Luisa Gómez Bravo, Global Head of BBVA Corporate & Investment Banking, is in attendance at the World Economic Forum held in the Swiss city of Davos and was one of the speakers at a round table on the mergers and acquisitions market titled 'Will the M&A Boom Last?'. After a record year of M&A deals in 2021, the current economic scenario augurs a decline in this market, due to its high exposure to the international geopolitical context. Even so, mergers and acquisitions continue to offer great opportunities in infrastructure, ESG projects and investment in real assets.

Remote commerce has grown exponentially in recent years, a trend that has been driven by the pandemic. During lockdowns, ecommerce skyrocketed and payments via apps and cell phones grew at a dizzying rate. On top of this, new technologies were already favoring the emergence of new, more convenient payment methods and boosting e-commerce.

BBVA has acted as sole sustainability coordinator to the British construction and consultancy giant Mace which will allow them to formalise their sustainability financing criteria. The company linked two finance facilities to social and environmental KPIs.

In line with the objective of BBVA Corporate & Investment Banking objective of supporting its clients in their transformation towards more sustainable business models, BBVA is launching a new carbon markets business line that offers its corporate clients the possibility of trading emission allowances and carbon credits.

International guarantees, also known as “bank guarantees,” “guarantee bonds,” or “standby letters of credit,” are a key tool for companies that operate internationally, as they ensure that economic obligations will be properly performed. Under this instrument, the guarantor expresses a willingness to fulfill the commitments of the principal obligor facing a third party if the principal fails to do so.

BBVA and North American Stainless (NAS), the U.S. subsidiary of the Acerinox Group, signed a $100 million deposit. It is a relevant operation for both companies as it is NAS’ first sustainability-linked deposit, and the first deposit of this kind that BBVA has signed with a U.S. client.

BBVA is rolling out its innovative Quantitative Investment Strategies (QIS) product line for investors in South America, focused on the design, manufacture and distribution of investment strategies that materialize in proprietary indices. In March, Peru will become the first country to incorporate these innovative strategies into local investment products. Colombia and Chile will follow.

INWIT, the leading Italian telecommunications tower operator, has taken another step forward in its commitment to sustainability by incorporating environmental and social criteria in its core revolving credit facility (RCF). BBVA acted as global and sustainability coordinator for this revolving credit line which involves a total of 10 lenders.

The District of Bogota signed a one trillion Colombian peso (about $253 million) social loan with BBVA, which is in turn secured by the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency, MIGA. This operation is the first that MIGA secures in local currency in Colombia and marks a milestone in the structured finance market for the country's public sector.

BBVA has supported PreZero Group in the structuring and arrangement of a term loan to finance its sustainable business activities.  The company approached BBVA due to its global vision and strategy towards sustainability.

Adaptation to the environment is the main vector of operation and survival for a business. The technological environment plays a crucial role in this process. As a result, cybersecurity becomes a fundamental pillar and employees are key players. Not in vain, 62% of incidents of this nature that take place in organizations happen due to human error, as reflected in the latest ‘Cyberthreats and Trends’ report prepared by the National Cryptologic Center.

In 2019 BBVA Corporate & Investment Banking took a decision to boost its equities business for institutional and corporate clients. Since then the bank has been working on two vectors: on one hand, developing its equity investment products factory; and on the other, revamping its digital solutions for product distribution. In this line, and to further advance in its growth plan, the BBVA global equities business opens two trading and sales hubs in Hong Kong and in New York.

BBVA has formalized its first sustainable-linked deal in Belgium with Cofinimmo. The transaction consisted of increasing an existing revolving credit facility to €25 million and linking it to a fundamental environmental indicator for its sector.

Treasury plays an essential role in a company as it oversees cash management in both the short and long term. Accordingly, when companies expand into international markets, whether through organic or inorganic growth, at some point they have to decide whether to operate with decentralized treasuries, in each of the different countries, or whether to take advantage of the benefits offered by the centralization and digitization of regional centers.

BBVA granted FONPLATA a structured loan for $100 million that will allow this development bank to finance support programs aimed at tackling the economic and social impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic in Latin America. This structured loan is part of FONPLATA's strategy to diversify its sources of financing.

After announcing their strategic partnership last October, BBVA and ODDO BHF, a leading trading platform in Europe, are making progress in their partnership in the equity brokerage services business in Spain and Portugal. The Franco-German group recently opened its new branch at BBVA’s headquarters in Madrid with an equity research team in charge of covering Spanish and Portuguese stocks, as well as a sales team to meet the needs of institutional investors in these countries. BBVA thus underpins its Equity Capital Markets (ECM) capabilities and the added value it delivers to corporate clients.

BBVA and Alstom have signed a €400m guarantee facility. This deal is a milestone for both companies, as it is both Alstom's first green guarantee facility and also the first BBVA has signed with a client in France.

BBVA has arranged a sustainability linked revolving credit facility with PageGroup, the first sustainable financing for the global recruitment leader. The transaction consisted of amending an existing £30m revolving credit facility to incorporate new Risk Free Rate clauses, extend its tenor and link its pricing to two core sustainability KPIs.

BBVA is embarking on a new phase in the US following the sale of BBVA USA to PNC. The bank, which has been present in the United States for more than 45 years through its New York branch, is working on a long-term growth plan focused on the wholesale banking business. Víctor Martínez, recently appointed Head of BBVA CIB in the United States, will be heading the business in the country.

The supply chain is the set of elements that allows companies to deliver a product or service in order to satisfy the needs of the end customer. The COVID-19 crisis has put the resilience and adaptability of these essential business systems to the test, increasing the urgency to adopt measures and make them more resilient to potential future threats.

Public and private issuers and investors came together at the 10th edition of BBVA’s Latin America Conference, a forum where they were able to identify business opportunities and share their vision of economic development, the social and geopolitical impact of COVID-19 and the ESG outlook in the region. This annual event, which was held virtually, had record-breaking attendance with nearly 1,000 professionals from over 400 institutions and 39 countries.

BBVA has executed its first sustainability-linked interest rate swap for the glass bottle design and manufacturing company Vidrala. The conditions of this product are tied to the company reducing its carbon footprint, and will allow it to transform variable flows into fixed flows, thus reducing the interest rate risk.

BBVA’s goal is to make the opportunities of this new era available to everyone. Being connected and having operational capabilities from anywhere in the world is more important than ever given the circumstances. The correspondent banking team, also known as International Financial Institutions (IFI), is a key part of this endeavor.

BBVA has been the global coordinator and sustainable co-agent of Iberdrola's new  €2.5 billion multi-currency syndicated loan. This operation, which was linked to two sustainable indicators, constitutes an industry milestone as it´s referenced to Risk Free Rates (RFR), which replace LIBOR and which will serve as a model for future financing in Spain. It's also a unique transaction since Iberdrola has committed to donating part of its adjusted margin to sustainable projects.

BBVA and Funespaña formalized a sustainability-linked loan with KPI metrics, becoming the first case of sustainable financing in the Spanish funeral sector which will include three sustainability indicators. The seven-year financing in which the fixed interest rate that the company will pay depends on the fulfillment of three indicators, one environmental and two social. To carry out the operation the bank acted as a sustainable coordinator and Valora as a sustainable consultant.

BBVA’s Shanghai branch has closed its first corporate loan in the Chinese currency renminbi (RMB) with Toyota Motor Finance China. The loan is a short term working capital loan to support Toyota’s corporate activity in the country. The transaction represents an important milestone for BBVA as it is the first one that the bank executes in the local currency after obtaining its renminbi licence in China.

Asia has become the world’s fastest growing economic region of the 21st century and currently plays a critical role in the global supply chain. According to figures provided by BBVA Research, between 2011 and 2021 the region generated 60 percent of global economic growth and one in every two million dollars of investment. And this contribution is expected to increase to 65 percent between 2017 and 2027. This growing trend is driving the global presence of Asian multinational companies as well as the expansion of global multinationals into Asia, where 43 percent of the 5,000 largest companies of this type are currently present. The region represents an important export center and a very attractive domestic market.

BBVA’s Quantitative Investment Strategies business, geared toward institutional investors, has completed its first family of indexes specialized in sustainability. In addition to the  indexes that were previously announced, two more are joining the family: ‘Solactive BBVA ixS Global Inclusive Growth’ and ‘Solactive BBVA ixG Global Governance & Board Diversity’. These indexes make it possible to invest in high growth global companies that are aligned to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, and in leading global companies in corporate governance, respectively.

Global Finance recognized BBVA as the world’s best investment bank for sustainable finance at the latest edition of its awards ‘Best Investment Bank Awards 2021’. A global recognition that joins the bank’s other awards for the best equity bank in Western Europe and the best investment bank in Argentina, Spain and Turkey.

BBVA expands its market activity with ‘Quantitative Investment Strategies’ (QIS), a business which focuses on the design, manufacturing and distribution of investment strategies that materialize in self-created indices intended for end investors. The organization will debut this new line of business with the launch of its first index 'Solactive BBVA ixESG Global Leaders Index'.