BBVA respects freedom of the press, and rejects any practice infringing the law
In response to a statement released by three Spanish press associations, BBVA states that it deeply respects the work of the media and their important role in society, and therefore, it rejects any practice that infringes their fundamental rights, the freedom of information and the freedom of speech.
BBVA, like any company, but which is also listed and subject to stringent regulatory supervision, has the obligation to have control mechanisms in place that ensure compliance with the law and with internal procedures. That includes the duty of secrecy regarding the company’s confidential information. In the event of infringement of said obligation, the bank must launch the internal mechanisms in order to identify possible breaches. These mechanisms are perfectly legal, have their own procedures, and are described in the bank’s code of conduct and internal guidelines, which are applicable to all employees.
It is important to differentiate these control mechanisms from any illegal practice such as the monitoring of private conversations of third parties, which if true, would be a very serious matter and would have BBVA’s total rejection.