The ECB will keep interest rates unchanged and extend its bond-buying program until the end of 2017, although for a lower amount, starting in April. Draghi did not rule out the possibility of new extensions if conditions are not favorable. The market reacted with significant increases.

Super Bowl LI will have a net economic impact on Houston of $69 million, which is a small fraction of the city’s economic output but still a welcome boost to its bottom line and, most importantly, its image, BBVA Compass economists say in a new report.

Europe has taken a giant leap forward to keep taxpayers from footing bailout bills in the future. Last week, the European Commission unveiled a regulatory package which, among other measures, envisaged the revision of the resolution framework for institutions. The proposal represents a new leap towards the goal of ensuring that banks allocate the right amount of resources to absorb eventual losses, even bail-out themselves, without resorting to public funding. It will also help European banks boost the amount of high-quality capital in their balance sheets.

BBVA once again anticipates the needs of clients and non-clients with the launch of BBVA Trader, a platform 100% designed and devoted to trading. On this website, the users most active in monitoring and market operations can find all the services and contents they are looking for in a trading platform.

BBVA Compass scored a breakout role in CFO magazine’s annual Commercial Banking Survey, becoming the only bank to land in the top three across all criteria on which senior financial executives judged their banks.

Last week, the European Commission announced a new package of regulatory measures: An in-depth regulatory overhaul at all levels -  capital, capital adequacy, leverage ratio and loss-absorbing capacity -  aimed at “completing the post-crisis regulatory agenda by making sure that the regulatory framework addresses any outstanding challenges to financial stability, while ensuring that banks can continue to support the real economy.”

The banking business is reinventing itself. The impact of fintech companies, technological maturity, and customers who are used to digital experiences, all mark a transformation that the financial industry is facing in the certain knowledge that innovation and collaboration with new players will play an important role in the future. But what are the most difficult barriers to overcome in this process? For BBVA Research, Santander, Banorte and Tecnocom, all present in the panel on The digitization of commercial banking at the Latibex Forum, the response is clear: the challenges are regulation and the change in corporate culture.

BBVA Compass’ Global Wealth team was honored recently after it was recognized for its overall operations and customer satisfaction. The bank’s team was one of a small handful of wealth management providers to be recognized in the 2016 Greenwich Excellence Awards in Wealth Management.

In 2017, Latin America will manage to grow again, at a rate of about 1.5%, after five years of economic slowdown, said this Thursday BBVA’s Executive Board Director speaking at the Latibex Forum. During his address in the opening day of the annual event, José Manuel González-Páramo noted that “Latin America is at a turning point”.

The fall of Lehman Brothers made it clear that the size of a bank can be important. Its collapse demonstrated the impact that an institution’s bankruptcy could have on the whole financial system and its repercussions for a country’s entire real economy. As a result, the G20 authorities sought to protect financial stability. Their first step was to identify other systemic banks.