BBVA today tapped the markets with its third senior non-preferred bond of 2019. The €1 billion 5-year issue was priced at mid swap plus 80 basis points, with a coupon of 0.375 percent, the lowest for a senior non preferred debt issue in Spain as well as the lowest for BBVA senior debt (preferred and non preferred). Demand peaked at €1.8 billion with more than 130 orders.

BBVA – with Deloitte and PCS acting as independent third parties – has completed the first issuance of securitized bonds in Spain, which will be registered with the ESMA (European Securities and Markets Authority) as Simple, Transparent and Standardized (STS).  With this securitization, BBVA takes advantage of European regulation in force since January 1 that will confer preferential capital treatment to financial institutions issuing STS securitizations.

The Juncker Plan, which was launched in 2004, has helped reduce the investment gap caused by the economic and financial crisis. Looking forward to the next decade, Europe should focus on a two-pronged strategy: implementing a greener sustainable investment model and backing key digital capabilities. According to BBVA’s executive board member, José Manuel González-Páramo, Europe must develop a forward-looking sustainable finance model.

On Wednesday, BBVA CEO Onur Genç underscored BBVA’s commitment to continue advancing in the Group’s transformation process. Speaking to a group of international investors, he also emphasized BBVA’s strengths —both globally and by business area— in markets like Mexico and Turkey.

76 percent of Spanish enterprise businesses and 68 percent of SMEs will increase their investment in Latin America in 2019. Spanish investors see the best prospects in Colombia, Brazil, and Mexico, according to the latest report ‘Spanish Investment Landscape in Latin America‘, which was prepared by IE University, in collaboration with Llorente & Cuenca and Iberia, and presented at Casa de América in Madrid.

Banks play a fundamental role in the planet’s sustainability due to their ability to finance sustainable activities and manage risks. This was the main topic discussed at a panel in Davos, Switzerland in which José Manuel González-Páramo participated. BBVA’s Executive Board Member and Head of Global Economics and Public Affairs encouraged all banks to join the Principles for Responsible Banking to press for this change. In his opinion, these principles give banks the opportunity to demonstrate their commitment to society.

The previous year has come to a close, and with it comes reflection on what 2018 brought. However, a look forward to 2019 can also have its advantages.

The European Banking Authority (EBA) has just released its work programme for next year. Understanding the risks and opportunities arising from financial innovation and a better handling of data are some of the priorities the institution has outlined for 2019.

José Manuel González-Páramo, Executive Member of the Board and the Head of Global Economics, Regulation and Public Affairs at BBVA, attended a meeting on the challenges facing the banking industry’s regulatory architecture on an international and local level.  He spoke of the importance of further developing the Basel III framework, as well as the need to implement it in a consistent and flexible manner.

Switzerland is the global center of private banking and a country many investors go to in search of diversification. But private banking is much more than that. It involves constant striving to understand the complexity of the financial markets in order to offer customers the best advice possible.

The reform of the reference rates in the eurozone to adapt to the new regulations, driven by the European Central Bank (ECB) along with other authorities, is taking shape. Today the ECB has announced a proposal for a new intraday rate as an alternative to the Eonia: the ESTER.

Anne-Joëlle Viguier-Galley is BBVA Compass’ Chief of Equity and Alternative Investments for the bank’s Global Wealth team. She also doubles as the Chief Investment Strategist for BBVA Wealth Solutions, Inc., the bank’s investment adviser affiliate.

Labour’s share of national income has dropped in most of the developed countries and emerging economies in the past few decades. This trend is not common across industries: the share of income accounted for by wages has seen an increase in the service industry, while it has recorded a fall in the other industries.

A traditional debate that ensues when banks are expanding internationally revolves around whether it is preferable to run branch offices or set up subsidiaries. Subsidiaries are associated with decentralized models where banks adapt to the local environment, both from a business and regulatory point of view. The model that uses branches characterizes banks with a more centralized structure, where decisions are made by the parent company.

There has been a healthy amount of debate regarding a national fintech charter that was announced last week by the Office of the Comptroller. The U.S. Treasury has also been in the spotlight among columnists in the financial industry.

The European Commission has initiated a review process of the three European Supervisory Authorities (the European Banking Authority, European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority and the European Securities and Markets Authority), known as the ESAs. BBVA took part in a forum in Brussels that debated the present and future of these organizations, together with regulatory authorities and representatives of the financial industry.

The Eurosystem is the monetary authority of the euro area. It comprises the European Central Bank (ECB) and the national central banks of the Member States whose currency is the euro. Its primary objective is the maintenance of price stability, and specifically, keeping inflation in the euro area (calculated based on internal stats of the ECB) “close to but under 2 per cent.”

Fair-trade coffee, quality guarantee, ecological tomatoes… consumers read the labels on the things they eat. But is there any way of checking that what they say is correct? In order to do so, you would need a register of the processes to which the product has been submitted, something blockchain can do.

The headlines about the U.S. dollar this year have underscored how complicated it is to predict the movement of any one currency in a global economy. They’ve gone from grim (“Dollar set for worst January in 30 years”) to triumphant (“Dollar claws back”) to deflated (“Dollar’s rebound fizzles”) in a matter of weeks.

On January 31st, the European Banking Authority (EBA) announced the formal launch of this year’s EU-wide stress test exercise of the euro area. It also unveiled the macroeconomic scenarios under which the exercise will be carried out. The  adverse scenario implies a deviation of EU GDP from its baseline level by 8.3% in 2020, resulting in the most severe scenario to date. The EBA expects to publish the results of the exercise by 2 November 2018

Market analysts reported positively on BBVA’s 2017 results. The majority pointed to the solid underlying trends, the strength of recurring revenues and cost containment as the key drivers of the bank’s solid performance.

Economic activity in Latin America has been invigorated in recent months, in line with the recovery of confidence among families and businesses and a more favorable external context. In its Latin America Economic Outlook for first quarter 2018, BBVA Research forecasts that the region’s growth will increase from 1.1% in 2017 to 1.7% in 2018 and 2.5% in 2019.

Once again, the Argentine economy faces critical decisions to avoid a new downturn and take the path to more sustainable growth. Markets are keeping a close eye on the post-electoral roadmap outlined by the administration of President Mauricio Macri.

The Financial Stability Board (FSB) has just published the list of Global Systemically Important Banks (G-SIBs) for 2017.  The number of institutions remains the same, but with three significant changes. Systemic banks have a major impact on the economy, but what makes them different from the rest?

Money 20/20 Las Vegas is without doubt one of the showcase events for technology and financial services in the world. Every years thousands of people involved in the industry, from big banks like BBVA to technology firms like Google and most importantly innovators and start-ups, gather to discuss the future of the industry.

The BBVA Group’s activity in the capital markets during 2017 has been nothing less than brilliant after having completed its latest issue of CoCo bonds in November.  During 2018, BBVA hopes to refinance the maturities of issues that are not eligible under EU norms, with Senior Non-Preferred debt. You can find all the information in the latest fixed income presentation.

Latin America will be one of the leaders of the global economy. The digital transformation has been one of the keys to this reduction in poverty and improvement in social indicators. But how has it helped? One example is digital financial inclusion.

The European Commission (EC) and the European Banking Authority (EBA) have published their work plans for 2018. The documents describe the specific activities and tasks the organizations plan to carry out next year. Both proposals place increasing importance on the fintech sector, since it could bring about a radical change the financial industry.

The use of cash as method of payment has been declining in recent years, in favor of digital methods and credit cards. Last month we saw another example in the Hawkers sunglass brand, which will not be accepting cash payments in its new Madrid store.

Remittances remain a major, if not the largest, source of foreign revenue for Mexico. In 2016, the dollar volume for remittances to Mexico jumped 8.8% over the prior year and reached an all-time high of nearly $27 billion — about 95% of those remittances came from the U.S. The U.S.-Mexico corridor is one of the largest remittance sectors in the world, and four key influences are helping to further fuel its significant growth.

The finance industry will survive the disruption in the sector, but only a few banks will be able to offer the best customer experience, adapt to the new ecosystem and successfully achieve their digital transformation. “Competition with the fintech companies makes us better and stronger,” said José Manuel González-Páramo, BBVA’s Executive Member of the Board, Head of Global Economics, Regulation and Public Affairs, during the European Central Bank´s Forum on Banking Supervision.

According to BBVA Research’s latest Spain Outlook report, 2017 will cap off Spain’s three-year run of GDP growth at rates above three percent. Recovery will continue in 2018, but at a slower pace, in an environment marked by rising uncertainties. The report was presented today by Jorge Sicilia, Chief Economist of BBVA Group and Head of BBVA Research, Rafael Doménech, Head of Macroeconomic Analysis of BBVA Research and Miguel Cardoso, Chief Economist Spain and Portugal. Considering this scenario, BBVA Research has downgraded its GDP growth forecasts for 2017 and 2018 to 3.1 and 2.5%, from 3.3% and 2.8% in July.

Market analysts have given positive reviews to BBVA’s third quarter 2017 results, which in many cases surpassed prior forecasts. In their reports, the analysts underscored the performance of expenditures and provisions below forecasts. BBVA´s businesses in Spain, Turkey and South America all surprised analysts with their good performance. 

The European Commission has published a legislative proposal to create a sort of European Securities and Exchange Commission – that is, a European agency that would centralize some of the stock exchange supervision competencies of the national authorities. Once it is approved, part of the activity that takes place on the European exchanges would come under control of the new European authority.

The Financial Stability Board (FSB) is an international body that oversees the proper running of the financial system by promoting oversight and regulatory policies.

Stock market indices can be described as baskets of shares. They are calculated based upon the average prices of a number of shares selected from a market or a particular sector. Their performance allows the investor to know the evolution and trends in the market. At the same time, indices serve as a reference for investors who specialize in funds or portfolios of shares. Following is a list of the principal stock indices on the world market.

The words “wealth” and “tech” have come together to give rise to a new generation of financial technology companies that create digital solutions to transform the investment and asset management industry.

The country risk premium is the return that investors demand from a country to buy its sovereign bonds in comparison with that demanded from other countries. It is calculated as the difference between the interest rate of a country’s bonds compared to bonds issued by a benchmark country, considered “riskless.”

Credit ratings are estimates that gauge the ability of a company, public administration or financial product to meet their financial commitments. In many cases they are taken as key indicators in capital markets when making investment decisions.

BBVA’s Board of Directors resolved today to approve the payment of an interim dividend for 2017, for a gross amount of €0.09 per share, to be paid on October 10.

The recent elections in Germany have ended this year’s electoral cycle in Europe. With euroscepticism weighing in at the ballot box, it’s now up to the European Union to bring its institutions closer to the continent’s citizens, according to José Manuel González-Paramo, Executive Director of BBVA, speaking at a conference on “The New Europe: Challenges and Opportunities” organized by ADEIT.

Speaking this morning at the 22nd annual meeting organized by Bank of America Merrill Lynch in London, Chief Financial Officer Jaime Sáenz de Tejada explained some of the key aspects BBVA’s strategy to investors.  “BBVA is well positioned for the new growth cycle”, thanks to a solid balance sheet and capital position, as a result of the company’s efforts in recent years, its geographic diversification and forward-looking transformation strategy.

The European Banking Authority (EBA) is fully immersed in analyzing regulation of financial technology – better known as fintech. In the spring of 2017, the EBA began its first attempt to create a map of fintech and its regulation. The results were published in this document. The EBA found that there are more than 1,500 fintech companies in the European Union. They have detailed information about 282 of these, and 31% are not subject to any sort of regulation.

The EBA recently completed its latest monitoring exercise to assess EU Banks’ capital, leverage, and liquidity ratios assuming full implementation of the CRD IV-CRR/Basel III framework.  Overall, the results show that, between June and December of 2016, there was an improvement in both CET1 capital and liquidity ratios.

For months, European authorities have been mulling over a crucial issue for the health of the financial sector: reducing the stock of non-performing assets that have been piling up in banks’ balance sheets during the years of financial crisis.  The creation of a bad European bank is one of the alternatives that are being considered to solve the problem.

One of the topics of debate in the European Union’s Payment Services Directive 2, better known as PSD2, is how to articulate the access to customer data by third parties. The European Banking Authority (EBA) has said it is in favor of access through Application Program Interfaces (APIs), which it regards as being more secure in protecting customer data. That position differs from the one taken to date by the European Commission.