The USS Constitution is back to her former glory. After a restoration process that took two years and $12 million worth of copper cladding, wooden plank repair and gun carrier restoration, among other refurbishments, the oldest commissioned floating naval vessel first launched in 1797 was put back into Boston Harbor this week.

In a boost to the future of open banking, the UK’s Bank of England has widened access to the county’s interbank payments system enabling fintech firms to compete more effectively with the large incumbent banks.

For every 100 euros European citizens earn, they pay an average of 50 euros in taxes and contributions.  Of the amount they pay in taxes, only 1 euro is devoted to financing the budget of the European Union.  Thus, in total, Europe manages a budget equivalent to 1% of the gross national income of its Member States.  However, the way this money is invested has a direct impact on the lives of Europeans.

The current climate of change inside and outside Europe has led the European Commission to reflect on the future of its public accounts.  In the document entitled  'The Future of EU finances', the Commission analyzes the current configuration of the budget and its future options. This document is part of a series of reflections brought about by the White Paper on the future of Europe, which set forth the different challenges and scenarios the EU will be facing through 2025.

The week of the publication of second quarter 2017 results (2T 2017) begins and as it does, we remember the five keys to understanding a bank´s results. The following infographic shows how to interpret the most important figures.

Latin America has to foster the right conditions to strengthen its digital ecosystem. However, it faces an obstacle: the digital gap that separates it from other regions in the world. How can this gap be reduced? At a forum of “multi-Latina” companies in Santander, Eva Piera, the Head of Institutional Relations at BBVA stressed that regulation is the key.

BBVA has decided to move forward the publication of its second quarter 2017 results to July 27, a day earlier than originally scheduled, in order to facilitate its coverage, given the large number of presentations in the sector the following day.

Garanti Bank signed an agreement with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) for 5-year term funding in the amount of Euro 75 million equivalent under the Covered Bond Programme. Thanks to this financing, the first transaction settled with EBRD in TL and covered bond format, Garanti aims to boost the expansion of Green Mortgage loans and to protect the future generations with environmentally-friendly buildings.

Argentina and Brazil are finally pulling out of recession and driving the economic growth in Latin America as a whole this year, despite the slowdown in other countries in the region. According to BBVA Resarch’s ‘Latin America Economic Outlook’ Q3 report, the region will grow 0.8% in 2017 and 1.7% in 2018.

BBVA Frances has completed a capital increase of 75.8 million shares, including 66 million ordinary sares, and the remainder in shares offered to investment banks through a greenshoe option. At closing market prices, the transaction was valued at $400 million.  The BBVA Group affiliate will use the transaction to support the bank’s growth, taking advantage of the improved outlook for Argentina´s economy and financial system.

Ricardo Gómez Barredo was there for the birth of BBVA (through the merger of BBV and Argentaria), a Group he has been associated with for more than two decades.Now he is in charge of functions that are so critical to a bank like liaising with supervisors, working out financial information and reporting.Professionally, he describes himself as very demanding of himself. He thinks that the best part of his professional experience has always been “the people I’ve been lucky enough to work with”.