BBVA has been named the world´s best bank for corporate clients for the second time by Global Finance magazine in its annual awards. Awards that have become a trusted standard of excellence for the financial industry.

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.

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.

The European Investment Bank (EIB) and BBVA have further strengthened their relationship and signed an agreement to support large Spanish companies and mid-caps affected by the economic crisis caused by the pandemic. To this end, the EIB will grant a guarantee of up to €400 million to BBVA, enabling the Spanish bank to mobilise more than €1.015 billion in the real economy via loans.

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.

'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.

BBVA's Investor Relations team received two awards from IR Magazine in the ´Crisis Management´ and ´Best Use of Multimedia for IR´ categories. This is considered one of the most reputable accolades in the investor relations industry in Europe.

The debate on the desirability of a digital euro, issued by the European Central Bank, has been growing in recent weeks. Today, at a seminar organised by the European Banking Federation, Pablo Urbiola, from BBVA's Digital Regulation team, said that "the ECB should rely on public-private cooperation, leveraging the strengths of all players."

“Real-time measurement of economic activity is a necessity in these times,” said Tomasa Rodrigo during the traditional summer course at Menéndez Pelayo International University (Santander), organized by the Spanish Association of Economic Information Journalists (APIE), with BBVA's collaboration and sponsorship.

Carlos Torres Vila today opened the 38th APIE Seminar in Santander together with Nadia Calviño, Second Vice-President of the Government and Minister of Economic Affairs and Digital Transformation. During his speech, the BBVA Chairman highlighted that, after a weak and uncertain start in 2021, the outlook for growth is now very positive. "We all expect a strong rebound in the economy in the second half of the year," he said. In his opinion, the economic recovery and the arrival of European funds put Spain in an excellent position to face the challenges of the productive model transformation. "We must take advantage of this new period of growth to transform our economy and that means preparing ourselves for a world that is undergoing radical change, preparing ourselves to face the challenges associated with that change, and to capitalize on the unparalleled opportunities that are opening up on the horizon," he stated.