Carlos Torres Vila, CEO and future executive chairman of BBVA, and Onur Genç, who will take over as CEO and is currently head of BBVA in the U.S., will do “extraordinary things” together with the rest of the BBVA team, said Francisco González, chairman of the Group, speaking at an IESE event in New York.

Born in Chantada (Lugo), Spain, in 1944.

Graduated in Economic and Business Sciences from Universidad Complutense de Madrid.

BBVA will propose the appointment of Jaime Caruana, Ana Peralta and Jan Verplancke as independent board members at its Annual General Meeting. With these new additions, BBVA will strengthen the board’s financial and technological capabilities. It will consist of 15 members, the majority of whom will be independent.

BBVA’s digital customers are increasing in number, are more satisfied and interact more with the bank. In fact, the bank has reached its digital tipping point, at which more than 50 percent of its customers are using the bank’s digital channels in six countries (Spain, the United States, Turkey, Argentina, Chile and Venezuela). It’s a milestone that foreseeably will be reached this year by more of the countries where BBVA operates. Indeed in Davos last week, BBVA Group Executive Chairman Francisco González predicted the Group’s customer base as a whole will pass the 50 percent tipping point in 2018.

BBVA Global Executive Chairman Francisco González was very positive about the future of Mexico during his visit to the country for the annual meeting of BBVA Bancomer’s regional Board members. “The resilience of the Mexican economy to the recent challenges it has faced is admirable,” he affirmed. “In terms of the rest of Latin America, I’m also optimistic. Populist movements are losing steam and economic and political rationality is moving ahead.”

Onur Genç’s appointment as BBVA Compass CEO and country manager marks the beginning of a new chapter for the BBVA Group’s franchise in the U.S. Genç is ready to take on the challenge of leading the digitization push, at a time when the prospects of rising interest rates could have a profound impact on the future of the industry. BBVA CEO Carlos Torres Vila, in Houston visiting the team at BBVA Compass, joined Genç for this interview. BBVA’s CEO underscored the bank’s commitment to the U.S. market, a region that accounted for 11 percent of the Group’s net attributable profit in 2016.

• Changes: The new executive director compensation policy for the next three years envisages 1) an increase in the amounts to be deferred and the deferral period for the variable compensation. 60% of the variable compensation will be subject to a 5-year deferral period; 2) share-based remuneration increase: 60% of the deferred amount to be paid in BBVA shares, the remaining 40% in cash; and 3) variable compensation to be subject to reduction and clawback clauses
• Group Executive Chairman: Total remuneration of BBVA’s Group Executive Chairman for 2016 was €4.9 million, down 12% from 2015. The Chairman’s variable compensation dropped 18% with respect to 2015, mainly as a result of the impact on BBVA Group’s profit of the provision related to ‘floor clauses’ in Spain and exchange rate trends. The deferred variable remuneration is subject to the retribution policy in force in 2016, with multi-annual indicators based on which said remuneration can be reduced or even taken to zero, never increased, as well as malus clauses that could limit or even prevent its collection
• Chief Executive Officer: CEO Carlos Torres Vila’s remuneration was €4.4 million, and his variable remuneration is also subject to the same deferral period and conditions as that of the Chairman

The Board of Directors has approved a new Executive Director compensation policy for 2017, 2018 and 2019 to adapt to the new regulation related to compensation (Bank of Spain Circular 2/2016 and the European Banking Authority’s guidelines on sound adequate remuneration policies.) This new policy will be submitted for approval in the upcoming Annual General Meeting, on March 17.

BBVA Compass Chairman Manolo Sánchez, who immigrated to the U.S. from Spain, was honored last week in his adopted hometown with an Arrival Award from the University of Houston Law School’s Immigration Clinic.

Customer Solutions, the area responsible for creating and developing  global solutions and products to meet the needs of BBVA clients, under the leadership of Derek White, is reorganizing its units and accountabilities, aiming to accelerate the Group’s transformation.

Since the 2013 education reforms were enacted and included in the Constitution, education has become one of the fundamental priorities for Mexico’s government and society alike.  Reforming the country’s enormous and complex education system will be beneficial for all Mexican institutions and social partners. BBVA Bancomer has been supporting efforts to drive this progress for many years, via its scholarship and education support programs.

BBVA Compass announced that José ‘Pepe’ Olalla has been tapped as its Head of Business Development, an interim post he has held since December 2015 and one that plays a key role in the bank’s ongoing digital transformation in the face of changing consumer demands.

BBVA will propose the appointment of Sunir Kapoor and Andrew Stott as new independent board members during its Annual Shareholders’ Meeting. The Meeting will be held in Bilbao on March 11th, 2016, as notified in the Relevant Event containing the agenda and to which this press release is appended.