BBVA Steps Up its Commitment to the United States: Growing With Focus, Senior Leadership and Discipline in the World’s Largest Financial Market

The United States is the world’s leading investment banking market, an ecosystem of extraordinary financial depth where specialisation, discipline and excellence in execution make the difference between competing and being truly relevant. Against this backdrop, BBVA has steadily built an increasingly solid franchise in recent years, grounded in a clear premise: to grow where it can provide real differentiated value.

“Our ambition in the United States is very clear,” says Regina Gil. “We want to be a trust partner for our clients, not only for financing, but also for advice, structuring capabilities and the quality of our execution.” This ambition translates into a model that prioritises relevance over volume and is fully aligned with the bank’s overall strategy.

Activity is structured around two main areas of focus, corporates on the one hand, and financial institutions (FIG) on the other, yet both respond to the same underlying logic of focus. “It is not about being involved in every transaction, but about being present in those where we can support the client consistently over time,” Gil explains. That consistency is built on senior-level engagement, deep sector expertise and a detailed understanding of each client’s financial needs across the different stages of their growth.

The United States as a capabilities platform and a driver of cross-border business

The role of the United States within BBVA CIB has evolved significantly. Traditionally, the country has acted as a key hub for Latin America, channeling dollar financing, access to capital markets and transactional solutions for clients in the region. Today, this role has expanded substantially: growth with U.S. clients now represents a central component of the Group’s wholesale banking business.

This is a market where expectations around service, specialisation and execution quality are particularly high. U.S. clients increasingly value excellence in service, structuring capabilities and reliability in execution. In this context, BBVA has steadily expanded its client base, with a strategic focus on both corporate and institutional clients. In the corporate segment, the bank today serves close to two third of the companies that make up the S&P 500 index, a clear indication of the relevance achieved in the segments where it has chosen to compete.

To support this ambition, BBVA has made sustained investments in talent and in the development of sophisticated capabilities, including structured finance, securitisation, capital markets and balance sheet solutions. All of this is underpinned by stable teams with seniority and real decision-making authority. New York acts as the main hub in the United States, complemented by specialised centres such as Houston, within a front-to-back organisational model that allows the business to scale with control and consistency. “Seniority reduces friction, improves the quality of the dialogue and strengthens client trust,” notes Regina Gil.

This approach naturally reinforces the cross-border business, which is conceived as a structural element of the model rather than a tactical add-on. BBVA supports its clients wherever they operate, integrating advisory, financing and execution across different geographies, with the United States as a key point of structuring and solution origination. “The size and complexity of the U.S. market mean that many capabilities are developed here and then scaled across the rest of the Group,” Gil explains, “allowing us to deliver coherent and consistent propositions to global clients.”

Project Finance: leadership built on specialisation and discipline

One of the areas where BBVA’s strategy has materialised most clearly is Project Finance in the United States. In recent years, the bank has significantly strengthened its positioning, placing it among the leading financiers in the market. According to Infralogic, BBVA ranked 11th in Project Finance in the United States at year-end 2025, reflecting progress driven by clear sector specialisation and a consistent, long-term approach to risk management.

Within this framework, activity has focused primarily on solar and battery projects, with more limited exposure to wind and a highly demanding approach to asset and sponsor quality. These are transactions that require financial structures and a deep analysis of fundamentals. “Our added value lies in fully understanding each project and structuring robust solutions, while maintaining discipline even in highly competitive market environments,” emphasises Regina Gil.

“Our added value lies in fully understanding each project and structuring robust solutions, while maintaining discipline"

Building on this foundation, data center financing has emerged as one of the main growth drivers. According to Infralogic, BBVA ranked as the eighth-largest bank in the United States in this segment by the end of 2025, supported by a deliberately selective strategy focused on hyperscalers with investment-grade profiles and avoiding high-yield or colocation models. This approach is reinforced by the bank’s direct relationship with institutional investors, a key element in transaction structuring and active risk management. It is further underpinned by enhanced capabilities to rotate capital through market take-outs, including ABS (Asset-Backed Securities) and USPP (US Private Placement) structures, optimising balance sheet usage. “Not all projects and not all players are the same; our responsibility is to distinguish between them and support only those that are sustainable over the cycle,” concludes Gil.

Growing in the world’s largest market with strategic coherence

Looking ahead, the United States is consolidating its position as one of the main growth levers for BBVA CIB. The ambition is clear: to grow the business meaningfully, always under two non-negotiable principles, risk-adjusted profitability and a focus on clients and projects where the bank can be genuinely relevant. This strategy is built on sector specialisation, the strength of the local platform and the ability to originate and execute complex transactions with global reach.

Within this framework, sustainability is not approached as a standalone pillar, but as a criterion integrated into financial and risk analysis. “If a project is not financially viable, it is not sustainable in the long term,” Gil underlines, highlighting the importance of solid structures, stable cash flows and rigorous execution. “Selective, profitable and sustained growth, based on specialisation, risk discipline and execution capability.”

"Selective, profitable and sustained growth, based on specialisation, risk discipline and execution capability"

In parallel, BBVA continues to strengthen its offering for corporate and institutional clients, progressively incorporating sophisticated solutions such as securitisation and other structured financing solutions. This proposition is complemented by an increasingly broad range of offerings for financial sponsors, whom the bank supports with instruments such as capital call facilities, loan portfolio financing and non-recourse structures, always from a selective approach fully aligned with its risk discipline.

This is how Regina Gil summarises BBVA’s roadmap in the United States: a strategy aimed at building long-term value in the world’s largest financial market, supported by an increasingly solid platform, a differentiated proposition for global clients and an ambition for leadership grounded in coherence and rigour.