Ebru Dildar Edin participated as one of the guest speakers in ‘For a Future without Carbon Emissions’, one of the seminars held during the sixth edition of the Global Hope Festival, an event that intends to raise awareness among society about sustainability.

“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.

Endeavor, the global entrepreneurship organization, convened four European banks at its event ‘Leading Innovation in Financial Services’ to seek synergies and formulas that promote innovation. Ainhoa Campo, global manager of Open Innovation at BBVA, pointed to the “robust growth” of fintech’s ecosystem in southern Europe.

According to ‘Impact of COVID-19 on Consumption in Real Time and High Definition’, a report by BBVA Research, May 2021 card spending was 19 percent higher than in May 2019 (+36 percent y-o-y, i.e. compared to May 2020). Spending in restaurants and leisure grew the most, driven by the lifting of state of alarm restrictions.

The end to mobility restrictions has begun to show in the hotel, restaurant, entertainment, and transport sectors. All of them displayed signs of recovery in May 2021, although at unequal rates depending on the country. This according to ‘The COVID-19 Impact on Consumption in Real Time and High Definition,’ the latest report published by BBVA Research.

BBVA was named Most Innovative Financial Institution Borrower in this year’s edition of the Bond Awards, promoted by Global Capital magazine to recognize key achievements across all the main segments of the international bond markets. The world’s first green CoCo and the first COVID-19 social bond by a private European financial institution were the two landmark transactions that showcased BBVA’s capability to surprise the market.

This competency status is a significant milestone for BBVA Next Technologies as it is a seal of quality recognized by AWS for carrying out high-quality projects in the DevOps field with total confidence.

BBVA has published an update of its report on the risks and opportunities of climate change in accordance with the Task Force Climate-related Financial Disclosure (TCFD) standard, with data as of December 2020. This report reflects BBVA’s progress in sustainability. Since its first publication in October 2020, it has already incorporated climate risk into the management of all the bank’s businesses and its commitment to accompany customers towards a more sustainable future.

Within a sustainable finance framework, BBVA continues to provide innovative solutions to support Turkey’s fight against climate change. This time it’s launched new commercial green loans for real estate developers that build and sell buildings with aspecific type of energy certification.

Founded in 2011, the platform by Garanti BBVA has received more than three million visitors in ten years thanks to its original offer of content and activities. The entity encourages participation and learning and preserves collective memory, which it makes available to future generations through freely accessible archives and research resources, as well as exhibits and programs.

In 2007 BBVA set off on its transformation journey with the aim of servicing customers through digital channels, making DIY capabilities the cornerstone of our strategy. As a result we achieved exponential trends in sales through digital channels, while customer experience was improved. Now, the bank is immersed in a new stage, focusing on growing our customer base, leveraging on our digital channels and those of third parties. Moreover, it already faces the next challenge: provide proactive and personalized advice to our clients, supported by technology and data.

BBVA´s CEO was invited to speak at the third edition of an annual meeting organized by the students of the Koç School in Istanbul. The event analyzed opportunities in fintech as well as technology and digitization´s contribution to the banking sector.

The World Economic Forum’s (WEF) Alliance of CEO Climate Leaders, released a letter today, calling on the G7 and other world leaders to support a just transition. BBVA Chairman Carlos Torres Vila, the sole representative of a Spanish bank, has signed, together with 78 other CEOs or heads of large global companies, a declaration whose objective is to promote the contribution of the private sector in the fight against climate change.

BBVA and the majority of the labor union representatives (CC.OO., ACB and UGT) have reached an agreement on the adjustment plan in Spain, which involves redundancies of part of the workforce (a total of 2,935 people, about 10 percent of employees of the Group in Spain) through layoffs and voluntary terminations, and an outplacement program for 100 percent of the affected employees through Randstad. The agreement also includes the closing of 480 branches. The process has been characterized by a constructive dialogue between the parties to reach the best agreement for everyone.

A short meeting first thing in the morning can be more productive than a two hour meeting at midday, and a team working on a project no longer needs to complete one phase to start the next. These are two examples of what BBVA employees have learned since they incorporated agile methodologies into their daily working lives, practices that have been further strengthened in the last year under the pandemic.

BBVA Research through its Global Economic Research area and Clarity AI, presents the “Cash vs. card consumption patterns: a Machine Learning approach” study on the use of cards and cash in the country.

BBVA is embarking on a new phase in the US following the sale of BBVA USA to PNC. The bank, which has been present in the United States for more than 45 years through its New York branch, is working on a long-term growth plan focused on the wholesale banking business. Víctor Martínez, recently appointed Head of BBVA CIB in the United States, will be heading the business in the country.

BBVA reinforces its commitment to reducing the risks of climate change and joins PCAF (Partnership for Carbon Accounting Financials), an alliance that enables financial institutions to assess and disclose the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions  of loans and investments.

Garanti BBVA is a firm believer that financial health is a prerequisite for a better life. As such, monitoring the financial health of its customers has become a priority social responsibility for the bank.

The BBVA Group closed today the sale of its U.S. subsidiary to The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc., announced in November 2020. BBVA will continue operating in the U.S. through its broker-dealer BBVA Securities and the New York branch – from which it will provide wholesale banking services –, as well as the fintech investment fund Propel Venture Partners.

Starting Jan. 1, 2022, BBVA will be required to meet a volume of own funds and eligible liabilities (MREL) of 24.78 percent of its risk-weighted assets (RWAs), in line with expectations. As of March 31, 2021, the bank already complies with this requirement, reaching 29.23 percent, as well as with the new subordination requirement.

The BBVA Chairman believes that 2020 has been a turning point in the drive for sustainability. He explained that climate change and decarbonisation represent not only a risk but also an enormous opportunity for both the economy and for banks. Firstly, because of the investments involved, and secondly, because of the importance of advising customers on their ecological transition. “Banks are moving fast to tackle this change head on, involving the whole organisation, because sustainability and climate change affect all businesses”.

ALCO portfolios are one of the main tools available to banks to manage some of the structural risks on balance sheets (liquidity risk and interest rate risk) and, as a secondary objective, to contribute to the stability of earnings generation. They are a portfolio of financial assets, mainly composed of government bonds, which is governed by the bank’s Assets and Liabilities Committee (ALCO).

“Financial health impacts more than just our wallets, it is also related to our physical health and social well-being.” This was one of the key takeaways that emerged during the closing day of the EduFin Summit 2021. In this last session, representatives of the financial industry acknowledged that it is necessary to “understand and address customers’ needs, and to even go beyond” and that, for this purpose, “digitization is a lever that will help people strengthen their finances.”

Emre Hatem, Director of Investment Banking and Finance at Garanti BBVA, took part in a webinar organized by The Bosphorus Energy Club in collaboration with PwC on Turkey’s readiness for the European Green Deal, the Paris Agreement and environmental, social and governance criteria (ESG).

The BBVA Turkish unit joins a club of only 16 data centers worldwide with the highest certification.

BBVA has renewed its range of services for companies with BBVA Pivot – an ecosystem that simplifies cash management for multinational companies. BBVA’s business customers in Spain, Mexico and other Latin American countries now have an easy experience that unifies access to all payments and collections with all the security and guarantees of the BBVA.

Luisa Gómez Bravo, Global Head of BBVA Corporate & Investment Banking, has participated in a panel discussion on the recovery of the global banking sector after COVID-19 as part of the “Female Leaders in Finance” conference. This financial news conference, with a focus on female talent in the industry, was organized by HSBC Bank.

The private and public sectors must work together to improve nationwide financial education and inclusion strategies and plans. This was one of the key takeaways that emerged during the fourth session of EduFin Summit, the financial education summit organized by the BBVA Center for Financial Education and Capability. The session concluded with an interactive workshop, where attendees shared their experiences regarding obstacles, success stories and disruptive elements that affect the expansion of financial education.

New technologies are changing the way financial services are delivered. That is why financial inclusion must come hand in hand with digital inclusion and “in this journey, solid financial education is essential.” These were some of the conclusions of the experts who participated in the third session of EduFin Summit 2021, the global financial education summit organized by the BBVA Center for Financial Education and Capability. Participants shared their insights into the challenges of financial vulnerability and solutions to reduce it.

Garanti BBVA is aware of the role that teachers play in promoting quality education. For this reason, since the restrictions began in March 2020, the bank and its ÖRAV Academy have transformed the content they offer teachers through their platform, enriching it with additional information and training apps so that teachers can adapt to the changes following the pandemic.

Access to financial services and the digital divide were two of the main issues addressed during the second session of the 2021 EduFin Summit. The experts who participated in this session agreed that the pandemic has accelerated financial digitization in everyday life, and stressed the need to improve the level of financial education in order to access digital products and services that support inclusion and financial health.

Garanti BBVA Mobile’s innovations and benefits have earned the bank an iF Design Award, one of the most prestigious in the world of design.

BBVA Group Chairman Carlos Torres Vila stressed during his presentation at the opening session of the 2021 EduFin Summit the importance of financial education, which he considers “essential to promote a sustainable and inclusive growth.” Also participating in the event was Bank of Spain’s Deputy Governor Margarita Delgado, who underlined the importance of education to foster change toward a more sustainable world.

Consensus Economics, one of the world´s most recognized analysis firms, has awarded Garanti BBVA the Forecast Accuracy Award for work by its economic analysis department.

EduFin Summit 2021, the conference on financial education organized the BBVA Center for Financial Education and Capability, will bring together leading international experts in this field of studies. According to experts, financial knowledge should play a more relevant role on people’s lives, more so in the post-pandemic era.

In 2020, BBVA allocated €79.1 million (55.6 percent of its total investment in social programs) to initiatives in support of education, knowledge and culture, benefiting 5.6 million people. In addition, over 2.2 million users accessed the content on education, science, culture and economics, which was provided by the bank through the digital platforms for its initiatives and programs. The BBVA Foundation and its activities also benefited 3.5 million people.

Changes to Turkey’s banking legislation herald a new stage that will see customers increasingly shifting towards digital banking. In anticipation, Garanti BBVA – the bank that spearheaded the development of online banking in the country – has digitized its entire customer onboarding process and allows banking transactions to be carried out easily, quickly and safely.

BBVA USA Bancshares, Inc., a Sunbelt-based bank holding company (BBVA USA), reported today net income of $385 million for the first quarter of 2021 compared to net income of $334 million in the fourth quarter of 2020 and net loss of $2.2 billion in the first quarter of 2020.  Return on average assets and return on average tangible equity(1) for the first quarter of 2021 were 1.49 percent and 16.57 percent, respectively.

The BBVA Group obtained a net attributable profit of €1.21 billion in the first quarter of 2021 – a figure that shows a return to levels prior to the outbreak of the COVID pandemic. These results were achieved thanks to strong recurring revenue – despite the complex environment – and lower impairments and provisions compared to those made in the first quarter of 2020 in anticipation of the crisis. “In the first quarter of 2021, we produced positive results in an environment that continues to be very challenging. In a context of profound change in our sector, we continue to move forward in key areas of our strategy: sustainability and digital transformation,” said Onur Genç, CEO of BBVA.

The BBVA Group earned €1.21 billion in 1Q21, in line with quarterly earnings prior to the pandemic. In the year ago period, BBVA posted a €1.79 billion loss when it recorded a goodwill adjustment in its U.S. subsidiary and higher impairments. This quarter’s result was driven by strong recurring revenue and lower impairments and provisions than in 1Q20. Thanks to these earnings, BBVA generated 15 basis points of capital in the January-March period.

Türkiye Garanti Bankası A.Ş., announced its financial statements dated 31 March 2021. Based on consolidated financials, the Bank’s net income in the first three months of the year were recorded as TL 2.54 billion. Asset size realized at almost TL 569 billion and the Bank’s contribution to the economy through cash and non-cash loans was arround TL 446 billion. Actively managing the funding base, deposits continued to be the main funding source; 65% of assets were funded via deposits.

In the past five years, the social call to action to build a more sustainable world has spread at great speed, according to the BBVA Research report ‘Sustainability through the Lens of Big Data’. The study underscores that while climate change is still leading the conversation, biodiversity is emerging as the concept with the greatest growth —especially in Latin America— and it is expected to be one of the pillars that will mark the sustainability debate in the short and medium term.

EduFin Summit, the annual benchmark event on financial education organized by BBVA’s Center for Financial Education and Capability, is back after a year of absence due to the pandemic. This year’s online edition will begin on May 12 for five days during a three-week-period. Edufin Summit 2021 will address the state of financial education in the post-COVID era and the value of financial knowledge for contributing to inclusive growth, among other topics.

BBVA will be offering recycled cards in all countries where it operates prior to the end of 2021. By 2023, the bank will no longer issue other types of cards, in line with its commitment to the responsible consumption of recycled materials, and recycling. In 2021, the financial institution will provide up to 7.3 million of these cards to its customers as part of a progressive process by segments and countries.

Garanti BBVA has managed to achieve carbon neutrality by reducing its direct carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions to zero.

BBVA has been the global coordinator and sustainable co-agent of Iberdrola’s new  €2.5 billion multi-currency syndicated loan. This operation, which was linked to two sustainable indicators, constitutes an industry milestone as it´s referenced to Risk Free Rates (RFR), which replace LIBOR and which will serve as a model for future financing in Spain. It’s also a unique transaction since Iberdrola has committed to donating part of its adjusted margin to sustainable projects.

Organized for the 14th time by focusing on technology, Digital Age Tech Summit under the corporate sponsorship of Garanti BBVA hosted creative names of the digital world.

BBVA has joined the Net-Zero Banking Alliance (NZBA) as one of the 43 founding members. Banks in this international alliance commit to ensuring that all of their credit and investment portfolios are neutral in net emissions of greenhouse gases by 2050, in line with science and the most ambitious targets in the Paris Agreement. In addition, the direct impact of their activities must also be neutral – something that BBVA already achieved in 2020.

BBVA shareholders backed the possibility of redeeming up to 10 percent of the bank’s share capital, equivalent to 667 million shares, with 99.6 percent of the votes at the Annual General Meeting (AGM) held in Bilbao today. This item on the agenda aims to be able to implement a relevant share buyback, as means of distribution to shareholders.

Carlos Torres Vila, Group Chairman

• Sustainability: Banks have a key role in “analyzing investment opportunities and managing the risks associated” to climate change
• Sale of the U.S. subsidiary: “We have an extraordinary position of strength, which gives us tremendous strategic optionality to continue creating value for shareholders”
• Dividend: “We propose to the AGM the approval of the agreements required to implement a share buyback plan of up to 10 percent of the Group’s shares once the sale of our U.S. subsidiary is closed”

Onur Genç, Chief executive officer

• Digitization: “Our focus on creating end-to-end digital solutions and processes has been key to reaching new clients, which is one of our strategic priorities”
• Capital: Following the sale of the U.S. subsidiary, BBVA will be “one of Europe’s best capitalized banks, with the largest margin between our capital position and the minimum requirement”
• Team: “We continue fostering inclusion and diversity, because we are convinced that it makes us better, as a company and as a society”

BBVA joins the European Clean Hydrogen Alliance, which aims to promote the extension and development of the use of green hydrogen for a carbon-neutral Europe by 2050. BBVA is the only Spanish bank in this alliance promoted by the European Commission.

Spain’s GDP fell 10.8 percent in 2020 (practically in line with BBVA Research’s prediction of 11 percent) and could grow 5.5 percent in 2021 and seven percent in 2022, according to the latest report Spain Economic Outlook by BBVA Research. It was presented on Thursday by Jorge Sicilia, Director of BBVA Research and Chief Economist at BBVA; Rafael Doménech, the Head of Economic Analysis; and Miguel Cardoso, Chief Economist for Spain. Nevertheless, if the spread of COVID-19 continues to be limited and the government’s vaccination plans move ahead, the research service feels that there could be an upward bias for these forecasts.

In an especially hard year for the world of entrepreneurship, BBVA continued supporting entrepreneurs who create a positive social impact. The bank devoted €7.7 million euros (5 percent of the total investment in social programs) to entrepreneurship initiatives, benefitting 2.61 million entrepreneurs in 2020.

José Luis Elechiguerra, a chemical engineer, born in Mexico and with more than 12 years of experience at BBVA, recently took on the role of the Global Head of Engineering and Organization at the BBVA Group.

Recently arrived from BBVA USA where he was in charge of the Client Solutions area, Elechiguerra has accepted the responsibility of being the technological enabler for the bank’s strategy. The way he sees it, without technology it is impossible to talk about sustainability, or helping customers make the best financial decisions, or any other objective set by the BBVA Group. His greatest challenges include consolidating the global application development platform, continuing to explore the potential of cloud computing, helping to make data available to be a smarter bank, and further developing the agile work model so that it expands across the entire organization.

All of this, while continuing to watch the major digital competitors and fintech companies in the rearview mirror – from whom he has learned that banks must be faster in responding to customers’ new demands, as Elechiguerra explains in this interview.

Much has been written about generational differences and how to classify the population according to someone’s year of birth. The truth is that there is no exact or official definition of when a generation begins or ends and, depending on which demographers or researchers you consult, there are discrepancies about the years that comprise each generation.

BBVA Chairman Carlos Torres Vila stressed today that the energy transition poses a great opportunity because many existing activities will see enormous growth as new activities will emerge. “Spain has a competitive advantage in the energy transition,” he said. “We have the natural resource – the new oil, which is the sun and the wind,” he added during his presentation on the second day of Wake up Spain, the energy transition symposium organized by El Español, Invertia and D+I.

BBVA has fulfilled its commitment to offer a sustainable alternative for its products in Spain – both for individuals and companies. The wide range of sustainable solutions is designed to respond to society’s growing demand and to help customers make the best financial decisions that also help the environment.

Atom bank, has confirmed that its £40m raise will be led by Toscafund Asset Management LLP and BBVA. As the bank heads towards profitability, the £40m raise includes an offer to participate for qualifying shareholders in new ‘A’ class shares in Atom priced at 60 pence.

Garanti BBVA and its subsidiaries have been recognized by Kincentric as the ‘Best Employer 2020’ in Turkey. The bank received three out of four awards, making the bank and its subsidiaries the best place to work.

As part of its ongoing commitment to financial education, BBVA USA hosted its third annual Financial Education Forum, a virtual event designed to provide insight on the state of financial health in the U.S. This year’s event featured a presentation of Financial Health Pulse 2020 U.S. Trends, which provides an ongoing snapshot of the financial lives of people in America.

Artificial intelligence, machine learning and big data are transforming the traditional application of tech in the world of marketing. With these tools, startups and SMEs are able to reach a more specific audience for their products at a lower cost than traditional advertising.

BBVA and Enel have signed a €1.35 billion sustainable linked guarantee facility. This guarantee facility, the largest of its kind signed by Enel Group, is an essential and necessary financial tool for the company’s entire operations: production, transport and distribution of electricity and gas, and public lighting services.

In order to help alleviate the effects of COVID-19 on the most vulnerable, BBVA will make a charitable contribution in Spain in replacement of the traditional gift given to shareholders for the Annual General Meeting. It will be the shareholders who vote on which of four causes they prefer for the donation from this gift: social inclusion, education, health and people with disabilities.

Global Finance has named Garanti BBVA the Best Investment Bank in Turkey for the fourth time in the last five years.

ESG criteria refer to environmental, social and corporate governance factors that are taken into account when investing in a company. Although their origin dates back several decades, they have become a reference for socially responsible investing in recent years.

One year after the outbreak of the health crisis in Spain, we spoke to some of the leaders in the fight against the virus to find out how aid was mobilized. In the case of science, researchers consider this aid “essential for the research of this pandemic.” Three and a half million people have benefited from the global plan that BBVA launched in March 2020, ‘Social Response to COVID-19’. The money has been used to purchase medical equipment, support vulnerable groups and for research on the disease.

Spain has set itself the challenge of becoming an attractive country for emerging companies through the Strategy for Spain as an Entrepreneurial Nation. The purpose of the strategy is to promote and boost their formation and development through four milestones: investment, talent, scalability and public sector support for entrepreneurship.

Garanti BBVA reaffirms its commitment against climate change and announces that it will stop financing coal-related activities.

Contact Center World has given two awards to Garanti BBVA, which came in second place in the categories of best call center and best customer service.

BBVA became carbon neutral in direct CO2 emissions in 2020. The Group managed to meet this goal by offsetting its entire carbon footprint through carbon mitigation projects, which also benefited the local communities where they are developed. The bank offset 120,562 tons of CO2e during the year through seven projects developed in different countries across its footprint. This achievement represents another step towards in its push to align its activity with the Paris Agreement and reduce direct and indirect emissions.

BBVA has invested €91.4 million in financial education programs that have benefited 29.2 million people (almost the equivalent of the population of Peru) since 2008, the year in which it launched its Global Financial Education Plan. On the occasion of the European Money Week and Global Money Week celebrations, BBVA also announced that in 2020 it devoted a total of €2.7 million to fund these initiatives that contribute to promoting financial health among communities.

The Spanish National Police’s Unit of Internal Affairs (UAI, in Spanish) has issued a report on its investigation of the 2.3 million documents (hits) provided by BBVA in the Cenyt case. The report does not provide any information that had not already been made available by BBVA to the Judge and the Public Prosecutor’s Office. This confirms that not only the internal investigation ordered by BBVA was objective, rigorous and thorough, but it also shows the full cooperation with the judicial authorities in clarifying the facts, a priority set by the bank since the onset of the proceedings.

BBVA CEO Onur Genç said today that the sale of the U.S. subsidiary is a historic milestone for the bank, and that value creation will continue to be the guiding force in all decisions related to the use of the excess capital from that transaction. “We have a lot of ammunition, a lot of capital” to create value for shareholders, he added. Regarding Turkey, he said that: “We are prepared to manage the risks in emerging markets.”

BBVA has named Patricia Bueno as new Head of Investor & Shareholder relations, within the area of Finance.

Due to its international presence, BBVA has an exchange rate risk hedging policy which is intended to preserve the Group’s capital ratios and provide stability to its results.

Garanti BBVA’s retail and business clients can now view their account balances and statements with other banks. Garanti BBVA Internet allows self-employed and businesses check their accounts with other banks from a single screen, without any further login requirements.

The agile work methodology, new skills that teams look for or the recent inclusion of diversity as a strategic business priority are some of the ways in which BBVA’s human team has changed over the past few years. Paloma Tejada, head of Talent and Culture, Agile and Communications, at Client Solutions, BBVA, spoke about all of them in a conversation with Matthew Gamser, CEO of the SME Finance Forum.

BBVA’s CFO, Jaime Sáenz de Tejada, shared his optimism with international investors regarding the medium-term growth prospects for lending in Spain and Mexico. In Spain, he noted the impact of the EU recovery fund – Next Generation EU- which will expedite the transformation of the production model. The financial sector will be able to amplify its impact through by offering greater financing. As for Mexico, he underscored the positive effect of the new tax stimulus package in the U.S., which will boost remittances and manufacturing activity, along with the new free trade agreement between the United States, Mexico and Canada.

BBVA today placed a 6-year €1 billion senior preferred debt issue, with maturity in March 2027, and an option for early redemption after five years. Final demand exceeded the initial offer 1.5 times, up to more than €1.5 billion, spread over 125 orders. The interest rate was mid-swap + 52 basis points, below the estimated exit rate of mid-swap + 70-75 basis points.

Garanti BBVA, Ekonomist magazine and the Turkish Association of WomenEntrepreneurs (KAGIDER) completed the 14th edition of their Women Entrepreneurs of  Turkey Contest. The winners in the four categories were announced during the awards ceremony, which took place online on March 5th.

BBVA has called its Annual General Meeting (AGM) to be held virtual-only on April 20th, 2021. With the goal of being able to implement a significant potential share buyback, it will be submitted for approval of the AGM the possibility of reducing the bank’s share capital up to 10 percent – the equivalent of approximately 667 million shares. Additionally, BBVA proposes the re-election of seven board members, whose term ends in 2021. It would thus maintain unchanged the composition of the Group’s highest governing body, which currently has two thirds of independent members and an appropriate balance and diversity in several areas: experience, knowledge and expertise, gender and international representation.

BBVA has once again been included in Fortune magazine’s 2021 ranking of the “world’s most admired” companies. It is the only Spanish bank in the megabank category.

In 2015, the European Parliament passed the new digital payment services directive, more commonly known as PSD2. The directive laid the groundwork for the emergence of the open banking concept: a solution to allow contextualized access to banking services, wherever and whenever needed. The regulatory framework set forth by PSD2 has driven a true transformation of the financial sector itself and changed how financial services are viewed.

The initiative Garanti BBVA Partners continues making a difference with its contribution to Turkey’s ecosystem of entrepreneurs. The program supports the efforts of entrepreneurs in the field of sustainable development and new strategies, also in the year 2021.

The BBVA Foundation has awarded the Frontiers of Knowledge Award in the Economics, Finance and Business Management category to Ben Bernanke, Mark Gertler, Nobuhiro Kiyotaki and John Moore for their fundamental contributions to our understanding of how financial imperfections can amplify macroeconomic fluctuations and generate deep macroeconomic recessions. Their first works focused on a fundamental aspect that had not been addressed until then: the state of companies’ balance sheets and its effect on their borrowing capacity and, therefore, their investment capacity.

Global Finance recognized BBVA as the world’s best investment bank for sustainable finance at the latest edition of its awards ‘Best Investment Bank Awards 2021’. A global recognition that joins the bank’s other awards for the best equity bank in Western Europe and the best investment bank in Argentina, Spain and Turkey.

BBVA and Google Cloud today announced a new strategic partnership to transform the bank’s security strategy by optimizing and improving its security infrastructure. As part of this global agreement, BBVA will collaborate with Google Cloud in the development of groundbreaking new artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) models to predict and prevent cyberattacks against its banking infrastructure, providing a more secure experience for the bank and its customers.

Nearly 2.5 million people chose digital channels to become BBVA customers in 2020. The figure represents 33.3 percent of total new customers achieved throughout the Group via individual channels (offices, app, web, ATMs …) and represents a 56 percent jump with respect to new users gained digitally in 2019.

BBVA Chairman Carlos Torres Vila and CEO Onur Genç will not collect their variable remuneration for 2020 as a gesture of responsibility in a year marked by the COVID-19 pandemic, as detailed in the annual remuneration report for BBVA directors. The decision is also a sign of their commitment to their customers, shareholders, employees and society as a whole. Additionally, the bank has updated its remuneration policy for the next three years (2021, 2022 and 2023), which will be presented for approval at the Annual General Meeting.

The BBVA Foundation has awarded the Frontiers of Knowledge Award in Information and Communication Technologies to John Hennessy and David Patterson, founders of the new scientific area known as computer architecture, that designs the “brains” of computer systems. The awardees were the first to devise a conceptual framework that provides the field with a grounded approach to measuring performance, energy efficiency and the complexity of a computer.

BBVA received the banking industry’s silver award in the yearbook put together by S&P Global, analyst for the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI), the ranking in which the Group rose to the position of the second most sustainable bank in the world in 2020.

The BBVA Foundation has recognized the work of Sandra Díaz, Sandra Lavorel, and Mark Westoby with the Frontiers of Knowledge Award in the Ecology and Conservation Biology category has gone in this thirteenth edition to ecologists. The three researchers linked plant ecosystem function to their physical characteristics, and described how these broad traits relate together at global level.

Acquired by BBVA in 2016, the Finnish neobank Holvi will continue its activity led by one of his co-founders, Tuomas Toivonen.

BBVA plans to invest as much as $150 million in new capital to support Propel, bringing its total commitment to over $400 million, including its previous investment in 2016. The announcement builds on the initial successful relationship established five years ago, which has enabled Propel to partner with leading innovators such as Coinbase, DocuSign, Hippo, Guideline, and Neon.

Garanti BBVA launches ‘Garanti Portföy Temiz Enerji Karma Fon’, an innovative fund that invests in capital market instruments tied to Turkish and international companies in the sector of clean, renewable and alternative energy technologies.

Among the novelties in BBVA´s 2020 results presentation is its objective of repurchasing 10 percent of the shares once the sale of the subsidiary in the United States is completed with the capital generated by this operation. At the press conference, Carlos Torres Vila, BBVA Group´s Executive Chairman, stated that “we are saying loud and clear that we consider BBVA´s share the best investment we can make.” In addition, he reviewed different strategic options that the bank was considering for investing that capital.

Carlos Torres Vila, Chairman:

BBVA earned €1.32 billion between October and December, its highest quarterly result over the past two years. In 2020 BBVA helped three million clients affected by the pandemic, with about €63 billion in government-backed credit lines and loan deferrals. The sale of the U.S. subsidiary will provide some €8.5 billion in capital to grow in a profitable way across its footprint and increase shareholder distributions. BBVA will make a gross cash payment of €0.059 per share against 2020 earnings, and expects to resume its shareholder distribution policy in 2021 with a payout of 35-40 percent of profits. Additionally, the bank is targeting a buyback of about 10 percent of the Group’s shares, after the close of the sale of the U.S. franchise. All this subject to market conditions and the required approvals.

Garanti Bankası A.Ş., announced its financial statements on December 31, 2020. Based on the consolidated financials, in 2020, the bank’s net income recorded was TL 6 billion 385 million 163 thousand. Asset size realized at TL 540 billion 912 million 805 thousand and the bank’s contribution to the economy through performing cash and non-cash loans reached TL 415 billion 799 million 688 thousand.

The BBVA Foundation has recognized researchers David Julius and Arden Parapoutian with its the Frontiers of Knowledge Award in Biology and Biomedicine for their work to discover the receptors that mediate the touch sensations of temperature and pressure. A groundbreaking study that opened up new therapeutic avenues to reduce acute and chronic pain associated with trauma and a range of diseases.

How do you know if a banking product is sustainable and contributes to the protection of the environment? In 2020, 26 banks including BBVA, tested how the European Union’s taxonomy on sustainable activities could be applied to core banking products. Common criteria for determining which products are sustainable could allow banks to drive sustainable financing for the entire economy.

BBVA commits to reporting ESG metrics, as part of the Measuring Stakeholder Capitalism initiative, adopted by 61 member companies of the Davos World Economic Forum and a group of top executives who are part of its International Business Council (IBC).

The Garanti BBVA Partners initiative, which was launched six years ago, continues its activities this year with a series of meetings with renowned experts. Balvinder Singh, who has extensive experience in directing business, social, cultural, media, and technological projects, was this month’s guest.

BBVA has successfully closed the sale of its 100 percent share capital in BBVA Paraguay to Banco GNB Paraguay, a unit of Grupo Gilinski, after obtaining all required authorizations.

Alicia Pertusa, head of Client Solutions Strategy at BBVA, has been involved in the different ‘blockchain’ research projects and pilots that BBVA has carried out over the past five years. The launch of its first bitcoin transaction and custody service in Switzerland was a landmark achievement for BBVA. The rollout was made possible thanks to the regulatory framework set up by the Helvetian country, which provides a unique opportunity to explore innovation in digital asset management. In this interview, Pertusa explains how this service is just a first step in an area that is going to have a direct impact on how we exchange not only money, but also any valuable asset or piece of information.

BBVA has signed the sale of a portfolio consisting of loans and real estate assets from Unnim for a gross total of approximately €700 million. The goal of the transaction is to reduce the exposure to non-productive assets.

BBVA, which recently launched its line of business ‘Quantitative Investment Strategies’ (QIS) for institutional investors, has augmented its first QIS index family specialized in sustainability, with the incorporation of two pioneering climate indexes of its own creation: ‘Solactive BBVA Climate Action PAB Europe’ and  ‘Solactive BBVA Climate Action CTB Europe’.

BBVA’s CEO was interviewed by a university publication where he did his MBA, Carnegie Mellon University (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.). Onur Genç shares his view of leadership and the importance of teamwork. “In my view, there are three main aspects that define good leaders: entrepreneurship, empowerment and accountability,” he says.

By Alexis Barton

As integration planning efforts continued—and almost one month after PNC’s acquisition of BBVA’s U.S. subsidiary was announced— BBVA USA team members across the bank began to be introduced to PNC’s leaders and structure in a series of virtual town halls. The events kicked off the week of Dec. 14 and are scheduled to continue through January.

World Finance magazine has given two awards to Garanti BBVA in the 2020 edition of its Digital Banking Awards. BBVA’s Turkish unit has thus become the Best Digital Bank for the fourth consecutive year and was named as having the Best Mobile Application in the Turkish market.

The emergence of technologies such as artificial intelligence, machine learning and blockchain has exponentially multiplied the volume of data used, putting current computer systems to the test. Despite the fact that the arrival of 5G promises an improvement in these limitations, it is not enough to respond to the performance demands of this latest generation technology. An alternative to this is edge computing.

Yesil Science was created with the objective of developing innovative solutions to healthcare, combining medicine, art, and technology. In addition, it is a company that has participated in the Garanti BBVA Partners program.

BBVA is a global brand. As our tagline says, the bank works to “bring the age of opportunity to everyone.” And in these times, more than ever, a world of opportunities are in the digital world. That is where we navigate trying to tell the best stories of a journey that BBVA.com began five years ago. During the months of March and April 2020, BBVA’s corporate website broke its record for monthly users thanks to a new content section on COVID-19, which signaled the enormous audience interest in information related to the pandemic.

Central bank-backed digital currencies, such as the potential digital euro and digital yuan, may become a reality in the coming years. Unlike cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum, these currencies promise less volatility and greater security. In addition, they will have the support of their respective monetary institutions, responsible for ensuring financial stability.

Pressure to get on board with remote working, adapting to the changes in a market revolutionised by the pandemic, and dealing with customers who have new and urgent needs. Startups have faced unprecedented challenges in 2020, but their digital DNA has helped them make fast decisions to handle these tests.

Under the agreement with EBRD, Garanti BBVA will prioritize its investments with high sustainability performance for those who want to improve their performance while financing the investment projects.