BBVA has appointed José Luis Elechiguerra, current Head of Client Solutions in the United States, as Global Head of Engineering & Organization, replacing Ricardo Forcano who, after a successful decade at BBVA, is leaving the bank to start an academic research project.

Spain was the first stop in the tour BBVA’s new CEO is taking across the different markets where the Group operates.

Onur Genç met with those in charge of BBVA Spain, as well as the different multidisciplinary teams working on the development of next-generation digital products and services. “I was able to see first hand the commitment and dedication of the entire BBVA team in Spain. They are pioneers in many of the projects the Group launches,” he said.

Onur Genç has just been named the next CEO of the BBVA Group. He is excited, beyond happy and somewhat surprised. As the announcement is made public we meet him for a quick chat.

The Board of Directors of BBVA approved the succession plan for the company’s chief executive officer (CEO). Onur Genç, who is currently the CEO of BBVA Compass and U.S. country manager for BBVA, will replace Carlos Torres Vila as Group CEO. The succession is expected to take place on Dec. 31, 2018.

BBVA Compass Chief Risk Officer Javier Hernández has a long history with BBVA, the parent of BBVA Compass, having joined the bank in 1998. Since that time, he’s been through financial up and down swings, as well as watched the dawn of the tech revolution in finance - all of which has given him an unbeatable perspective on the function of risk in such times. He sat down with External Communications to tell us more about his role, the evolution of Risk Management and the impact of digital.

After announcing that he will be stepping down as BBVA Group Executive Chairman, which is set to take place at the end of December, Francisco González granted an interview to Spanish newspaper El Mundo. During the interview he went over his almost 18 year tenure at the helm of the bank, but mostly spoke about the future. Francisco González leaves a bank set for “huge success” in the new digital scenario, managed according to clear principles, by the best possible leader, Carlos Torres Vila.

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

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

Cristina de Parias (born in Seville in 1965) has been Country Manager of BBVA Spain since 2014. She holds a law degree from the University of Seville and an MBA from IESE.

Eduardo Osuna Osuna (Mexico City, 28 de septiembre de 1969) is Vice President and CEO of BBVA Bancomer. He graduated with a B.S in Mechanical-Electrical Engineering from the La Salle University in Mexico City where he also graduated with a M.S in Top Management from the IPADE Business School. In addition he has a major in M&A from the Columbia Business School.

Domingo Armengol Calvo (Barbastro, October, 25th, 1965) is BBVA's Corporate Secretary and Secretary of the Board of Directors since 2009. Lawyer with more than 25 years of experience as Secretary of the Board of Directors and legal counsel for several companies in various sectors including Airlines, Food, Real Estate, Banking and Finance, he is also Secretary of the Board of non-profit organizations as BBVA’s Foundation.

Eduardo Arbizu (born in Pamplona, 6th January 1963) is the General Counsel of BBVA. Degree in law (with distinction), qualified as State Lawyer and AMP from Wharton.

Onur Genç was named CEO of BBVA Compass and U.S. country manager for BBVA Group in January 2017. He also is responsible for BBVA operations in New York and the BBVA Bancomer Houston Agency.

Jorge Sáenz-Azcúnaga (born in Bilbao, 23 March 1970) is Head of Country Monitoring at BBVA. He earned his BS in Business Administration from the Universidad Comercial de Deusto (Spain) and holds a PDG from the IESE Business School (Spain).

Javier Rodriguez Soler is a seasoned M&A and Corporate Development Executive, with 23 years’ experience, 12 of them in two of Spain's top tier International companies.

José Luis de los Santos Tejero (born in Almadén on 27/11/1956) is the Chief Audit Executive for BBVA Group.

David Puente is Head of Data BBVA. In 2017 David Puente was appointed Director of Data, reporting to directly to the Chief Executive Officer. David is responsible for defining and implementing the overall data strategy, strengthening the Group's data governance model, establishing the necessary capabilities from the different areas of the bank in order to develop models for data-driven products and solutions, and boosting a data culture that accelerates BBVA's digital transformation process.

Ricardo Moreno is the global leader of BBVA Engineering. His main challenge on this role is to contribute to BBVA’s digital change managing and transforming the Group’s Information Technology platforms and Processes.

Rafael Salinas Martínez de Lecea (born in Granada, 11 November 1966) is the CRO of BBVA.

Following a 13 year career in Bloomberg, first in London for Bloomberg TV and then in Madrid for the news agency, Paul joined BBVA’s Communications team as the Director of Corporate Communications and Global Businesses. Prior to this change, Paul was the Chief Correspondent for Spain and Portugal at the Bloomberg news agency.

Garanti Bank CEO Fuat Erbil said the turkish bank’s performance last year far exceeded expectations and looks forward to extending that success this year. “Last year was much more positive than expected, both for the country, the sector and Garanti,” Fuat Erbil told journalists in a recent meeting. “As witnessed by the positive outlook for key indicators and investor interest, 2017 was a successful year for Turkey. The banking sector’s performance excelled expectations as domestic demand increased and economic activity as a whole expanded”.

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.

BBVA Compass Talent & Culture Executive Rosilyn Houston debuted Monday on American Banker’s 25 Women to Watch list, part of the magazine’s annual Most Powerful Women In Banking series on the industry’s top female executives.

Banks need to catch up and capture the zeitgeist of the digital and sharing economies and put power squarely in the hands of their clients if they want to thrive in today's world, BBVA Compass Chairman and CEO Manolo Sánchez said in a keynote address at American Banker's Digital Banking Conference Tuesday in New Orleans.

BBVA Executive Chairman Francisco González, CEO Carlos Torres Vila and other Group executives reviewed the Bank’s strategy in an event followed live by close to 40,000 employees across the different countries in which BBVA operates. The BBVA members that took the stage spoke from four different countries at the event, titled ‘Live @BBVA: Our Strategy,” while the audience was able to interact and discuss a number of topics through an app.

BBVA CEO Carlos Torres Vila said today that the sustainability of the banking business model in the current context of negative interest rates requires a change: To leave behind a money-centric infrastructure, based on revenues generated by interests, and develop a banking model that seeks to make a bigger difference in customers' lives. Speaking during BBVA’s Q1 2016 results presentation, Carlos Torres Vila expressed his conviction that “the more we are capable of offering a distinctive value, the more satisfied customers will be and the more viable and sustainable our business model will be.”

- Quorum was over 62%

- Financial statements approved with support from more than 99% of the votes

Francisco González was re-elected Group Executive Chairman of BBVA, with over 96% of the votes during the Annual General Meeting held today in Bilbao. In 2013 he was re-elected with 90.9% of votes.

It is common knowledge that markets dislike uncertainty. Investor doubts tend to translate into massive sales and sharp drops in capital markets, but presenting a believable message that gives an outlook of growth, or at least stability, can lead to significant gains.

Three Oxford University professors researched the impact of Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) presenting a new strategy on companies’ stock market value. They concluded that most of these statements had a significant impact on stock prices. The effect is even greater for recently appointed CEOs, and even more so if the new CEOs come from outside firms.

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.