Luisa Gómez Bravo, Global Head of BBVA Corporate & Investment Banking, is in attendance at the World Economic Forum held in the Swiss city of Davos and was one of the speakers at a round table on the mergers and acquisitions market titled 'Will the M&A Boom Last?'. After a record year of M&A deals in 2021, the current economic scenario augurs a decline in this market, due to its high exposure to the international geopolitical context. Even so, mergers and acquisitions continue to offer great opportunities in infrastructure, ESG projects and investment in real assets.

Remote commerce has grown exponentially in recent years, a trend that has been driven by the pandemic. During lockdowns, ecommerce skyrocketed and payments via apps and cell phones grew at a dizzying rate. On top of this, new technologies were already favoring the emergence of new, more convenient payment methods and boosting e-commerce.

BBVA Chair Carlos Torres Vila announced today at the Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos that BBVA and the Edison Alliance are joining forces with the BBVA Microfinance Foundation's commitment to contribute to the digital inclusion of vulnerable populations in Latin America.

In an organization as large and diverse as BBVA, with more than 110,000 employees in 25 countries, we are bound to encounter different family models that go beyond the one formed by two adults of different sex and one or more children. To better understand each type of family and their specific needs, the bank has created a guide to make that diversity visible. “We want to raise awareness that there are other family models besides the conventional one. At BBVA every family has their place, and we are under a duty to be aware of the needs and specific features of each one,” explains José Antonio Gallego, Diversity Discipline Leader at BBVA.

The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has just published the Private Philanthropy for Development statistics detailing the contribution of the 40 largest foundations in the world. For the third consecutive year, the BBVA Microfinance Foundation (BBVAMF) is the second worldwide and the first in Latin America.

BBVA’s Turkish unit consolidates its lead in innovative digital payment solutions by adding a new dimension to card transactions with digital receipts, a first in the Turkish banking sector.

As a result of the voluntary takeover bid for the 50.15 percent that BBVA did not own in Garanti BBVA, the Group acquired shares of its Turkish unit, which account for 36.12 percent of its social capital, reaching a total stake of 85.97 percent.

BBVA has placed €1.75 billion in a 3.5-year senior preferred debt issue, maturing in November 2025. The high demand made the issuance of two tranches possible, one with a fixed coupon, of which 1.25 billion was placed, and the other at a variable rate, with a placement of 500 million.

BBVA has acted as sole sustainability coordinator to the British construction and consultancy giant Mace which will allow them to formalise their sustainability financing criteria. The company linked two finance facilities to social and environmental KPIs.

Over 2.9 billion people around the world have never used the internet. Whether through lack of infrastructure or gaps in learning, unequal access to ICTs (also known as the digital divide) is an obstacle to development. We explore what options are available to heal the wound that affects 37% of the world's population.

BBVA mobilized €10.81 billion in sustainable financing between January and March, 2022, up 26% from the previous quarter, making it a quarter record. In total, BBVA has mobilized €96.7 billion in sustainable financing between 2018 and 2022’s first quarter.

BBVA CEO Onur Genç stated that “BBVA has a competitive advantage” in the context of digital acceleration resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. “Digitization boosts our business,” he said during his presentation at the 17th Banking Industry Meeting organized by IESE in Madrid. In March 2022, BBVA added 90,000 new customers in Spain - the largest monthly figures in its history. Over half (52.25 percent) of these customers reached the bank through digital channels.

Garanti BBVA recently launched a new tool to allow customers to view their carbon footprint. The new feature on the Garanti BBVA mobile app calculates their carbon emissions based on utility and fuel expenditures, and aims to contribute to a more sustainable world, and the climate crisis.

In January 2022, the European Central Bank (ECB) launched the first stress test for European banks using climate criteria. Ana Rubio, the Head of Financial Regulation at BBVA, and Antoni Ballabriga, the Global Head of Responsible Business at the bank, help us to better understand exactly what these tests are.

At the presentation of results for the first quarter, BBVA's CEO, Onur Genç, said the bank sees an improved outlook for Spain and Mexico in 2022, "thanks to better-than-expected business dynamics." He pointed out that business dynamics are "highly positive" in all geographies.

As part of Garanti BBVA’s commitment to support Turkey's fight against climate change, the bank has signed an agreement with energy company ABB to promote rapid charging stations for electric vehicles.

BBVA's environmental footprint has decreased considerably in the past two years. In 2021, energy consumption per employee was 14% lower than in 2019, water consumption was 5% lower and paper consumption was 32% lower. Net waste per employee dropped by 52% over the same period.

BBVA Mexico and Liga BBVA MX today announced the signing of a two-year sponsorship agreement for the BBVA MX, Expansión BBVA MX and BBVA MX Femenil leagues and junior tournaments. The goal is to continue strengthening Mexican soccer and its players and teams by promoting the values of this sport and conveying them to the fans: effort, teamwork, perseverance, self-improvement and fair play.

On April 21, 2021, 43 financial institutions from around the world formed the Net Zero Banking Alliance (NZBA).   BBVA now celebrates its first anniversary as a founding member by leading progress in the financial sector toward a more sustainable world.

Garanti BBVA reported its financial results for the first quarter of 2022, posting a net income of TL 8.26 billion, and TL 953.35 billion in assets. Garanti BBVA CEO Recep Baştuğ called attention to the bank’s performance in lending, with the loan portfolio soaring 17 percent to TL 309 billion. “It was a quarter in which we gained market share from the sector in both TL and foreign currency loans, and we are the leader in consumer loans among private banks,” he said. The bank provided a total of TL 712.12 billion in cash and non-cash loans.

BBVA's Board of Directors has agreed to increase the price offered for each share of the 50.15 percent of Garanti BBVA, from the initially announced (12.20 Turkish lira) to 15 Turkish lira.

BBVA’s donation drive in Spain among its employees, customers and non-customers has already collected two million euros, in addition to the bank’s own contribution of one million euros. Nearly 50,000 donors have joined this campaign in aid of Ukraine.

BBVA will invest a total of 15 million euros in Leadwind, a venture capital fund managed by K Fund. In this first phase, the fund will raise 140 million euros to support technology companies in Spain, Portugal and Latin America.

The bank becomes the first financial institution in the world to share its cybersecurity knowledge with society through Coursera, a learning platform with 97 million registered students. As experts in cybersecurity, BBVA's goal is to train, motivate and empower its customers, and society in general, to acquire secure behaviors to properly manage the risks posed by the digital era.

BBVA has announced a 20 million dollar investment in Lowercarbon Capital, one of the few venture capital funds specializing in innovative companies in the climate change and decarbonization fields.  This investment will focus specifically on the carbon capture sector.

Uber, Instagram, Twitter, and Google are some of the companies in which Lowercase Capital & Lowercarbon Capital's founders invested when they were startups. Chris and Crystal Sacca have invested in innovative startups for years, first in technology and more recently in the fight against climate change. As widely known investors, activists and philanthropists in the U.S., they devote a major effort to environmental protection.

The boom in cryptocurrencies, particularly in regions like Latin America, has lead numerous governments to create legislation to take advantage of the benefits and mitigate the risks. And they are not the only new alternative to cash - several central banks, including the European Central Bank, are looking into the possibility of issuing their own digital currencies. During a BBVA Open Talks event, the speakers debated how these changes will define the future of money.

Truora has raised $15 million in a series A funding round led by Propel, the fund that manages BBVA’s fintech investments, and Acel - one of the main investors in technology and the Internet. This new injection of capital will allow Truora to reinforce its expansion in Mexico with its solution to verify users through WhatsApp.

BBVA's research unit revised its Spanish GDP growth forecasts downward to 4.1% in 2022 and 3.3% in 2023 (from 5.5% and 4.9% previously). The downgrade takes account of the impact of the invasion of Ukraine, the sanctions imposed on the Russian economy, and steeply rising prices—especially for fuel and electricity—over the past few months, as indicated in the latest 'Spain Economic Outlook' report presented by Jorge Sicilia, Director of BBVA Research and BBVA Chief Economist, Rafael Doménech, Head of Economic Analysis, and Miguel Cardoso, Chief Economist for Spain.

The pandemic has shown the importance of having insurance to cover hospital expenses, temporary unemployment or death. These unexpected expenditures are a shock for people under vulnerable conditions and their household economy. Microinsurance are products tailored to address these needs and offer protection to low-income persons aiming to guarantee their well-being and security in the face of risks, all at affordable prices.

The world of medicine is experiencing an unprecedented transformation. The pandemic has highlighted the importance of digitisation and a number of different technologies are making an impression on this field, with solutions to improve both diagnosis and treatment. On the occasion of World Health Day, we're taking a close look at this wave of entrepreneurship to find out which trends and advances are leading the way in this sector.

The BBVA Foundation presented the Frontiers of Knowledge Award in Social Sciences to Mark Granovetter, “the most eminent economic sociologist in the world,” for revealing the power of “loose social ties” among individuals for people's economic and social performance.

In line with the objective of BBVA Corporate & Investment Banking objective of supporting its clients in their transformation towards more sustainable business models, BBVA is launching a new carbon markets business line that offers its corporate clients the possibility of trading emission allowances and carbon credits.

BBVA will co-chair the Climate Finance Leadership Initiative (CFLI) in Colombia, a new public-private partnership that aims to mobilize capital in support of Colombia's climate goals. The initiative will be replicated in other countries to close the climate finance gap in emerging markets.

The BBVA and Anthemis partnership led the first pre-seed funding for Wiserentr with an investment of one million euros. The Spanish startup raised a total of €1.6 million in the funding round, in which Shard Capital also participated. Its novel service reinvents the way to access high-end technology, as users pay a fixed fee throughout the time they use the electronic device. Once the set rental time has ended, it can be returned or purchased to use indefinitely.

BBVA has exercised its right of first refusal to buy back 662 branches, which it sold between 2009 and 2010 under a sale and lease back agreement to Tree Inversiones Inmobiliarias (currently owned by Merlin).