After obtaining all required authorizations, BBVA closed the transaction that will transfer its real estate business in Spain to Cerberus Capital Management, L.P. The deal was announced in November 2017. The closing of the transaction results in the sale of 80 percent of Divarian’s share capital to Cerberus, the company created to transfer the real estate portfolio. BBVA is to retain the remaining 20 percent stake.

The European Banking Authority (EBA) has launched its European banking transparency exercise for 2018. This is the fifth time the European supervisor has carried out this probe of the banks in the euro area. It will reveal its findings of 130 banks covering 900,000 data points in December.

The Single Supervisory Mechanism (SSM) has been scrutinizing EU banks’ business and profitability models since 2016. Among the findings of the review, published in a report, the supervisor shines the spotlight on the factors that undermine bank profitability, as well as the levers that can help boost it, including digitization. However, the report argues that offering digital products is not enough. Banks need to prepare their platforms to migrate from the analogue to the digital world.

Three Texas cities are about to get a dose of high-end items when BBVA Compass brings its Christie’s events to the Lone Star State.

BBVA has issued a €1 billion contingent convertible bond, or CoCo, (Additional Tier 1 or AT1) with a coupon of 5.875 percent, equaling its lowest-ever rate for this type of issue. High demand has allowed it to reduce the coupon by 50 basis points, from the initial 6.375 percent. This is a perpetual instrument (without a specific maturity date) over which the issuer reserves a call option in the fifth year.

Thoughts were shared recently about what potential fintech entrepreneurs should be wary of when first starting out. A particular piece by Forbes outlines key tips from top leaders in the fintech world, including representatives from companies such as Instant Financial, Alpha Vantage and more.

BBVA Compass’ Global Wealth team has a broad array of solutions for consumers who might have a one-size-fits all need. In fact, wealth management is simply the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the bank’s plethora of products in this area of banking.

BBVA’s quarterly results were viewed in a positive light by market analysts. The company’s attributable profit beat consensus estimates by 8 percent. Perform across all business areas was better than expected, especially in Mexico.

Fintech news went the way of regulation both on a global and national scale this week. One constant is the rise in funding, which saw a spike in the last quarter.

In 2015, the ECB launched its Bank’s Integrated Reporting Dictionary, or BIRD, a project ultimately intended to organize the data that it gathers from EU financial institutions for its statistical area. This project is part of a broader strategic approach aimed at improving the system that banks and other players use to report statistics to the European supervisor, known as IReF (Integrated Reporting Framework). BIRD is one of the pivotal milestones in the list of achievements by the Statistical area of the ECB. And just as the rest of the organization, BIRD is celebrating its anniversary.

BBVA Colombia has been recognized as the best bank in the country by Euromoney magazine, thanks to the progress made in the digital transformation process that the institution launched a few years ago. Other reasons cited by the publication that merited the award include the expansion of the institution’s digital customer base, its financial results and its solid market position.

BBVA has been recognized in five different categories at the year’s ‘Euromoney Awards for Excellence’. The bank received honors in regional categories like “Latin America’s best transactional bank”, and country categories such as “Mexico’s best bank”, “Mexico’s best investment bank”, and “Colombia’s best bank”. BBVA’s Turkish franchise Garanti was also recognized as “Best bank for sustainable finance.”

Europe included cybersecurity as one of its priorities in the European Council meeting in June. Some 69 percent of European companies lack basic knowledge about their exposure to cyberattacks despite 80 percent of them having suffered some type of cyber-incident in the past year. With this in mind, the European Parliamentary Financial Service Forum (EPFSF) organized in the European Parliament a session for cybersecurity experts to suggest ideas to face the risks in the internet.

With Independence Day settling in during the middle of the week, Fintech news across the country still popped up consistently like 4th of July fireworks.

On the back of increased web attacks, the priority of cybersecurity has increased for businesses and banks worldwide. How do financial institutions balance this risk with the need to expand their digital services?

Picture walking up to a digital banking kiosk, opening up an account, and subsequently receiving your personalized debit card almost immediately. Take a trip to the other side of the world, and you’ll discover that this is now a reality. But is there a place for something like this in the United States?

The new accounting regulation IFRS 9 aims to buttress financial stability against future crises.  It obliges financial institutions to more faithfully reflect credit risk and calculate provisions for insolvencies following an expected loss model (versus the previous “incurred loss” model). For a majority of financial institutions, this has resulted in an increase in provisions and the subsequent impact on capital.

The start of sweet summertime means that the school year for most kids in the United States is drawing to a close. If you’re a parent, you may be thinking about how to say thanks to a special teacher that has been meaningful in your own child’s life. The good news is that there are myriad ways to recognize teachers for the effort, caring and education they’ve provided throughout the school year.

Following the recent rating upgrades from S&P and DBRS, Moody’s today upgraded BBVA’s rating to A3, from Baa1. After this action, BBVA achieves again a category A rating with all agencies.

When your debit or credit card is lost or stolen, it can take time and effort to report it as such – time that you might not have when trying to avoid fraudulent charges. With the BBVA Compass Mobile Banking App you are in control of your financial life, which means you can quickly and easily report your card lost or stolen, directly in the app.

BBVA considers that it is currently in compliance with the MREL requirement, which today was notified by the Bank of Spain. BBVA also considers the possibility of refinancing the future maturities of senior debt and covered bonds (€6.5 billion through 2020) issuing MREL eligible liabilities. This issuance volume is very manageable.

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.

Having the BBVA Compass Mobile Banking App on your phone is like carrying the bank in your pocket. The many functionalities of the app mean that you are more in control of your financial life, and able to make decisions based on your needs. This is particularly true with the app’s patent-pending Payments and Transfers function.

Almost nine months after the devastating and historic Hurricane Harvey came through the Texas Gulf Coast, BBVA Compass is reopening the last of its temporarily closed branches with a new design, location and state-of-the-art features.

The ECB has published a guide in which it explains the unique fintech characteristics it considers when granting licenses.

Imagine a Spanish SME asking for a loan in Germany; an Italian easily transferring money to Portugal or a French person taking on a mortgage in the Netherlands.   All of this forms part of the fledgling European capital markets and banking union. What remains to be done? BBVA is one of the few European banks to address these issues at the joint conference of the European Commission and the European Central bank held today in Frankfurt.

The consultancy Accenture analyzes the inroads made by big tech in the financial sector and identifies five key steps banks need to take to create value in the face of advances made by fintech companies. BBVA’s focus on open banking and transformation in the digital era has been acknowledged by a number of institutions.

BBVA’s results for the first three months of 2018 surpassed market estimates by a wide margin. Banking analysts reacted positively to the results of both the Group and its regional franchises, which outperformed consensus forecasts. On the whole, analyst reports focused on the bank’s revenue strength, cost containment efforts, and impairment losses below expected levels.

Payment and Banking, a German publication spectating in fintech, names solarisBank the ‘best fintech of 2017’, for its exponential growth. BBVA recently took part in a funding round in which the firm raised €56.6 million.

In April 2017, BBVA Compass underwent a new chapter, launching a new website with the aim to improve transparency and make its information and services accessible to everyone.

After the recent ratings upgrades announced by S&P, and DBRS, rating agency Moody’s has changed the outlook on its long-term rating for BBVA (Baa1) to positive from stable. In its press release, Moody’s said it favorably views the bank’s capacity to issue bail-in-able debt in order to meet MREL requirements.

Ten years after the crisis broke, has financial stability improved? In the opinion of  Ricardo Gómez Barredo, Head of Accounting & Supervisors at BBVA, “clearly, we have come a long way,” but adds “regulation will have to continue to adapt itself to the new demands to ensure a level playing field for everyone”.

Days after the announcement that S&P had upgraded BBVA’s rating, DBRS has upgraded BBVA’s long-term rating to A (high) from A, one notch above the rating for Spain. In its report, the agency stressed BBVA’s diversified international business model, which should continue to support a path of solid results.

S&P has upgraded BBVA’s long-term debt rating to A- from BBB+, a level the institution had not achieved since early 2012. The agency underscored the strength of BBVA’s franchises in the countries in which it operates, aiming at strengthening profitability while pushing for digitalization.

This week in London, BBVA hosted a roundtable at the Innovate Finance Global Summit. This year’s event, held at the historic City of London Guildhall, brought together forward-thinking global leaders from seed stage start-ups to global financial institutions and professional services firms.

In 2017, BBVA Group paid €9.9 billion in taxes, a 5 percent year-on-year increase. The amount paid in worldwide taxes for its own business activities was €4.1 billion, 9 percent more than in 2016. For the sixth consecutive year, BBVA has voluntarily disclosed its total tax contribution, consisting of the total of its own taxes and those made on behalf of third parties, thus complying with its corporate principle of transparency and a commitment to social responsibility.

The relationship between banks and ‘fintech’ startups has evolved from mistrust to collaboration.  Users, already used to enjoying improved customer experiences, may come out big winners. In this collaborative context, BBVA is mentioned as an organization that is “showing the world what the future of banking can be”.

Garanti Bank has pioneered the digitalization process in the banking sector in Turkey over the past 20 years and its efforts as a stand-out player in this field have been widely recognized internationally. Garanti continues to lead digital banking growth through its investment in  multi-channel technology, the fruit of which is seen in its excellent customer experience track record.

We are reaching the point when the financial system regulation principally dedicated to correcting the shortcomings of the crisis is reaching its end. The approval of Basel III is “good news” and now is the time to implement reforms and make way for economic growth. This is one of the observations of María Abascal, BBVA’s Director of Institutional Relations, in the ‘Women in Finance’ forum.

Top global banking regulators have shared their insights into the potential impact of fintech on the financial industry. A report by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision analyzes how fintech can impact the banks and supervisors. This is something that, at least in the short term, may have been overstated. “Despite the significant number of financial products and services derived from fintech innovations, volumes are currently still low relative to the size of the global financial services sector,” says the report.

BBVA has presented the case of its digital transformation at the 13th Asia-Pacific High Level Meeting on Banking, held in Singapore. José Manuel González-Páramo explained BBVA’s digital business model to representatives of Asia’s most important central banks and financial institutions. He also discussed some of the regulatory challenges the region is facing, noting the need for international coordination on digital regulation in the financial sector.

On Tuesday, BBVA entered the markets with a €1.5 billion issue of Senior Non-Preferred Debt (SNP) with a five-year term and a Floating Rate Note format. Thanks to strong investor demand, the issue closed with a coupon of three-month Euribor plus 52 basis points. The operation was the lowest-priced issue of senior non-preferred debt by a Spanish issuer.

At BBVA Compass, helping customers adapt to an increasingly digital reality is an effort being undertaken by all customer facing units of the bank, including telephone agents.

Historically a role that provided traditional customer service support, the agents are now doubling up to  combine service ​support with digital sales & self serve (DIY) education. According to BBVA Compass Director of the Contact Center Deborah Catley, the agents’ ultimate goal is to contribute to digital transformation in two parts: reinforcing the learning the customer receives from their in-branch bankers and guiding and answering questions related to applying for new products through digital channels.

A report by Standard and Poor’s Global (S&P) analyzes the potential impact on the financial sector of the entry of tech giants such as Google, Apple, Facebook and Amazon. Although no immediate changes to bank ratings is foreseen, the report points out that in the long term these companies are well placed to get a position  in segments of the chain such as payment systems.

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.

Brussels attempts to organize member initiatives through the creation of the Blockchain Observatory—a technology the EU has invested in since 2013 through its Research and Development programs.

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

Since it was launched in 2016, the FCA’s regulatory sandbox has supported 60 firms to test their innovation with real customers in the live market under controlled conditions. Now, it is assessing different options to scale up the model at global level to solve the challenges of operating internationally in the fintech market.

Switzerland is currently the world’s largest private banking center, accounting for 25% of the global market. The country has a deep-rooted wealth management tradition, offering the perfect combination of experience, precision and a strong work ethic within a highly unstable geopolitical environment.

BBVA’s presence in Switzerland dates back 25 years – a quarter century during which the bank has accompanied its clients, advising them on the management of their wealth and the diversification of their investments. It’s the only bank in the BBVA Group devoted exclusively to private banking, offering a superb value proposition in international asset management.