with ‘La Linterna’ de COPE, BBVA’s Group Executive Chairman said that the EU funds to face the health crisis represent “a great opportunity”. In his opinion, if invested “productively in long-term growth and combined in combination with structural reforms”, they can help tackle key problems of the Spanish economy, such as structural unemployment. "We also need to invest in education, focusing on the world of the future: the digital world, the world of data and addressing the transition to a more sustainable world, socially and environmentally."

In January, more than 250 leaders from across BBVA USA gathered in Houston to hear from management about the bank’s new 5-year strategic plan. Anybody in attendance will tell you it was a great meeting that generated palpable excitement about the bank’s future in the U.S.

BBVA’s CEO sat down with Turkish news agency Anadolu to discuss the current scenario facing Turkey’s economy and banking system. Onur Genç expressed his optimism regarding Turkey's progress at the economic level and considers that banks are in good shape to face this crisis. Digitization, in his opinion, will be key for banks in the current scenario. In this sense, he cited Garanti BBVA as an example of a digital leader, with almost nine million digital customers, eight million of whom are mobile.

In an op-ed published in El País, Olga Gouveia, Principal Economist at BBVA Research, recalls the importance of banking services - considered essential services by authorities in many countries - in the current crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Thus, banks are part of the solution and the recovery will be faster if they remain capable of financing the economy.

Organized by the economic magazines, ‘Capital’ and ‘Ekonomist,’ CEO Club Summit is the premier business event in Turkey, and for the first time, it was held virtually as a precaution against COVID-19. Garanti BBVA CEO Recep Bastug was on hand to participate.