Social entrepreneur Michelle Corson of Dallas, Texas took home the $75,000 first prize for On the Road Lending, a company which finances fuel-efficient and reliable cars, under warranty, for lower-skilled workers with weak credit at the wrap of BBVA Compass second annual social entrepreneur program BBVA Momentum this week.

BBVA has closed a new deal in Italy with the gas utility SNAM, thus reaffirming its position as a leading structuring bank of sustainable solutions in the European loan market. The transaction is a €3.2 billion revolving credit facility (RCF), the third sustainable loan in Italy led by BBVA as sustainability coordinator.

BBVA has reaffirmed its leadership in sustainable financing with the execution and structuring of the first revolving credit facility (RCF) for the power utility A2A in Italy. The bank acted as an advisor, sustainable coordinator and documentation agent, heading a finance deal valued at €400 million euros.

AVANGRID has entered into a $2.5 billion syndicated sustainability-linked credit facility, the biggest green loan in the U.S. to date. In doing so, Iberdrola’s U.S. subsidiary follows its parent company’s lead and demonstrates its commitment to combating climate change. BBVA has acted as sustainable agent and ‘joint lead arranger’ for the deal.

BBVA has reaffirmed its leading position in sustainable finance by closing the first green loan deal with a company in the Spanish distribution sector, the Valencian cooperative Consum. The €5-million operation proves that this type of financing is not limited to major multinationals present in the capital market. Smaller enterprises also have access to it.

Drawing on its skills, knowledge and experience as one of the most active banks in the sustainable finance sector, BBVA has been selected by Hera to help in the structuring and execution of the first RFC (revolving credit facility) loan in Italy. This is the first sustainable operation of these characteristics in the country. BBVA has acted as the sustainable agent, leading the operation valued at €200 million.

BBVA has signed a financing contract with Forestalia, Mirova, GE and ENGIE to develop the first 300 megawatts (MW) of wind power free of subsidies and incentives in Spain. The 9 wind farm complex, dubbed the Goya Project, will be built in the province of Zaragoza. The 300 MW were awarded in the first renewable energy auction in Spain, held in January 2016, in which Forestalia was the largest bidder. This is also the first green loan to be granted in Spain under the “Green Loan Principles” in which BBVA has coordinated the issue, with Altermia providing Second Party Opinion.

BBVA has signed a $400-million-dollar green loan with Iberdrola, the first green corporate loan to be formalized in Latin America. This reasserts BBVA’s commitment to sustainable financing by supporting the development and implementation of financial products in the green format.

BBVA Compass is expanding its BBVA Momentum accelerator program this year and inviting social entrepreneurs from across its seven-state Sunbelt footprint to apply. The bank will select up to 35 entrepreneurs to participate in the intensive five-month training program for entrepreneurs who want to change the world through their work.

If the transition to sustainable finance is to be possible, society needs a committed business community that is aware of the environmental challenges, knows how to take advantage of the opportunities provided by green financial solutions and participates actively in the debate.  This was one of the main conclusions to emerge from the recent breakfast meeting “Sustainable Finance: solutions for a green economy”, organized by Grupo Español para el Crecimiento Verde (the Spanish Green Growth Group) and BBVA, which took place in the Bank’s headquarters.

BBVA has marked a new milestone in the sustainable finance business with the closing of the first global transaction in the insurance sector. MAPFRE has transformed its syndicated credit facility for 1 billion euros into sustainable finance with the cooperation of BBVA, which acted as Sustainable Agent in the transaction.

Green loans have arrived in force on the world’s financial markets. The volume of these sustainable products, which up to now had appeared sporadically, has shown a marked increase since last year. BBVA ended 2017 as the most active company in green loans worldwide, with a total of 11 transactions in Europe and Latin America for clients in a range of sectors, and was the undisputed number one in Spain.

Iberdrola has signed two new sustainable syndicated loans for a total of 5.3 billion euros, the largest ever signed globally. BBVA has led these transactions by acting as a sustainable agent.

Putting up a new calendar and starting a new year means taking stock of past achievements and setting new goals. In the area of Responsible Banking, BBVA is ready to take on new challenges, in order to continue making strides in responsible financing, digital transformation, human rights and other important areas.

BBVA has acted as a Green Agent for a green credit in the amount of 800 million euros for Red Eléctrica España S.A. (“REE”). This is the first syndicated green revolving credit facility in Spain, and also the first of its kind in the electric utilities sector.

Chad Houser of Dallas-based Café Momentum, a restaurant training platform for juvenile offenders, won the top prize of $50,000 last week as the BBVA Momentum program for social entrepreneurs closed out its inaugural season in the U.S.

If the No. 1 fear in the U.S. is public speaking — and it actually is, according to a number of surveys, even above the fear of death itself — then the seminar for BBVA Momentum participants this fall at the University of Texas at Austin was a security blanket.

The growing demand for financial products that support sustainable economic, social and environmental development has created a need for tools such as green loans, which allow companies to finance initiatives that have a clear environmental impact.

The social entrepreneurs selected for the inaugural U.S. class of the BBVA Momentum mentorship program dove into the details of business-building in their second session with top-flight educators at the University of Texas at Austin.

In today’s society, there is an increasing demand for sustainable growth and development. To respond to that demand, there are financial instruments such as social bonds, whose resources are by definition destined for projects that improve the social environment. This market has already reached 25.5 billion euros.

Antoni Ballabriga, Global Head of Responsible Business at BBVA, took part this Tuesday in a regional roundtable on the progress of sustainable financing, in an event organized in Switzerland by the UNEP Finance Initiative (UNEP FI) in association with the Swiss Sustainable Finance platform (SSF).

In a context in which companies are increasingly aware of the importance of sustainability, green bonds have established themselves as a financing alternative. In 2016, more than $87 billion in green bonds were issued worldwide, more than double the $42 billion in 2015. According to estimates by Bloomberg New Energy Finance, in 2017 the volume of green bonds issued globally could reach $123 billion.

The transition to a more sustainable economic and financial system is key to boost the union of capital markets in Europe and ensure competitiveness, job creation and stable economic growth maintained Antoni Ballabriga at the European Banking Summit 2017 organized today in Brussels by the European Banking Federation (EBF).

BBVA Executive Chairman Francisco González has reinforced the Group’s commitment to the U.S. after the most recent natural disasters. “We’re going to redouble our commitment to those affected through a number of actions,” he explained. In Houston, where he met with the city’s mayor, Sylvester Turner, he gave a message of solidarity on behalf of the entire BBVA Group. Francisco González also announced that he is going to visit Mexico City in the coming days to see first-hand the damages caused by the Sept. 19 earthquake.

Doing business is no longer enough. One of the trends in business is also having a positive impact on society. The key is how to make it profitable.

BBVA has acted as Green Loan Coordinator of a €176 million green loan granted to Sociedade Concesionaria Novo Hospital de Vigo S.A., the concessionaire responsible for non-hospital services at the instititution, which has been renamed Hospital Álvaro Cunqueiro. Servizo Galego de Saúde, Galicia’s healthcare service, awarded the 25-year construction and operation to the concessionaire, a consortium formed by Acciona, Grupo Puentes, Veolia España and Concesia.

This week marks yet another milestone for BBVA in green financing in Europe. SSE, the largest producer of renewable energy in the UK, chose BBVA to act as green structuring bank and joint bookrunner on its inaugural EUR 600 million green bond. This is the biggest-ever green bond issued by a UK company, and the financing will be destined to the refinancing of onshore wind farms in SSE’s energy generation portfolio.

BBVA has signed a 240 million euro sustainable loan in favor of the Autonomous Community of Madrid, the first loan of this kind granted by the bank to an autonomous region in Spain.

BBVA has signed the first green loan in the project finance format with the Italian energy company Terna. The funding has been structured into a loan A for 56 million dollars awarded by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and a loan B for 25 million dollars entirely subscribed by BBVA, which has also headed the green structuring of the funding and acted as the Green Loan Coordinator.

BBVA Compass, which has channeled $79 million in community development loans and investments in rural Texas communities since 2015, was honored with a Rural Matters award last month at the Texas Rural Challenge.

This week marks the 10th anniversary of the first green bond, in which BBVA participated. The bonds were issued by the European Investment Bank. Since then, a wide range of financial and non-financial corporate issuers have turned to the markets to issue this type of debt securities, accelerating growth of the market to its current volume of $210 billion. This year, important changes have been made that could increase green issues to $120 billion.

Low- to moderate-income seniors have a new place to call home in Huntsville, Ala., after the grand opening on June 15 of Lenox Park Apartments, a 60-unit development financed by BBVA Compass.

Halfway into its five-year, $11 billion commitment to serving low- to moderate-income communities, BBVA Compass has made tens of thousands of pinpoint investments and loans that have changed lives and created opportunities.

Garanti Bank signed a residential mortgage covered bond agreement with IFC (International Finance Corporation), a member of the World Bank Group, with 5-year term maturity worth at USD 150 million equivalent to 540 million Turkish Lira. Garanti issued the first residential mortgage covered bond ever, which is IFC has invested the first time in Turkey as well. Garanti will use the fund to provide green mortgages for the purchases of energy efficient housing, helping to boost the development of green buildings in the country’s housing sector.

Yesterday, Tradebe obtained the world’s first green syndicated financing in term loan format, for a total of €265 million. The transaction was signed by 11 national and foreign financial institutions with strong oversubscription under BBVA’s leadership as Facility and Green Agent, Coordinator and Sole Bookrunner.

Twenty social entrepreneurs from Texas who have channeled their passions into solving an array of society’s issues were selected to join the inaugural U.S. class of BBVA Momentum, an intensive seven-month training program for those who want to change the world through their work.

Ambitious social entrepreneurs from Texas are gathering today at the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas at Austin to make their case for joining the inaugural class of BBVA Momentum, an intensive seven-month training program for entrepreneurs who want to change the world through their work.

One of the first projects BBVA Compass pursued after the bank made its $11 billion commitment to low- to moderate-income communities in late 2014 has come online and put 128 low-income Austin families in green homes zoned to some of the area’s best schools.

In April, BBVA signed a $100 million green loan agreement with Acciona to partially fund solar and wind projects in Chile. This is the second-ever green loan secured by a Spanish company; both have been made by BBVA.

BBVA Compass’ investment in a newly constructed affordable housing project in Fort Worth was held up as a model of public and private cooperation last week during a VIP tour of the facility.

BBVA Compass is relying on a variety of vehicles — including $16.3 million in federal Low-Income Housing Tax Credit equity, a $17.2 million construction loan, $5.7 million in permanent debt, $1.2 million from the City of Fort Worth and $700,000 from the City of Fort Worth Housing Finance Corporation — to finance the 140-unit development known as Columbia at Renaissance Square.

BBVA Momentum is not your typical business funding program, because it places a special emphasis on strategic mentoring, training and support. However, businesses enroll in the program for a number of reasons, including the possibility of being awarded a cash prize that will allow them increase their impact. For this reason, the new edition will continue providing access to investment, but with a different approach.

In an environment where companies are becoming increasingly aware about the importance of sustainability, green bonds are taking hold as a funding alternative: In 2016 global green bond issues reached $87 billion, a record level after closing at $42 billion in 2015.

BBVA launches the sixth edition of its social entrepreneurship support program, which from now on will be global – it will be developed in Spain, the United States, Mexico, Turkey and Colombia –, will offer support to more companies and will adjust better to the reality of social entrepreneurs. BBVA Momentum channels its support through five initiatives: a training program; a strategic mentoring program; a network of entrepreneurs, customers and investors; collaboration to provide visibility to the companies; and, finally, funding.

On Wednesday, BBVA signed a green loan in favor of Iberdrola for 500 million euros. In addition to being the first operation of this type for an energy sector company, this agreement involves the highest sum as of this date.

The headquarters of BBVA Microfinance Foundation (BBVAMF) in Madrid was the venue of the meeting that the company held with Luis Alberto Moreno, Chairman of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB). The aim of this meeting was to analyze the joint projects of both institutions and their future initiatives.

The BBVA Microfinance Foundation has signed an agreement to take part in the World Bank’s Universal Financial Access 2020 (UFA) initiative. The goal is to facilitate financial inclusion for two billion people worldwide.

The BBVA Microfinance Foundation (BBVAMF) has taken part in the United Nations’ High-Level Panel on the economic empowerment of women in Latin America. This event served as an important first step on the road for working together to create a planet without discrimination.

The European Investment Bank (EIB) has set up a series of credit facilities with BBVA to finance small and medium enterprises, providing them with liquidity and backing for their investments. Support for European companies is an essential element in the EU’s economic policy and, therefore, is one of the EIB’s investment priorities.

Over 6,000 people attended the largest event about cooperation and development in Europe. Organized annually by the European Commission in Brussels, this year’s European Development Days were held on June 15 and 16. With the active participation of BBVA Microfinance Foundation (FMBBVA), the main topic of the event was the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

BBVA does not only generate impact through its business activities. In 2015, BBVA dedicated 103.6 million euros to social initiatives. Education is a strategic priority in the Group’s social programs, and follows two lines of action: financial literacy for business, and education for social integration and training in values. It also runs initiatives to support entrepreneurship and culture, among other areas, which are described in detail in its annual report.