Climate change is one of the greatest problems facing humanity. Abrupt temperature changes, famine, disease and floods are all evidence that changes in the climate are not a myth. The consequences could get worse if we do not manage to reduce the greenhouse effect, as Matthew Liao warns in his book The Next Step: Exponential Life. It can be downloaded at no charge on BBVA’s website for the OpenMind project.
Sustainability and Responsible Banking
Sustainability and Responsible Banking
Hurricane Harvey slammed into the South Texas coast in late August, bringing with it historic and unprecedented flooding and leaving a path of destruction in its wake, the exact toll of which will take weeks, months and likely even years to determine.
BBVA Compass, with nearly a quarter of its branches located in South Texas and its holding company headquarters located in Houston, felt the full force of Harvey’s lashing, with employees’ personal lives impacted, administrative buildings closed, branches closed and some flooded and ATMs knocked offline. But, as one of the top 25 largest U.S. commercial banks based on deposit market share, it was critical that operations continued with minimal interruption to serve all communities and clients.
The possibility of using blockchain technology to monitor the origin of a product or to record intangibles, such as hours worked, opens up a new field that could revolutionize the concept of Corporate Social Responsibility. In this new post on #RevoluciónBlockchain, Iñigo Molero invites you to imagine the uses for a new mechanism to guarantee and give authenticity to companies’ social commitments.
BBVA Compass, whose holding company is headquartered in Houston and which has a significant presence in the city, announced today that its foundation will donate $250,000 to the American Red Cross and the Hurricane Harvey Relief Fund to aid disaster recovery efforts in Texas. The bank also plans to raise, online and at its branches, up to $250,000 in employee and customer contributions to the two organizations for a total contribution of up to $500,000.
Due to the ever-growing demand for green products and services, eco-friendly companies are starting to pursue business opportunities in the Spanish economic landscape. These companies are committed to the generation of sustainable wealth and respect for the environment.
Garanti Bank believes that for any economy to achieve further growth, the participation of women in the labor force is crucial. Women must be encouraged to be entrepreneurs, and women- owned businesses must be supported. Garanti took action in 2006, becoming the first private bank to define women entrepreneurs as a separate client segment. "To empower women entrepreneurs", Garanti Bank has had a sustainable Women Entrepreneurs program over a decade. In this respect, the activities focus on four core areas; access to finance, encouragement, education and penetrating new markets.
BBVA has signed a 240 million euro sustainable loan in favor of the Autonomous Community of Madrid, the first loan of this kind granted by the bank to an autonomous region in Spain.
BBVA has signed the first green loan in the project finance format with the Italian energy company Terna. The funding has been structured into a loan A for 56 million dollars awarded by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and a loan B for 25 million dollars entirely subscribed by BBVA, which has also headed the green structuring of the funding and acted as the Green Loan Coordinator.
Thanks to blockchain, ten-thousand Syrian refugees in Jordan were able to receive humanitarian help faster and more efficiently. The technology’s humanitarian applications will yield advantages that far exceed those of current protocols.
Euromoney has chosen BBVA as the best bank for transaction business and Corporate Social Responsibility in Latin America in the 2017 edition of its Awards for Excellence. The prestigious international magazine has also recognized BBVA Bancomer as the best bank in Mexico. In a ceremony held last night in London, Euromoney recognized the institution’s work in Latin America and Mexico, which have been key markets for the group for decades.