BBVA Chairman Francisco González presented the book The Search for Europe: Contrasting Approaches, a work that collects the insights of twenty-three prestigious authors from different fields of knowledge into the present and the future of Europe and its integration project, a process with far reaching consequences, for not only the lives of the Europeans, but for all the citizens of the world.  

It isn’t common to come across a 500 euro bill, but soon it will be even more difficult. The European Central Bank announced yesterday that it will stop printing these bills in 2018. Why? To help reduce possible funding sources for illegal activities.

BBVA posted a net attributable profit of €709 million in the first quarter of 2016, down 53.8% from the same period a year earlier. Quarterly results were hindered by a number of factors, including the impact of exchange rates, lower results from NTI and the lack of corporate operations. BBVA CEO Carlos Torres Vila indicated that results will continue to grow gradually throughout 2016. Below you can find the most relevant data of the quarter:

Speaking about the Group's first-quarter results, BBVA CEO Carlos Torres Vila pointed to "the solid performance of typical banking revenues." He also added that BBVA already has 15.5 million digital clients. Of these, almost 9.5 million are mobile clients."

The last week of April could mark the turning point for the signing of the TTIP, the free trade partnership between the US and Europe. Several key appointments are scheduled to take place during those days, including Obama and Merkel’s face to face meeting. All these appointments will be key for the eventual signing of the treaty in 2016.

Ciudad BBVA, the BBVA Group’s new headquarters in Madrid, today hosted the General Assembly of the Spanish Confederation of Business Organizations (CEOE in Spanish). In his presentation at the conference closure, BBVA’s Executive Chairman praised the work of Spanish businessmen and businesswomen, “Their role is very relevant and their leadership is essential to the future of Spain, even though society does not often recognize this sufficiently.”

Negotiations between Juan Manuel Santos’ government and the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC) began in 2012. Talks with the Ejército de Liberación Nacional (ELN) will start in May. It has been a long, complicated peace process. While a definitive peace agreement is still pending, the steps taken so far can be considered milestones in Colombia’s history.

Óscar Cabrera has worked for the BBVA Group since 1998 and for the past eight years has been the head of BBVA Colombia. Madrileño by birth and Colombian by adoption, he feels that finally achieving peace is one of the country’s greatest challenges.