On Thursday, BBVA CEO Onur Genç was recognized by the Spanish-Turkish Chamber of Commerce in the professional merit category for his career at the bank. At the awards ceremony, Genç reviewed BBVA's role as a link between markets as important as Latin America and Spain and a country with as much potential as Turkey.

The BBVA Board of Directors approved Wednesday the bank adhering to the measures included in the new  Code of Good Practice (CBP in Spanish) to help customers at risk of vulnerability with mortgages, as well as the expansion of the Code of Good Practice, which has been in force since 2012.

BBVA has recently appointed Pierre Goffin the bank's new Country Manager for France. Pierre has more than 25 years' experience in corporate and investment banking and will oversee business in this market. His main objective will be to strengthen relations with large corporations and the leading institutional and investor community in France.

BBVA Global Wealth and the IE Center for Families in Business of IE University conducted a study that analyzed nine “moments of truth” in which business families should reflect and make decisions to reinforce their strategy. Through this report, BBVA will promote the advice that business families receive in Spain, Colombia, Mexico, Peru, Switzerland and Uruguay.

BBVA is the first Spanish bank to launch on the wholesale markets, with a euro-denominated senior non-preferred bond of 1 billion euros. The issue has received a high level of demand of two billion euros - double the target, with 125 orders.

Rating agency Standard & Poor’s (S&P) has raised BBVA’s rating to A from A-. The outlook is negative, mirroring the negative outlook of Spain's sovereign rating. S&P underscores BBVA’s strength and geographic diversification, the profitability of its retail banking franchise, its cautious risk management and the strength of its capital, among other factors.

At the 12th Financial Meeting organized today by Expansión and KPMG, BBVA’s CEO said that over the past year the bank has made a series of relevant strategic decisions, such as the sale of its U.S. subsidiary, the largest share buyback in Europe and the takeover bid for a 50.15 percent stake in Turkey’s Garanti BBVA. They all show that “we are very committed to shareholders’ profitability,” he added. Onur Genç also underlined the 2024 objectives that BBVA presented at its Investor Day: “Our goals are very ambitious and we are committed to achieving them.”

During his talk at Investor Day on Thursday, BBVA's Country Manager in Spain, Peio Belausteguigoitia, said that the priority in Spain is profitable growth, which will be based on increasing its customer base. In this regard, he announced that the bank aims to double the annual rate of customer acquisition and expects to attract 3.6 million new customers in the next three years.

BBVA will hold its Investor Day on Thursday, November 18th. The event will allow investors to learn firsthand about  the details and objectives of the bank’s strategy.

The BBVA Group is debuting fully digital retail banking in Italy, with a unique value proposition and customer experience. BBVA is entering the Italian market with free digital banking; one of the most secure cards in the world - as there are no printed numbers on the card, and a dynamic CVV - unmatched in Italy; and financing products at competitive prices.

BBVA is back in the Euro Stoxx 50, Eurozone's main index. Just one year after its exit, the bank's recent good performance on the stock market has allowed it to return to the index, a milestone -exit and re-enter the following year- which at least in the last decade had never happened before. Normally, it takes longer for companies that exit the index to recover their position and re-enter.

BBVA has once again stood out in the latest stress test carried out by the European Banking Authority (EBA). In the adverse scenario BBVA’s fully-loaded CET1 capital ratio at the end of the assessment period (2021-2023) would be reduced on  303 basis points (bps), an impact considerably lower than the 50 European banks average analyzed on the stress test (485 bps). BBVA is the bank with the second lowest impact on capital among comparable European peers. In the baseline scenario, BBVA would generate 128 bps of capital, to reach a fully-loaded CET1 capital ratio of 13 percent in 2023.

To measure and understand a banking entity's credit quality, several metrics must be considered as an interrelated whole. One indicator in isolation cannot give a full picture of credit risk. The three most widely used metrics are the NPL ratio, the coverage ratio and the cost of risk. These metrics enable us to analyze the volume of non-performing assets in relation to the size of an entity's loan portfolio, the provisions recognized to cover future default losses and the annual cost of generating this buffer of provisions.

'The Banker' magazine has published its list of the 1,000 best banks worldwide in its 2021 edition, and has placed BBVA at number 35. The magazine uses its own methodology in which it analyzes more than 30 indicators for each bank, grouped into eight categories: growth, operational efficiency, return on risk, solvency, profitability, asset quality and leverage.

Starting Jan. 1, 2022, BBVA will be required to meet a volume of own funds and eligible liabilities (MREL) of 24.78 percent of its risk-weighted assets (RWAs), in line with expectations. As of March 31, 2021, the bank already complies with this requirement, reaching 29.23 percent, as well as with the new subordination requirement.

ALCO portfolios are one of the main tools available to banks to manage some of the structural risks on balance sheets (liquidity risk and interest rate risk) and, as a secondary objective, to contribute to the stability of earnings generation. They are a portfolio of financial assets, mainly composed of government bonds, which is governed by the bank's Assets and Liabilities Committee (ALCO).

BBVA has bolstered its ‘Plan Invita a un Amigo’ ('Invite a Friend Plan') with a new promotion that rewards the Bank's most loyal customers in Spain. This time, customers of the bank who persuade a friend or family member to bring their paycheck are entitled to a gift of 50 euros per person.

BBVA's CFO, Jaime Sáenz de Tejada, shared his optimism with international investors regarding the medium-term growth prospects for lending in Spain and Mexico. In Spain, he noted the impact of the EU recovery fund - Next Generation EU- which will expedite the transformation of the production model. The financial sector will be able to amplify its impact through by offering greater financing. As for Mexico, he underscored the positive effect of the new tax stimulus package in the U.S., which will boost remittances and manufacturing activity, along with the new free trade agreement between the United States, Mexico and Canada.

BBVA today placed a 6-year €1 billion senior preferred debt issue, with maturity in March 2027, and an option for early redemption after five years. Final demand exceeded the initial offer 1.5 times, up to more than €1.5 billion, spread over 125 orders. The interest rate was mid-swap + 52 basis points, below the estimated exit rate of mid-swap + 70-75 basis points.

Generation Z expects a financial model that meets their needs in terms of digitalisation, immediacy and respect for the environment. Born at the heart of the digital age, they expect services that live up to their requirements for transparency and constant attention.

GoBanking Rates released its annual Best Banks of 2021 lists this month, naming BBVA USA in three categories: Best Money Market Accounts, Best Regional Banks and Top 100 Banks. 

BBVA USA announced today it will offer an updated Bama-branded Visa® check card next month, an offer that is exclusive to BBVA customers.

In 2020, BBVA took a step forward to protect its employees and support its customers and society as a whole, to cope with the COVID-19 crisis. In a year marked by the virus, the bank has launched initiatives across the world to alleviate the financial burden of those worst hit by the pandemic and provide funding for the economic recovery.

The Collective Commitment to Climate Action (CCCA), the most ambitious global banking sector initiative supporting the transition to a net zero economy by 2050 is celebrating its first anniversary. And to commemorate the occasion it has published its first follow-up report.

Throughout 2020, we’ve witnessed changes that have shifted the very foundation of our society, many of which will reverberate into the next decade. The economic fallout of the pandemic has been felt by small businesses, individuals and everywhere in between. People across the U.S. are hurting financially.

The wealth management sector is a unique area of the financial industry. Like two merging streams, it can easily blur the lines of consumer and business banking, and mix it into a quickly moving entity that changes at every curve.

The Banker has named BBVA Best Transaction Bank in Latin America for second year in a row. The U.K. magazine, a Financial Times group publication, underscored the bank's innovative approach in the region, which allowed customers to continue accessing the bank’s services seamlessly during the pandemic.

BBVA Group Executive Chairman Carlos Torres Vila participated in the Plenary Session of the Spanish Chamber of Commerce, where he emphasized that the recovery in Spain may open up an opportunity to “quickly embrace” a more digital economy. For this, he considers that digitization should be a priority for businesses – especially SMEs – and any progress in this sense will greatly depend on public investments and the amplification effect derived from private initiatives. He also noted that “the role of banks has been pivotal, not only amplifying the impact of public money, but also aligning targets.”