Banks play a critical role as providers of funds to the real economy. In this regard, the active management of the balance sheet has become more and more important, and is now a strategic area for financial institutions. Some of its key goals are guaranteeing liquidity, strengthening solvency and reducing exposure to credit risk.

A bank balance sheet is a key way to draw conclusions regarding a bank’s business and the resources used to be able to finance lending. The volume of business of a bank is included in its balance sheet for both assets (lending) and liabilities (customer deposits or other financial instruments).

The core activity of a bank is financial intermediation. This function entails using resources from customers (liabilities) to offer financing to the same or other bank customers (assets). Therefore, it is essential to be able to understand a bank’s balance sheet and each line linked directly to customers.

Between 20 and 30 per cent of people in the US and Europe are working independently in the so-called "gig economy" according to a new study that counts moonlighters as well as full-timers.

BBVA Compass employees recently closed out 100 Days of Brightness, the bank’s initiative to create smiles through random acts of kindness.

This weekend, Global Finance held in Washington the 17th edition of its Best Banks Awards, which recognized BBVA as one of the leaders of the financial world. The 8 awards in total that the bank took speak loud and clear about the bank’s standing as retail and investment bank.

Financial regulation and innovation seem like polar opposites, yet they are forced to get along and collaborate. This is apparent from one of the panels at today’s IIF Annual Meeting in Washington. The only representative of a bank, BBVA’s Executive Director participated in the panel which included renowned representatives of regulators and supervisors.

As part of the IMF’s annual meeting in Washington, José Manuel González-Páramo participated yesterday in the B-20 meeting, the international business equivalent of the G20. BBVA’s Executive Director used the opportunity to urge the G20 to develop a clear regulatory framework that complement growth economic measures.

Atom Bank - Britain’s only app-based digital bank - today opened its doors to all eligible customers in the U.K., offering everyone the opportunity to download its app and open a savings account.

The term project finance refers to the financing of large infrastructure or energy projects entailing substantially significant initial costs and extremely long depreciation periods. Just in 2015, this business moved over $422 billion, 37% of which – approximately – corresponded to projects rolled out in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.