Economy
Economy
Spain has gone from being “a seriously ill patient and a source of contagion for the rest of the euro zone” to implementing “one of the most vigorous reform programs,” in the words of Francisco González. Thanks to the reforms undertaken, “Spain is well positioned to register sustainable growth over the next few years,” he said at the UMIP/APIE course today.
The acceleration of economic activity, the decline in oil prices and the monetary policy of the ECB are the main factors underlying the revision. This growth will allow one million jobs to be created in two years, and the unemployment rate to be reduced to around 20%.
The BBVA Group posted a profit of €2.62 billion in 2014, 25.7% more than in 2013, according to the new accounting rules1, driven by the solid net interest income performance, cost control and lower loan-loss and real-estate provisions. Net income from ongoing operations, which does not include results from corporate operations, grew 53.1% to €3.08 billion year-over-year.
BBVA has agreed to sell 4.9% of China CITIC Bank Corporation Limited (CNCB) for HK$13.136 billion, equivalent to about €1.46 billion. The operation generates a capital gain of about €400 million and improves the Common Equity Tier 1 fully loaded capital ratio of the BBVA Group by more than 20 basis points.
BBVA has received the award from the SERES Foundation for its initiative in sponsoring job creation entitled "Yo Soy Empleo" (I am employment). This award for innovation and social commitment, granted in recognition of the constant work done by companies to improve society, was accepted by Ignacio Moliner, BBVA's Brand & Communications Manager.
The Colombian Laura Parra, the winner of the Innovators Under 35 award in 2013, organized by MIT Technology Review in its Spanish edition in partnership with BBVA, has developed a video game that helps children with mobility problems in their rehabilitation therapy.
BBVA Corporate & Investment Banking has received the "Market Outperformer Spain" and "Category Outperformer for Ancillary Services" ratings in the "Agent Banks in Major Markets Survey 2014" organized by Global Custodian magazine. This specialized publication has already recognized the bank's institutional custody activity in previous years.
Ana González, head of Selection for BBVA Spain and Global Areas for the Group, highlighted how important it is to have been chosen for the second year running as the financial institution young Spaniards would most like to work for.
The Centro Mexicano para la Filantropía (Mexican Center for Philanthropy, CEMEFI) presented BBVA Bancomer with the award for Socially Responsible Company in the "14 years" category, and Seguros BBVA Bancomer received the "6 years" distinction, in recognition of the bank's commitment to the community and to the economic and social development of the country.
Financial innovation does not deserve all the blame that has been laid at its door since the financial crisis of 2007. In recent years a number of relatively good innovations have emerged, although their detractors are right to point out that there have also been bad ones.