Under a borrowing program framework, Garanti Bank has received in excess of $1.3 billion in financing from international markets. The funding, as stipulated by the program framework, will be provided under two separate financing contracts and over four different tranches with 367-day, 2-year-and-one-day, and 7-year term loans.

BBVA Compass has appointed banking industry veteran Heather Sanchez as its new Ontario City President, where she will lead the market’s commercial banking operations and manage the local advisory board.

It is difficult to summarize everything that has happened at BBVA since 1996 when Francisco González took the reigns as chairman of Argentaria, which would be come BBVA almost four years later, after the merger with BBV. For more than 20 years the Group has stood out thanks to the chairman’s unique approach, an unwavering commitment to values and responsible banking, and the giant leap he initiated to transform the Group into a leading 21st century bank. Ultimately, his tenure as chairman has been marked by values, people, and innovation.

BBVA's international expansion began in the mid 1990s. Today, with operations in more than 30 countries, the bank’s geographic diversification represents one of the great accomplishments of Francisco González's twenty-year tenure as executive chairman, and is a key factor in the Group's repeated positive results.

Francisco González was greeted warmly by the auditorium at Ciudad BBVA in Madrid where he was bid farewell with applause and a standing ovation. The bank’s executive chairman was interviewed by his successor, Carlos Torres Vila, in a memorable conversation that the Group employees could follow from more than 30 countries. After 22 years at the helm of the bank that has become BBVA, Francisco González declared that "with much effort," the legacy he leaves behind is "a bank in solid financial shape, an extraordinary project, and an absolutely exceptional team."

Going public is an option that many businesses start considering after reaching a certain stage in their development, whether to access funding from capital markets and drive their growth strategy, or to offer the opportunity to its private shareholders to obtain liquidity, crystalize the value of their shares and diversify their asset portfolio. But, what factors determine the success of an IPO?