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 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.

Sending money from one side of the globe to the other is apparently very simple, but cross-border payments pose a real challenge. Making international transfers quickly and safely requires a complex structure in which relationships with other financial institutions are essential. The International Financial Institutions area at BBVA has a team of bankers that promotes the creation of a global network of banks that provides customers with the possibility of making international investments and transactions.

During the results presentation for the first half of 2021 BBVA CEO Onur Genç stated that: "We have begun to take the necessary steps for our up to 10 percent share buyback." The bank plans to “start the programs in the fourth quarter,” subject to market conditions and regulatory approvals.

The BBVA Group’s attributable profit reached €2.33 billion between January and June 2021, excluding non-recurring impacts from the results generated by the sale of BBVA USA and the net costs of the restructuring plan in Spain. This figure is 146 percent higher than the one from 1H20 (+183 percent at constant exchange rates). Including these non-recurring impacts, the attributable profit stood at €1.91 billion, a figure that compares very favorably with the €1.16 billion loss recorded in the same period of the previous year amidst the pandemic breakout. These earnings were made possible thanks to revenue strength, particularly those linked to the bank’s core activity (net interest income and fees and commissions), as well as lower impairments vs. 1H20. Following the sale of the U.S. subsidiary, BBVA maintains a solid capital position, with a fully loaded CET1 ratio of 14.17 percent. The Group has also set the date for its Investor Day, on November 18, 2021, an online meeting where it will share its strategy and goals with the investment community.

World Finance magazine awarded Garanti BBVA as the best retail bank in Turkey for the seventh consecutive year in its 2021 awards. The publication also found BBVA's Turkish subsidiary to be the best bank in Europe, an award it has won for the fourth year.