Carlos Torres Vila hailed the transformative, unifying power of science and culture at the ceremony for the 18th BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Awards. At a time marked by complexity and uncertainty, the President of the BBVA Foundation reminded the audience that progress springs from human creativity, from rigor, and from collaboration between people, disciplines and countries.

Speaking at the American Banker Digital Banking Conference in Orlando, BBVA's Global Head of Sustainability and Corporate & Investment Banking shared his perspective on how digital money, artificial intelligence and interoperability are reshaping financial services.

Garanti BBVA has renewed its syndicated loan under its foreign funding program in line with its Sustainable Debt Financing Framework. The transaction includes sustainability-themed tranches designed to support a clean and just transition in Türkiye, making it the bank’s first thematic syndicated loan.

BBVA Germany is launching its first credit card for customers in Germany in partnership with Mastercard. This new card is free for active users and offers an initial six-month fee-free trial period for new cardholders to experience its benefits without a fee, while delivering state-of-the-art security features and no foreign exchange fees (FX) worldwide. The launch highlights what sets BBVA apart from other digital banks: leveraging the scale and expertise of the BBVA Group, one of the largest banking groups in the world.

BBVA placed €2.25 billion in a dual-tranche euro-denominated covered bond issuance on Tuesday. In the first tranche, with a three-year maturity, BBVA placed €1.25 billion at a price of mid-swap + 14 basis points (compared with initial price guidance of mid-swap + 20 basis points). In the second tranche, with a seven-year maturity, BBVA placed €1 billion at a price of mid-swap + 27 basis points (compared with initial price guidance of mid-swap + 34 basis points).

One of the main issues currently under discussion in European financial regulation is whether competitiveness objectives should be part of the purview of European regulatory and supervisory agencies, alongside their primary mandate of safeguarding financial stability. The debate has gained momentum following the UK reform introduced in 2023, which included objectives of this kind, and in tandem with the regulatory simplification efforts being championed by the European Commission. Notably, Brussels recently launched a consultation on the competitiveness of the financial industry and is expected to publish a report in the coming weeks. It is important to clarify that both the UK reform and the proposals currently on the table in the EU refer to competitiveness in a dual sense: that of the financial sector itself and that of the broader economy it helps to finance.

The Global Summit of Women 2026, supported by Garanti BBVA, brought together ministers, business leaders, investors, entrepreneurs, and opinion leaders from around the world in Istanbul. Among the speakers was Türkiye’s Minister of Treasury and Finance, Mehmet Şimşek, alongside numerous international guests.

BBVA Mexico participated as bookrunner in Grupo Carso’s bond issuance (Certificados Bursátiles) for an amount of MXN 4.5 billion, identified under ticker symbol GCARSO 26, a transaction that contributes to strengthening the financial strategy of one of Mexico’s most significant business conglomerates.

BBVA has developed a new MLOps architecture together with Amazon Web Services (AWS), integrated into ADA, the bank’s global cloud-based data and artificial intelligence platform, to accelerate the development, validation and deployment of AI models across the Group. The solution enables teams to work more autonomously, reuse common components and automate governance controls, reducing development times by up to 75% in use cases such as personalized customer recommendations and financial forecasting.

Artificial intelligence will bring about a faster and more profound transformation than the digital revolution, drastically altering customer relations, value propositions and the way organizations operate. This was the message BBVA CEO Onur Genç delivered in his presentation at the fintech conference Money2020, where he stressed that differentiation in this new era will hinge on how capable organizations are of transforming and scaling AI across their operations, an area where BBVA is already taking decisive steps.  In addition, he underscored that the bank has established a very clear roadmap to build a more personalized, accessible and proactive banking experience for its clients.

BBVA allocated €191.5 million to social programs and initiatives in 2025 globally, an increase of 7.5 percent over 2024. 7.7 million people directly benefited from these activities, which mainly focused on education, accounting for 68 percent of the total resources. These efforts aimed to facilitate access to opportunities and support people and communities in their development.

Garanti BBVA recently unveiled the exhibition ‘We’ve Been in the Future for 80 Years,’ on June 2nd at a special event for the press. The exhibition at Salt Galata chronicles the bank’s extensive journey over eight decades – from its founding in Ankara in 1946 to its current role as a driver of modern banking. Designed as an interactive, immersive experience, the exhibition aims to tell the stories of the employees, customers and stakeholders who have shaped the bank over the years.

Javier Rodríguez Soler, Global Head of Sustainability and Corporate & Investment Banking (CIB), has been named to American Banker’s inaugural “50 Most Innovative People in Finance” list. The recognition highlights his leadership in accelerating BBVA’s transformation through the integration of artificial intelligence, advanced analytics and sustainability across the bank’s global operations. American Banker also recognized BBVA’s deployment of generative AI tools and continued investment in digital banking and sustainable finance solutions.

The financial institution has been recognized in the first edition of the EPBN-WISE LGBTIQ+ Inclusion Awards as one of the European companies most firmly committed to LGBTIQ+ inclusion in the workplace. The award recognizes organizations that have implemented concrete measures to create safe, diverse, and inclusive working environments.

The AI Transformation area, which sits at the top level of the organization and will be led by Antonio Bravo combines the current Data area with critical technological capabilities to industrialize the creation, deployment and management of artificial intelligence (AI) agents across the organization. This evolution will accelerate the bank’s transformation and enable smarter, more proactive and highly personalized financial services for its customers.

BBVA and the University of Navarra have completed the first two industrial doctorates in data science under their joint program. This pioneering initiative enables working professionals to carry out advanced academic research into real challenges facing the financial sector. Both theses propose ways of developing AI models that can identify the causes behind financial decisions, not just the correlations.

Photo caption (from left to right): Paul G. Tobin, Global Head of Talent and Culture at BBVA; Paloma Grau, Vice President for Research and Sustainability at the University of Navarra; the newly awarded PhDs Paloma Marín and Jesús Renero; and Jesús López Fidalgo, Director of DATAI. / Source: University of Navarra

Twelve years after its last euro-denominated issuance, Brazil returned this year to the European market with a €5 billion sovereign transaction in which BBVA participated as bookrunner. Beyond the financing itself, the transaction represented a test for Brazilian sovereign credit: measuring the depth of investor demand, rebuilding euro benchmarks and executing with precision in an especially volatile environment.

Garanti BBVA has gone live with its BKM-integrated Request to Pay API, enabling businesses to manage collections directly from their own systems while offering customers a fast, easy, and seamless bill-payment experience. The solution was piloted in partnership with energy company Uludağ Elektrik.

BBVA consolidates its activity in sustainable financing by participating as Coordinating Lead Arranger in a USD 1,5 billion financing for Acelen Renewables, supporting the development of a renewable fuels plant in Brazil. The project, one of the most relevant sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) and Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil (HVO) initiatives in the region, is expected to accelerate the decarbonization of the aviation sector, a key challenge in the global energy transition, and marks the bank’s first global transaction in this segment.

BBVA leads the European financial sector in the latest edition of Europe's Best Employers 2026, compiled by the Financial Times and Statista. It is also the highest-ranked Spanish company on the list.

As the climate summit to be held in November 2026 draws closer, Türkiye has emerged as the leading European country in championing energy storage—a key technology for ensuring energy security and accelerating the integration of renewable energy sources. Its firm commitment to battery systems and to modernizing electricity grids has afforded the country a strategic role within the wider energy transition taking place across Europe.

BBVA Mexico has closed its first green financing transaction with TRATON Financial Services Mexico for an amount of MXN 516 million. The company will use the proceeds to support its customers in advancing freight and passenger transport with a lower environmental impact through units equipped with Euro VI engines.

Garanti BBVA scooped three awards in the Central & Eastern Europe category of the World’s Best Investment Banks 2026 Awards announced by Global Finance. The bank cemented its regional standing by performing strongly in debt capital markets and infrastructure finance, building close relationships with international investors, and successfully executing transactions.

The BBVA Group ended the first quarter of 2026 with 5.4 percent growth in financing for companies (a segment that also includes the public sector) compared to December, surpassing €280 billion. This increase, above the 4.0 percent growth of the total loan portfolio¹, reflects the momentum in the segment and reinforces companies as one of the bank’s strategic priorities.

Fitch Ratings has upgraded BBVA’s long-term issuer default rating by one notch from A- to A. This upgrade is due to a methodological change under which the agency now uses senior preferred debt, instead of senior non-preferred debt, as the reference for this rating.

BBVA´s business unit dedicated to high-growth companies has provided approximately 1 billion euros in bank financing, establishing a model that aligns with the needs of entrepreneurs.