Communications

BBVA became the Official Bank of the NBA in 2010. The Group selected two of the league’s biggest stars, Kevin Durant and James Harden, as the bank’s global brand ambassadors.

BBVA has agreed to acquire an additional 14.89% of Turkiye Garanti Bankasi from its partner Dogus Group for a maximum of 5.57 billion Turkish lira (€1.99 billion1). It thus becomes the leading shareholder in Turkey’s biggest bank by market capitalization. After the transaction BBVA’s holding in Garanti will be 39.9% and Dogus will remain as a key shareholder with 10%. The acquisition strengthens BBVA’s commitment to Turkey, which is an emerging market with huge potential, and it will boost BBVA Group profit by more than €250 million in 2016.

The British magazine Euromoney has published an extensive article on BBVA and its leadership in the transformation of the financial industry. Under the title "Francisco González, the digital banker", Euromoney describes the bank’s transformation, and takes a look at the BBVA Group’s strategy of the last few years to become a leader in digital banking.

Spain has gone from being “a seriously ill patient and a source of contagion for the rest of the euro zone” to implementing “one of the most vigorous reform programs,” in the words of Francisco González. Thanks to the reforms undertaken, “Spain is well positioned to register sustainable growth over the next few years,” he said at the UMIP/APIE course today.

BBVA Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Jaime Sáenz de Tejada has been named the best CFO in Europe. There were a total of  100 participants in this category. Likewise, Mr. Sáenz de Tejada has been voted the leading CFO in the European banking sector, out of a total of 93 banks, and first in Spain, a category with 47 participants.

The Roca brothers, ambassadors of the BBVA brand, accepted the accolade at The World's 50 Best Restaurants awards held last night in London. Joan, Josep and Jordi will be in Buenos Aires with BBVA on August 1 to launch their second gastronomic tour, which will see them travel through Argentina, the United States and Turkey over the summer. The Turkish capital of Istanbul will also provide the ideal backdrop for filming of The Turkish Way, the second part of their 'Cooking Up a Tribute' documentary.

BBVA Bancomer today announced that it has appointed Eduardo Osuna Osuna as its new general manager, replacing Vicente Rodero Rodero, who, since October 1, 2012, has been the vice chairman of the Board of Directors and the bank’s general manager.

The Board of Directors of BBVA named Carlos Torres Vila president & COO at a meeting held today in Madrid, replacing Ángel Cano. The Board also approved a new organizational structure that puts digital transformation at the center of the strategy to accelerate its execution, while creating a function with the sole mission of managing the countries’ networks and operations to enhance results.

Buenos Aires in Argentina; Miami, Birmingham and Houston in the United States; and Istanbul in Turkey are, in that order, the chosen cities for this second BBVA-El Celler de Can Roca tour. For 5 weeks, the Roca brothers and 40 members of staff from their restaurant will embark on a journey that will take them from the south to the north of the American continent, moving on to the Atlantic and the Mediterranean until reaching the city that joins Europe with Asia: Istanbul.

Today, BBVA held its Annual Shareholders’ Meeting in Bilbao. In their speeches, the Chairman and CEO, Francisco González, and the President and COO, Ángel Cano, recapped the milestones of 2014 and outlined BBVA’s strategy going forward. “No one stands where we do, and we are doing what no one else is. We are building the best digital bank of the 21st century.” With these remarks on BBVA’s digital transformation, Francisco González opened his annual speech to the bank’s shareholders.

The acceleration of economic activity, the decline in oil prices and the monetary policy of the ECB are the main factors underlying the revision. This growth will allow one million jobs to be created in two years, and the unemployment rate to be reduced to around 20%.

BBVA will make an initial donation of 1.5 million euros, and then match donors' contributions up to an additional 1.5 million euros. All the funds collected will go to social and employment projects run by the Spanish Red Cross, the Food Bank and Cáritas

In an interview on Onda Cero radio today, the chairman & CEO of BBVA, Francisco González, said, “Turkey will be one of the bank’s best investments in the future.” BBVA announced an agreement last week to become a leading shareholder in Garanti, the largest Turkish bank in terms of market capitalization.

he National Basketball Association (NBA) and BBVA today announced an extension of their marketing partnership, cementing the global financial services group’s role as the Official Bank of the NBA, the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) and the NBA Development League (NBA D-League).

BBVA Ventures, the corporate venture arm of BBVA Group that invests in disruptive startups in the financial services industry, announced today that it has made an investment in Taulia, a San Francisco-based company that is digitizing the traditional supply chain finance process with its cloud-based platform.

At a meeting today in Paris BBVA Chairman Francisco González emphasized that “financial literacy should be promoted in all stages of life, starting with the very young, and it should form part of educational curricula.” During the launch of the OECD PISA report on financial literacy, he pointed out that “financial education is a priority in our Responsible Business Plan” and added that “about 2.4 million people –customers and non-customers- have benefited from our educational programs.” Since 2010 BBVA has helped the OECD with funding for the PISA report on the financial literacy shown by 15-year-old students from 18 countries.

Carlos Soria once again made history by becoming the oldest person to reach the summit of the third highest mountain on the planet. The BBVA Expedition managed to reach the Kanchenjunga peak (8,586 meters) this morning at 9:05 a.m. (5:20 a.m. Spanish time). The team, tired but in good condition, have contacted Base Camp. "This is everyone's summit," the mountain climber from Ávila said. The BBVA Expedition is now resting, back at Camp III (7,550 meters).

BBVA Compass brand ambassador Kevin Durant will take to the court tonight in the second round of the NBA Playoffs with a brand-new honorific: the 2013-2014 Kia NBA Most Valuable Player.

Francisco González, the president of BBVA, presented the book “Ch@nge in Madrid. 19 fundamental essays on how the Internet is changing our lives", along with Federico Casalegno, director of MIT Mobile Experience Lab (USA) and Lucien Engelen, director of Regional Acute Healthcare Network, of the Radboud University Medical Centre (Holland), two of the book's authors.

Francisco González, chairman & CEO of BBVA, presented the book Change: 19 Key Essays on How the Internet Is Changing Our Lives Wednesday afternoon at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Media Lab. The book, which compiles the views of distinguished specialists from various fields of knowledge, is the sixth edition of an annual series published by BBVA that explores the key issues of our age.

BBVA is working on new and enhanced channels to offer customers an easier way to communicate with the bank, offering a seamless experience tailored to their needs. BBVA attaches great importance to the development and application of new technologies to help it innovate in the market. BBVA is a global bank present in more than 30 countries and offers solutions tailored to the needs of each one.

During the grand opening Wednesday of BBVA Compass Plaza in Houston, BBVA Chairman and CEO Francisco González recounted the Group franchise’s trajectory in America. "Over the last years, BBVA Compass has integrated all our U.S. acquisitions into one single franchise. It has strengthened its risk management systems and has changed its business model into a truly customer-oriented one".

The BBVA Group acquires Unnim Banc after winning a competitive auction held by Spain’s Fund for Orderly Banking Restructuring (or FROB). BBVA improves its coverage in Catalonia through an operation that has no relevant impact on liquidity or capital, and with contained risk.

BBVA Francés announced today the signing of two sponsorship agreements with which it will become a strategic sponsor of the Argentine football clubs Boca Junior and River Plate.

BBVA Compass announced today that it has signed an agreement to become an official partner of the Dallas Mavericks. BBVA Compass has 110 banking centers in the Metroplex and ranks as the fourth largest bank in the Dallas-Ft. Worth metropolitan area based on deposit market share. With operations throughout seven states in the Sunbelt Region, BBVA Compass ranks among the top 20 largest financial institutions in the United States and the fourth largest bank in Texas.

BBVA presented the project for its new Madrid headquarters today at an act attended by city mayor, Alberto Ruiz Gallardón, and the Bank's Chairman & CEO, Francisco González. The new complex will be located in Las Tablas, a fast-growing area in the north of the capital city. It will be ready by 2011 to receive the first employees. Sustainability and innovation are key aspects of this project, which has been created by architects Herzog & de Meuron.

BBVA announced the launch of BBVA tú cuentas today, a personal money management solution that will revolutionize the way users manage their finances and make decisions in banking. The new tool, which has been developed by BBVA and Strands, Inc. will be launched in beta format and, this autumn, will be made available to BBVA's 4.1 million online banking customers through the Group's network.