Garanti BBVA has renewed a $400 million syndicated loan in separate tranches of $155 million and €238.5 million maturing at 367 days. The syndicate of international lenders comprises 23 banks from 13 countries.

BBVA has explored the potential of blockchain technology as a major catalyst to create value in finance 2.0 for the past six years and is confident of its ability to build a more advanced society in economic and social terms. Alfonso Gómez, CEO of BBVA Switzerland,  spoke recently at the Fifth Blockchain and Digital Asset Forum hosted by online publication El Confidencial and sponsored by Grant Thornton, Allfunds, Criptan and Metrovacesa. Alfonso explained the key points of digital assets, discussed the role and responsibilities of traditional banks in this new space, and pointed out the opportunities that are now emerging.

You can watch the event delayed here.

The Global Head of Sustainability at BBVA, Javier Rodríguez Soler, said that we are seeing a growing interest in carbon markets, which "will play a critical role in the energy transition." In an online panel organized by the Institute of International Finance (IIF) in the framework of the COP27 held in Sharm El-Sheikh, Javier Rodríguez Soler acknowledged that "there is increasing pressure to buy quality carbon credits."

BBVA placed CHF 425 million of a senior preferred bond issue today. The labeled green bond is divided into two tranches with maturities of three and six years. The first tranche, maturing in 2025 and comprising CHF 215 million, bears interest at SARON mid-swap plus 108 basis points, while the second tranche, maturing in 2028 and comprising CHF 210 million, bears interest at SARON mid-swap plus 123 basis points.

As a result of its joining Net Zero Asset Managers in 2021, BBVA Asset Management has announced its initial targets for decarbonization of assets under management. This initial commitment affects equities and bonds in managed portfolios in Spain and Mexico. The scope of the commitment will be widened in coming years. BBVA AM has set intermediate commitments for the year 2030, which include a 50% reduction of carbon emissions of its equity and corporate fixed income assets.

BBVA channeled a total of €124 billion in sustainable business between 2018 and September 2022, of which €13 billion corresponds to the third quarter of 2022, a 60% increase over the same period in 2021.

BBVA Chair Carlos Torres Vila, alongside other leaders of major global companies, has signed a statement calling on world leaders and participants at the Sharm El Sheikh United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP 27) to commit convincingly to a just transition. "This transition needs a radical rethinking of how we do business," explains the statement from the Alliance of CEO Climate Leaders promoted by the World Economic Forum (WEF).

Garanti BBVA has entered a strategic partnership with Erguvan, the country’s first and only digital carbon credit trading platform to accelerate compliance for its export clients and help them meet the target of cutting greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55% by 2030.

BBVA obtained the highest score among European banks analyzed by S&P in its Corporate Sustainability Assessment (CSA). For the third consecutive year, BBVA is the most sustainable bank in Europe as of October 21, 2022. This analysis is the basis for the composition of the Dow Jones Sustainability Index.

Türkiye Garanti Bankası A.Ş., reported its results for the first nine months of the year. The bank posted a net income of TL 38.73 billion from January - September 2022, with total assets reaching TL 1.22 trillion and lending amounting to TL 873.29 billion through cash and non-cash loans.

Institutional investment in digital assets continues to gain momentum, accelerating the adoption and regulation of the Blockchain ecosystem worldwide. Several days ago, Protein Capital, a Spanish fund manager in digital assets, reinforced its international expansion in partnership with BBVA Switzerland, with which it has reached an agreement for the custody of the Bitcoin and Ethereum protocols.

In an interview with Anadolu Agency, Garanti BBVA’s Head of Customer Solutions and Digital Banking Işıl Akdemir Evlioğlu analyzed the latest developments in digitization and mobile banking, as well as the bank’s investments in this field, following 15 years of mobile banking.

The BBVA Turkish unit will offer the first online training session for the Women Entrepreneurs Academy of Türkiye, in collaboration with Boğaziçi University Lifelong Education Center (BÜYEM).

The Group’s Turkish franchise adds a different dimension to its work on sustainability and inclusive growth, two areas at the center of its strategy.

BBVA Chair Carlos Torres Vila today announced that the bank will increase its sustainable finance target by 50 percent. “Sustainability is a business opportunity,” because the amount of investment required is huge ($275 trillion through 2025), he said at the Institute for International Finance (IIF) annual meeting in Washington, DC.  In this sense, he added that the bank has been channeling sustainable financing “at a really fast pace”, which prompted the bank to surpasse in June 2022 the initial goal set for 2025. For that reason, “today I can announce that we’re now upping the ante again to €300 billion for the period 2018-2025,” he said.

BBVA invests 10 million euros in the world's largest clean hydrogen infrastructure fund financing the whole hydrogen value chain scale up. This is a strategic investment for BBVA, as hydrogen is shaping up to be a possible solution to decarbonize the most emission-intensive sectors of the economy.

Learning to deal with conflicts, to train emotions and to speak in public are three very important aspects for the emotional wellbeing of children. A group of parents, with the support of the teaching and management team of the Nuestra Señora de La Paloma public school in Madrid, has launched a project to help children manage their feelings, frustrations and fears.

It’s easy to be fascinated by a self-appointed ‘expert’ on social media who says you should give everything up to live off passive income or invest your savings in the flavor-of-the-month cryptocurrency. Especially if they do so while leaning on the hood of a Lamborghini or sipping a cocktail on the rooftop bar of a luxury hotel in Dubai. The danger of influencers is that they can end up ruining your finances. At BBVA's EduFin Summit 2022, Manuel Ángel Méndez, editor-in-chief of Teknautas, gave some tips on how to tell the difference between legitimate financial influencers and con artists.

BBVA placed €1.25 billion in a green bond issue of senior preferred debt today, with a seven year maturity. The issue price was set at mid-swap plus 155 basis points, below the initial target price (mid-swap plus 175-180 basis points). This is the Group’s first bond issue with a “green” seal for senior preferred debt and the largest with this label for a Spanish financial issuer.

BBVA Research has revised upward its estimate of Spanish GDP growth for 2022 to 4.4 percent (from the 4.1 percent forecast three months ago), although its outlook has deteriorated for 2023, when growth is expected to reach just 1 percent (from the previous 1.8 percent). This is according to the latest 'Situación España' report, presented today by Jorge Sicilia, Director of BBVA Research and BBVA's Chief Economist; Rafael Doménech, Head of Economic Analysis; and Miguel Cardoso, Chief Economist for Spain.

BBVA is committed to clean energy and will support the energy industry in its transition. The bank has therefore announced it will reduce emissions from its oil and gas portfolio by 30% by 2030. This commitment is in addition to the bank's 2021 targets  in four other carbon-intensive sectors and the decision to stop financing coal companies, in line with the zero net emissions banking alliance (NZBA).

BBVA's decarbonization targets: What do they mean and what is their scope?

BBVA is part of a European high level expert group charged with providing recommendations to the European Commission to promote sustainable financing in emerging countries and bridge the gap that currently exists in financing the SDGs. BBVA is the only private bank in this group, which will present its recommendations in mid-2023.

BBVA Chair Carlos Torres Vila opened the Edufin Summit 2022 this Thursday, with a focus on inclusive and sustainable growth via training in digital skills. At this forum, he announced that BBVA will train two million people in financial education between 2021 and 2025, doubling the initial target.

BBVA shareholders will receive next October 11, 2022, a cash interim dividend of €0.12 (gross) per share. This amount is 50 percent higher than that of last year, of €0.08 per share paid in October 2021. The Group’s solid results in the first half of the year are supporting this decision.

BBVA Chair Carlos Torres Vila said “Onur Genç is exceptional as a person, exceptional as a professional and as a team leader, and the bank’s excellent results are proof of that” with “an outstanding performance in all areas”. “This is the unanimous view of the BBVA Board. In short, we could not have a better CEO than Onur.” At an event in Madrid organized by the Spanish business association APD and Kearney, Torres Vila said some media reports speculating over a possible change of CEO were “a complete fabrication.”

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has named the Roca brothers ‘Food Heroes’ for their work promoting sustainable gastronomy. The Spanish chefs, together with BBVA, have collaborated in several sustainability projects encouraging responsible eating habits. Through the “Sembrando el futuro” (“Seeds for the future”) project, they seek to recover extinct ingredients and preserve biodiversity.

The British publication has once again recognized BBVA as the bank with the best real estate solutions in the region. Furthermore, Euromoney named the Peru and Argentina franchises as finalists in their respective countries, thanks to their home loans.

BBVA Chair Carlos Torres Vila will open the next EduFin Summit, the international financial education event hosted by BBVA's Center for Financial Education and Capability, which will take place on September 29 and 30. Mairead McGuinness, European Commissioner for Financial Stability, Financial Services and the Capital Markets Union, will participate in the opening ceremony. The conference will be held for the first time in two countries: Spain and Mexico.

In a presentation sent to the CNMV on the occasion of an event with investors this Wednesday, BBVA highlights the bank's track record in creating value for shareholders and its competitive edge, focused on profitable growth. This enables BBVA to present a positive outlook with recent improvements in its forecasts for loan growth and net interest income in markets like Spain and Mexico. The document that BBVA CEO Onur Genç will present at the conference organized by Bank of America emphasizes that “BBVA is an engine of profitable growth.”

BBVA New Gen, the investment product offered by the Group’s Swiss franchise, has completed its first year of existence. In a move to streamline the onboarding process, the bank now lets prospective customers sign up online just by uploading a ‘selfie’, after which their identity is verified in a matter of seconds. BBVA Switzerland is leveraging this technology, which can verify identity documents and passports from more than 190 countries, to boost its international expansion.

BBVA placed a €1.25 billion senior preferred bond on the market today with a five year maturity. The issue price closed at an interest rate of mid-swap plus 115 basis points, significantly lower than the initial price (mid-swap plus 140/145 basis points). This represents a new issue premium of just 10 basis points over its fair value, considerably lower than the premiums obtained for recent operations in the debt market. The coupon was set at 3.375 percent.

Pedro Sánchez Pérez-Castejón, President of the Government of Spain, and Carlos Torres Vila, BBVA Chair, will open the BBVA Sustainability Forum 2022, on September 15 (4:30pm CEST) at Ciudad BBVA, Madrid. Teresa Ribera Rodríguez, the Third Vice-President of Spain and Minister for Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge, will also take part in the meeting.

BBVA has placed a 1.75 billion dollars senior non-preferred debt issuance registered with the United States SEC. The issue was divided in two tranches, one maturing in four years, of which 1 billion dollars was placed, and the other maturing in six years, with a placement of 750 million dollars. Both tranches have an early redemption option one year earlier.

Students, teachers, doctors and researchers; micro-entrepreneurs, farmers and small business owners; artists and NGO volunteers... Millions of people around the world are benefitting from BBVA's social initiatives to build a better world for themselves and those around them. Their stories will be featured in the ‘Creating Opportunities Together’ initiative, a project through which the bank plans to raise awareness and recognize an effort that frequently goes unnoticed.

BBVA's Turkish franchise is one of the main drivers of renewable energy projects in the country.

As part of its initiatives to combat the climate crisis and work towards a sustainable world, Garanti BBVA has presented the first activity report of its ‘Blue Breath Project’ in alliance with the Deniz Temiz Association/TURMEPA. The 9-month undertaking has promoted awareness training on waste surface cleaning in the Marmara Sea as well as sea cleaning in the provinces of the region to prevent marine pollution.

The southern Swiss city of Lugano has stepped up cryptocurrency use and is developing new infrastructure to adopt Bitcoin, Tether and its own LVGA token as legal tender. In the coming months, Lugano residents will be able to use cryptocurrencies to pay their taxes and make purchases at more than 200 local businesses.

Garanti BBVA makes it a top priority to make life easier for customers, including people with disabilities. That is why the bank now provides hearing-impaired customers with fast, user-friendly access to a live support assistant over its mobile app.

BBVA has completed the final segment of its share buyback program today as it has reached the maximum target of shares. The framework buyback program, which started in November 2021, is now complete, having achieved its target of buying back 9.6% of its capital. This is one of the largest European bank share buybacks ever conducted.

Around four million people have potentially benefited from the social bond that BBVA issued in 2021, in a placement that amounted to 1 billion euros. Almost 50% of the amount was allocated to the access to essential services category (health, education and financial services), followed by socioeconomic advancement and empowerment (37%), affordable basic infrastructure (12%) and affordable housing (0.6%). Such is the conclusion of the 2021 Green and Social Bonds Report just published by the bank. The document details the environmental and social impact generated by the projects and loans that have been financed with the proceeds of the green and social bonds issued by BBVA, S.A. since 2018, amounting to a total of €5 billion, of which €3 billion were green bonds and €2 billion were social bonds.

BBVA's second quarter 2022 results were warmly received by the market. After the figures were released, the bank's shares rose 6% in trading on Friday, July 29. Earnings outperformed analysts' consensus estimate by 77%.

BBVA financed almost €14.5 billion between April and June 2022, up 50% from the same period from the previous year. This is the quarter that has mobilized the largest amount. Moreover, since 2018, it has financed a total of almost €112 billion and thereby has exceeded half of its 2025 goal set at €200 billion.

Fast Company has included BBVA AI Factory in its annual list of ‘Best Workplaces for Innovators.’ BBVA’s artificial intelligence (AI) center was ranked 40th in the world and first in the category of companies with fewer than 100 employees for fostering knowledge-sharing among employees and supporting female talent.

The British publication The Banker, part of the Financial Times Group, has selected BBVA as the best digital bank in Europe and Latin America in its Innovation in Digital Banking Awards. The specialized magazine also granted a third prize in this edition for the best Bank/Fintech Partnership, specifically to Veridas' biometric solution for BBVA Mexico's pensioner customers.

Garanti BBVA released its financial statements dated June 30, 2022. Based on the consolidated financials, the Bank posted net income for the first 6 months of the year of TL 21.18 billion. Assets came to TL 1,096 billion, while the Bank’s contribution to the Turkish economy through cash and non-cash loans was TL 799.5 billion.

The deal between Garanti BBVA and Masfen Enerji enhances opportunities for investors to finance new solar power plants and support Türkiye’s renewable energy output.

BBVA has recently appointed Pierre Goffin the bank's new Country Manager for France. Pierre has more than 25 years' experience in corporate and investment banking and will oversee business in this market. His main objective will be to strengthen relations with large corporations and the leading institutional and investor community in France.

BME, through Iberclear, BBVA and the Interamerican Development Bank (IDB), have completed the first bond issuance in Spain listed in a regulated market and registered using blockchain technology developed by ioBuilders. This platform could serve as a basis for future issuances in Spain and in Latin America and the Caribbean.

BBVA has implemented a comprehensive cloud-based solution that simplifies theprocess of sending and validating information, providing carbon footprint indicators andemission reduction tracking figures. It is a platform that will enable active, data-drivenmanagement of its sustainability policies.

World Finance, one of the world's leading business and finance magazines, named Garanti BBVA ‘Türkiye's Best Retail Bank’ for the eighth consecutive time. The Turkish franchise was also singled out as ‘Europe's Best Retail Bank’ for the fifth time.

Mass Receivables Finance allows BBVA clients to get advances on their accounts receivable portfolios. This solution is aimed at clients with highly pulverized portfolios, where the amount concentration per debtor is very small and the historical behavior is stable and predictable.

The EIB Group, comprising the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the European Investment Fund (EIF), has signed a new asset-backed securities (ABS) purchase agreement with BBVA. The deal encompasses several transactions through a single securitization, with a structure designed to achieve optimal efficiency. In addition, the EIB Group signed an agreement with BBVA for a €54 million synthetic securitization under the European Guarantee Fund (EGF) program.

BBVA’s Global Head of Sustainability, Javier Rodríguez Soler, has been appointed Chair of the Advisory Board of the bank’s Center for Financial Education and Capability. The center, now celebrating its fifth anniversary, supports financial education as a tool to contribute to sustainable and inclusive growth.

BBVA has created a new sustainable loan that focuses on reducing water footprint, a key priority in many companies' sustainability policies. Iberdrola, one of the world leaders in sustainability, is the first company to formalize this innovative solution in the sustainable financing market, which can be structured as a bilateral or syndicated loan.

BBVA's research unit revises its Spanish GDP growth forecasts for 2023 downward from 3.3% to 1.8% but keeps its estimate for 2022 unchanged at 4.1%. This reflects the scarcity of some raw materials and rising commodity prices generally, with the consequent increase in production costs already feeding through to inflation. In addition, the financial burden on businesses and families is expected to become heavier as the European Central Bank (ECB) moves forward with the withdrawal of quantitative easing. These trends are analyzed and discussed in the latest ‘Spain Economic Outlook’ report, presented by Jorge Sicilia, Director of BBVA Research and BBVA's Chief Economist, Rafael Doménech, Head of Economic Analysis, and Miguel Cardoso, Chief Economist for Spain.

BBVA is the winner in four categories of the 2022 Euromoney Awards for Excellence. The bank is 'Western Europe’s Best Digital Bank,’ 'Latin America’s Best Bank for Corporate Responsibility,’ 'Mexico’s Best Bank' and 'Mexico’s Best Investment Bank.'

BBVA Global Wealth and the IE Center for Families in Business of IE University conducted a study that analyzed nine “moments of truth” in which business families should reflect and make decisions to reinforce their strategy. Through this report, BBVA will promote the advice that business families receive in Spain, Colombia, Mexico, Peru, Switzerland and Uruguay.

BBVA recently presented BBVA Spark, its full financial services proposition for innovative, high growth companies in their different stages of growth. Spark provides these companies with all their financial needs within the same place, and gives them access to sophisticated financing products, such as venture debt and growth loans. To do so, BBVA Spark will offer them a unique relationship management model with a team of experts who speak their language.

July 2022 marks the first anniversary of the inclusion of minors in the voluntary private pension system (PPS). A total of 360,000 children under the age of 18 joined PPS over the past year. Garanti BBVA Pension has a TL 208 million fund - helping one out of every five children in the PPS to start saving at an early age.

BBVA has launched a new card in Spain as part of its Aqua range - characterized by offering a dynamic CVV for each purchase and no printed number - that combines maximum security with the possibility of paying in installments for up to three months, with no interest or deferral fees. As a result, BBVA is breaking into the new ‘Buy Now, Pay Later’ (BNPL) payment method with a product that helps its customers to make their payments in a convenient and flexible way.

A recent report by Deloitte and the European Banking Federation (EBF) explains the role of the Chief Sustainability Officer (CSO) in a company, the qualities they should have and what the purpose and future of their work is. 

BBVA and US venture capital firm Fifth Wall, are joining forces to invest in technologies that address climate change in the real estate and construction industries, which make up 40% of the global total carbon dioxide emissions.Through Fifth Wall’s Climate Fund, BBVA will invest in companies seeking decarbonization solutions that address the entire lifecycle of buildings.

BBVA takes another step toward gender equality, setting a target for 35 percent of its management positions to be held by women by 2024. At the end of last year, this figure stood at 31.4 percent. This measure adds to a series of initiatives that are contributing to increasing the number of women in positions of responsibility.

BBVA has joined Carbonplace as a founding member. Through this technological solution, BBVA will offer its customers worldwide direct access to voluntary carbon credits to compensate for their emissions. BBVA is the first Spanish bank to partner with this platform which aims to become an integral component of the voluntary carbon market.

The emerging company will work on a technological solution to boost the development of synthetic data. They will replace real data while testing artificial intelligence models, thus protecting user privacy. Their proposal was selected by BBVA AI Factory in the framework of the University of Navarra’s SofIA startup accelerator program.

Türkiye's Garanti BBVA recently launched a redesigned website, with a simpler and more user-friendly interface and enhanced user experience. The bank's website is one of the most used channels for customers to get useful information.

BBVA will execute the final tranche of its share buyback program for a maximum amount of €1 billion, starting on July 1, 2022. The Group also announced that it will apply hyperinflationary accounting in Türkiye, effective January 1, 2022. Finally BBVA reaffirms its financial goals for 2024.

BBVA Mexico announced the placement of its first sustainable bond for 10 billion pesos (approximately €470 million). It is the first sustainable bond issued by a privately-owned bank in Mexico, using the TIIE  (Interbank Equilibrium Interest Rate) as a benchmark rate.

The strategic agreement with Genesys®, a leader in cloud customer experience orchestration, is enabling BBVA to introduce the advantages of cloud computing in its centers in Spain and Latin America. Both entities are already working together to migrate remote customer care services in these regions, where they have been able to reduce waiting times, thus improving customer satisfaction levels through BBVA’s use of the Genesys Cloud CX™ solution.

BBVA joins the global initiative the Task Force on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) Forum. BBVA is the first Spanish bank to join thisworking group, which already includes more than 400 entities, organizations orregulators around the world.

This Monday, Carlos Torres Vila opened the 39th APIE Seminar in Santander, together with Nadia Calviño, the first Vice President of the Spanish government and Minister of Economic Affairs and Digital Transformation. The BBVA Chair said that “private investment will be fundamental to the decarbonization of the planet.” In this regard, he believes authorities play a crucial role in building “confidence, with certainty regarding the regulatory framework, the rules of the game, budgetary and fiscal stability, and competitiveness.”

Grupo DEME, a marine engineering company with a global presence, signed a €20 million sustainable financing agreement with BBVA. The loan is part of an extensive financing package that will enable the Belgian group to finance further investments in its dredging and environmental activities. Based in Zwijndrecht (Belgium) with over 5,200 employees worldwide, the company is reinforcing its commitment to sustainability and the environment.

Carlos Torres Vila emphasized the power of research, innovation and education to tackle the great challenges facing humanity, such as the COVID-19 pandemic and the environmental deterioration, during his speech at the 14th BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Awards ceremony.

After receiving the authorization of Spain’s National Commission for Markets and Competition (CNMC in Spanish), BBVA finalized the purchase of Tree Inversiones Inmobiliarias SOCIMI from Merlin Properties. The company has 662 offices rented to BBVA.

Garanti BBVA has funded Tosyalı Roof solar power plant project with a loan of 400 million Turkish lira. The deal demonstrates the bank's ongoing support for sustainable development.

Victoria del Castillo Marchese has been the Head of Strategy and M&A at BBVA since December 2018. Prior to this, she held a variety of different roles at the bank, where she began working in 2001. She was recently interviewed by the media outlet Capital & Corporate, where she recalled that “one of BBVA’s priorities is profitable growth” in places where the bank has a presence, such as Spain, Mexico, Turkey and South America. She also emphasized the value of the digital means of expanding the bank’s activity in other countries: “Digitization allows us to enter new markets,” she said.

During the closing day of South Summit, BBVA revealed that it is preparing a complete range of financial services adapted to the different stages of growth of startups and scaleups. “We want to be the bank for high-growth companies and finance them,” said Roberto Albaladejo, Head of Banking for Growth Companies, who added that there is a “great opportunity” to help them and build “long-term relationships” with them.

Garanti BBVA is supporting an important space for women entrepreneurs in Türkiye. The bank is joining forces with the Women in Trade Platform, which was launched by KAGİDER (Women Entrepreneurs Association of Türkiye), to support women entrepreneurs who contribute to the development of the Turkish economy.

At the South Summit, BBVA presents the BBVA Virtual Space, an immersive environment with which the bank wants to explore new ways of interacting with customers through the metaverse. This development, which allows experimenting how a banking service based on virtual reality could be, is also the protagonist of a 'hackathon' in which people are invited to offer new features or virtual experiences.

BBVA Mexico’s Annual Meeting of Regional Advisors (RNCR 2022) is a forum where leading BBVA Group executives present and discuss the bank’s performance, projects and future challenges. The meeting provides an opportunity for dialogue on the international context and political situation of the country.

80 percent of BBVA personnel (87,000 employees) in all countries where the bank has a presence have received sustainability training, specifically on climate action and inclusive growth - two pillars of the bank’s sustainability strategy. They have spent an average of 3.5 hours per person in the training.

Garanti BBVA recently renewed its syndicated loan with international markets. The agreement was signed with 30 banks from 16 countries for $594 million, and consists of two separate tranches of $283.5 million and €290.5 million, respectively, and a one year maturity.

Garanti BBVA is supporting a WWF Turkey program that aims to protect nature by helping to fight forest fires. The WWF Fire Management Grant Program provides local civil society groups financial and technical support to implement the projects they develop related to forest fires.

Garanti BBVA recently completed its first derivative transaction linked to environmental, social and governance (ESG) criteria with Bank of America.

Garanti BBVA acted as main sponsor of Harvard Business Review Turkey's Sustainability Summit held last week, where business leaders and experts discussed various approaches to understanding, internalizing and focusing on sustainability.