BBVA has chosen Amazon Web Services, Inc. (AWS), an Amazon.com, Inc. company (NASDAQ: AMZN), to take the most sophisticated operations of the Corporate and Investment Banking area (BBVA CIB) to the cloud. Specifically, the new platform provides greater computing power to make calculations related to financial markets faster, more accurate and more efficient.

The three award-winning scientists “have expanded knowledge of the evolutionary importance of behavior as a driver of animal survival, reproduction and adaptation,” and have demonstrated the need to incorporate social interactions into species conservation plans, according to the committee of the BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award in the Ecology and Conservation Biology category.

BBVA Chair Carlos Torres Vila spoke of the vital role that banks play in the economy when presenting the 2022 results. “Banks act as catalysts of activity by granting credit to the real economy,” he said. “This may be banks’ greatest contribution to society,” he added. In this regard, he underlined that in 2022, the BBVA Group granted nearly €200 billion in new financing to businesses. At the press conference, BBVA CEO Onur Genç also shared the bank’s outlook for 2023.

Türkiye Garanti Bankası A.Ş., Garanti BBVA, announced its financial results for the year ending on December 31, 2022. The bank’s net income stood at TL 58.51 billion, while asset size was TL 1.3 trillion.

The 2023 Bloomberg Gender Equality Index measures companies’ commitment and transparency in the presentation and monitoring of gender data. BBVA is listed on this benchmark index for the sixth year in a row with a score that is above the average for all companies; above the average for companies in the finance sector; and above the average for Spanish companies.

Jose Luis Elechiguerra, Global Head of Engineering at BBVA, faces 2023 with a focus on continuing to evolve the technology platform to provide new capabilities that allow us to offer the best solutions to customers. To do this, he maintains his commitment to disruptive technologies such as the cloud, artificial intelligence, big data or biometrics, without losing sight of the digital regulatory framework, as he mentioned in the CIO Spain interview.

In 2022, digitization continued to be a priority for regulators on a global level, and 2023 is expected to be just as intense in the regulation of digital issues, with a focus on open finance and digital assets.

The BBVA Foundation awarded the Frontiers of Knowledge Award in Biomedicine in this fifteenth edition to David Baker, Demis Hassabis and John Jumper “for their contributions to the use of artificial intelligence for the accurate prediction of the three-dimensional structure of proteins.” In the words of the committee, the winners achieved an advance with huge biomedical potential for the development of new treatments against multiple conditions.

The impact of the war in Ukraine on global inflation and growth has been the recurring theme of this latest edition of the Davos Forum 2023, organized by the World Economic Forum (WEF). From January 16-20, and under the heading, ‘Cooperation in a fragmented world’, political, business and intellectual leaders debated the critical turning point at which the world finds itself, following the double impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine. Despite the prevailing economic uncertainty, attendees showed some signs of optimism for 2023, as the latest data, especially on prices, are better than expected.

Sustainability and with it inclusive growth are at the center of Garanti BBVA's strategy. As part of its efforts, the bank continues to support the EU Green Deal harmonization process in Türkiye, hosting a themed program of events titled ‘Sustainable Future in Exports.’

Garanti BBVA customers are now able to use the Garanti BBVA mobile app and Internet Banking to access information from their accounts at other banks. The regulation of open banking has made this a possibility. Customers can view their account activity and balances without having to log into each bank separately, and can even transfer money between accounts.

After a 2022 shaped by the developments in the Basel III framework, post-COVID regulation or the first European banking climate stress tests, 2023 is looking set to be a key year in terms of digital regulation. Thus, the regulatory framework for cryptoassets and the digital euro will be two of the major issues on the agenda in the coming months. There are also expectations that the Basel III regulation will be finalized, that progress will continue to be made in sustainability and that proposals will be presented in Europe to improve the crisis management framework.

Many would agree that the sustainable finance regulatory agenda has been increasingly growing in both intensity and complexity over the last few years. We hope that 2023 will be the year in which this regulatory framework is consolidated, all the pieces fit together, and the inconsistencies found are corrected.

Paleoclimatologists James Zachos (University of California at Santa Cruz, USA) and Ellen Thomas (Yale University and Wesleyan University, USA) identified an anomalous episode  in the planet’s history in which massive emissions of CO2 into the atmosphere occurred, causing a global temperature rise of between 5 and 6 ºC and a massive extinction of species in the deep ocean, which has provided “a very valuable analogy of anthropogenic climate change”, according to the jury of the BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award in Climate Change.

BBVA launched a 4.5-year covered bond today, which raised proceeds of €1.5 billion. The initial offered pricing (mid-swap rate plus 32 basis points) was lowered to the mid-swap rate plus 27 basis points thanks to strong demand of €3 billion. The issue will be listed on the Madrid market under Spanish law. This is the bank’s first issuance of this kind of debt since November 2016.

BBVA has reached an agreement with BAC Credomatic that will benefit clients of both banks, thanks to wider geographical coverage for their cash management operations. Companies using BBVA Pivot will be able to make payments and transfers with their subsidiaries, customers and suppliers in six new Central American countries from the same cash management solution, which will now integrate BAC accounts as if they were BBVA's. Just one year after its launch, Pivot already has 1,500 clients and expects to reach a transaction volume of 680 billion euros by the end of 2022.

The growing demand for digital financial services around the world has brought with it an increase in exposure to digital crime and fraud. With 47.8 million digital customers worldwide, BBVA has put its customers' protection and trust as a fundamental pillar of its strategy to combat this situation. In 3 years, the bank has managed to prevent up to 75% of fraud, strengthening customer protection.

The bank organized a variety of different volunteer programs in December in every country where it has a presence. Over 1,100 volunteers participated in 36 charitable activities, which primarily entailed collecting food and toys and supporting underprivileged groups.

The world's leading recruiter PageGroup. which operates globally as Michael Page, Page Personnel, Page Executive and Page Outsourcing, has signed an £80 million sustainability Club Deal facility led by BBVA. The new financing will support PageGroup in pursuing a twofold objective: to fight climate change and contribute to gender equality. BBVA has been mandated as sole sustainability coordinator in this transaction, in which HSBC also participated, with each entity providing £40 million in sustainable financing.

This Tuesday, BBVA launched an 8-year senior non-preferred debt issue, maturing in January 2031, with a redemption option in the seventh year. The exit rate is MS+190/195bps. This is the Group's first issue in 2023.

In times of uncertainty, innovation has the potential to change the stakes in favour of humanity. From more sustainable solutions in nutrition or energy to revolutionary applications of neuroengineering, the technological trends that will shape 2023 are set to provide answers to major global challenges. With the help of futurists and experts, BBVA Spark, BBVA's unit focused on helping high-growth companies, selects five technologies that will have a decisive impact in the coming months.

“It's the determined action in the countries where this foundation is present, and above all, the real transformation in so many peoples' lives, that urge us to hope and strengthens us,” Her Majesty said during the ceremony held to celebrate the 15th anniversary of the BBVA Microfinance Foundation (BBVAMF). BBVA Chair Carlos Torres Vila said, "in recent years the Microfinance Foundation has made a commendable effort to bring digitalization and connectivity to microentrepreneurs and their communities, as a driver of development and a gateway to opportunities." The event also served as the occasion to premiere the documentary 'After the Rain,' a tribute to the courage and resilience of the more than six million vulnerable people that the Foundation has supported over these past fifteen years.

BBVA sees the challenge of diversity as one of the most important strategic pillars of its corporate culture and a wealth to be promoted. To this end, BBVA Switzerland is joining the Group's diversity and equality initiatives with a new project with WeBloom, a Swiss organization dedicated to diversity, inclusion and sustainability in science and technology.

Garanti BBVA was once again included in CDP’s global ‘A list’ for its climate change program thanks to the bank’s sustainability efforts, especially in climate change and inclusive growth. CDP’s climate change program is considered one of the world’s most important reporting platforms. Garanti BBVA has been reporting to the organization’s climate change program, and the public, since 2009, and to the CDP water program since 2015. The bank continues to be the main support of CDP in Türkiye.

For the eighth consecutive year, BBVA's Turkish unit is the only company from Türkiye to be included in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI). The bank has made it into the DJSI Emerging Markets category every year since 2015, and this year repeated its success with a record score of 82 points, the sixth-highest among global financial institutions.

For the third consecutive year, BBVA obtained the highest score in the European banks category, and the second highest score globally in the latest Dow Jones Sustainability Index - the benchmark global reference for sustainability. The annual analysis was published on December 9th, and included a total of 25 banks this year.

On Thursday, BBVA CEO Onur Genç was recognized by the Spanish-Turkish Chamber of Commerce in the professional merit category for his career at the bank. At the awards ceremony, Genç reviewed BBVA's role as a link between markets as important as Latin America and Spain and a country with as much potential as Turkey.

At the 18th edition of the ‘IMI Conference Turkish Contact Center Awards’, Garanti BBVA was recently presented the award for the ‘Best Digital Solution’. The event was held as part of the Turkey Communication Center Days. All sectors using call center services participated in the competition.

The British publication, which is part of the Financial Times group, selected the BBVA Group as the Global Bank of the Year. The Banker also recognized BBVA as the Best Bank in Western Europe, Spain, Peru and Colombia. The magazine pointed to the Group’s strong financial fundamentals and innovation and sustainability strategies, which put it ahead of its peers.

The BBVA Board of Directors approved Wednesday the bank adhering to the measures included in the new  Code of Good Practice (CBP in Spanish) to help customers at risk of vulnerability with mortgages, as well as the expansion of the Code of Good Practice, which has been in force since 2012.

BBVA's CEO, Onur Genç, said Monday that he is very satisfied with the performance of the digital bank's business and customer acquisition in Italy, one year after its launch. “We expect to end the year with 160,000 customers, almost triple the initial forecasts,” he said during his presentation at the XIII Encuentro Financiero Expansión KPMG.

Garanti BBVA, the BBVA Group’s Turkish franchise,  integrates climate change and inclusive growth within its core strategies. In line with that commitment, Garanti BBVA has launched a program of events called 'Sustainable Future in Exports' to support Türkiye’s adaptation to the European Green Deal and pave the way to sustainable investment. At the first event, held on November 23, 2022 at Fişekhane Istanbul, the bank explained the European Green Deal and the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) to the sectors and institutions–especially SMEs–that will be affected by the new rules governing exports to the EU.

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.