Regulations

When it comes to 21st century banking, there is no shortage of terms bandied about that those in the industry are expected to know. Among the more obtuse are those related to banking’s next frontier, open banking.

In an Op-Ed article published in the Financial Times, BBVA Group’s executive chairman Carlos Torres Vila has called on the next European Commission, which will take office in November 2019, to prioritise cross-sector data sharing regulations to fuel the fast growing digital economy.

The European Council announced this Tuesday that it has approved a series of regulatory changes previously approved by parliament, which aim “to reduce risks in the banking system.” The legislative package, known as CRD-V, revises capital requirement legislation and the recovery and resolution framework that governs financial institutions within the eurozone.

Recently Facebook's founder, Mark Zuckerberg, stated that he was going to subject his company to the standards of the new European data protection regulation that will be in force from May 25th, the GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) But, what impact will this legislation have on a technology company like Facebook? And on others?

BBVA’s digital customers are increasing in number, are more satisfied and interact more with the bank. In fact, the bank has reached its digital tipping point, at which more than 50 percent of its customers are using the bank’s digital channels in six countries (Spain, the United States, Turkey, Argentina, Chile and Venezuela). It’s a milestone that foreseeably will be reached this year by more of the countries where BBVA operates. Indeed in Davos last week, BBVA Group Executive Chairman Francisco González predicted the Group’s customer base as a whole will pass the 50 percent tipping point in 2018.

The Financial Stability Board (FSB) has just published the list of Global Systemically Important Banks (G-SIBs) for 2017.  The number of institutions remains the same, but with three significant changes. Systemic banks have a major impact on the economy, but what makes them different from the rest?

The European Commission has withdrawn its proposal for Banking Structural Reform. Although originally considered fundamental for the sector, its principal objectives have already been addressed by other measures. How should this news be taken? In a recent note, BBVA Research considers this withdrawal —after four years without much progress— to be positive, since it supposes greater regulatory certainty for banks. The BBVA Research note also underscores the negotiation of two large regulatory packages: i) the revision of the prudential banking and resolution framework for European credit institutions and ii) the finalization of the Basil III framework.

The European Commission has unveiled a plan to bolster the development of financial technology (fintech) and he creation of new tools to combat cybercrime.  According to a commission report, "European consumers, investors and businesses will benefit from stronger and more integrated financial markets."

The European Union wants to boost the level of data protection for Europeans, and to this end, it has approved the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The GDPR establishes a series of new requirements, including the mandatory designation of a Data Protection delegate within institutions and companies handling sensitive data. The delegate will be responsible for ensuring that the personal information handled by these organizations is adequately protected. BBVA has already created that post, getting ahead of the standard’s effective date.

The recent elections in Germany have ended this year’s electoral cycle in Europe. With euroscepticism weighing in at the ballot box, it’s now up to the European Union to bring its institutions closer to the continent’s citizens, according to José Manuel González-Paramo, Executive Director of BBVA, speaking at a conference on “The New Europe: Challenges and Opportunities” organized by ADEIT.

For some time now, fintech has been a buzzword in the financial industries of the United States and Asia. However, Europe has only begun to realize its importance. Are the digital initiatives in the European Union and the fintech companies up to the challenges of the new environment? That question was addressed by the experts on a panel at the Eurofi Financial Forum 2017 held recently in Tallin, capital of Estonia, which holds the currently holds the EU presidency.

The EBA recently completed its latest monitoring exercise to assess EU Banks’ capital, leverage, and liquidity ratios assuming full implementation of the CRD IV-CRR/Basel III framework.  Overall, the results show that, between June and December of 2016, there was an improvement in both CET1 capital and liquidity ratios.

The United Kingdom is not the only country that has taken firm steps in its commitment to promote and regulate the fintech sector. An increasing number of regions are joining the trend to create regulatory sandboxes, in order to accelerate innovation in their business sectors and turn themselves into international hubs.

'Regtech' is a buzzword in the banking world.  'Reg' stands for regulation and 'tech' for technology.  So, it is easy to imagine what the purpose of regtech is:  developing technologies that help banks comply with regulation in a more agile and efficient way.

Much has already been written about the use of digital tools to create new products and services in banking.  However, there is less talk of another crucial use of technology in the financial sector:  Its application in improving regulatory compliance, addressing risks related to financial stability and integrity, and consumer data protection.  It is the so-called 'regtech'.

In a boost to the future of open banking, the UK’s Bank of England has widened access to the county’s interbank payments system enabling fintech firms to compete more effectively with the large incumbent banks.

Ricardo Gómez Barredo was there for the birth of BBVA (through the merger of BBV and Argentaria), a Group he has been associated with for more than two decades.Now he is in charge of functions that are so critical to a bank like liaising with supervisors, working out financial information and reporting.Professionally, he describes himself as very demanding of himself. He thinks that the best part of his professional experience has always been “the people I’ve been lucky enough to work with”.

Ricardo Gómez Barredo, Director of Accounting & Supervisors at BBVA, indicated that “the first country that manages to balance the power of the bank regulators will be the most attractive to potential investors,” at the workshop “Madrid the financial center” last Friday. In the context of Brexit, the Spanish financial system should make the regulatory framework less complex in order to become an attractive destination for international banks.

The British fintech firm, Bud, was one of the companies the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) invited to participate in the first 'regulatory sandbox'. Jamie Campbell shared his experience in the regulation seminar organized by BBVA Bancomer and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).

BBVA is one of the 40 institutions that invested in the financial technology innovator R3, which just completed two of three tranches in its Series A fundraising round. It raised a total of 107 million. With this investment, BBVA seeks to reinforce its commitment to R3, the largest consortium of global financial institutions collaborating to develop an industry platform and commercial applications for DLT.

BBVA will be hosting the first seminar with Latin American regulators this week, during which the region’s top officials will analyze how to apply and regulate innovation in the banking services of the future.The event is organized in partnership with the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and will be held at BBVA Bancomer’s Innovation Center, Mexico City, on Tuesday and Wednesday.

BBVA has a notable presence at the B20 summit being held in Berlin. “Digital finances are making the financial inclusion of SMEs possible,” said BBVA’s Executive Director José Manuel González-Páramo during his presentation on Tuesday. Joining him in the discussion was German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble.

The interconnectedness of the world’s fintech communities was the focus of the Innovate Finance Global Summit in London last week. With more than 30 countries represented, and in excess of 2,000 people in attendance, the main topic of discussion was how these international fintech hubs could better work together.

The U.K. is convinced that London will continue to be Europe's fintech capital and a global financial center after Brexit. But other European capitals are hoping to take its place. It will all depend on the long negotiation about to begin between the EU and the U.K.

Traditionally, regulation and supervision have played a key role in developing the banking sector. They have ensured its stability and solvency, the protection of its consumers and the improvement of its efficiency. Now, regulatory and supervisory authorities are faced with an additional challenge: to draw up a regulatory framework that achieves the right balance between promoting new digital value propositions and protecting against the risks inherent to the digitalization of financial services.

Europe must press forward even more urgently with its key financial reforms to face current challenges with more resilience, said BBVA’s Executive Board Director José Manuel González-Páramo this morning at a conference in Rome.

One of the keys to success for an API platform is that it needs to be an independent business, set up to encourage financial innovation, according to Shamir Karkal, BBVA’s Head of Open APIs.

Europe has taken a giant leap forward to keep taxpayers from footing bailout bills in the future. Last week, the European Commission unveiled a regulatory package which, among other measures, envisaged the revision of the resolution framework for institutions. The proposal represents a new leap towards the goal of ensuring that banks allocate the right amount of resources to absorb eventual losses, even bail-out themselves, without resorting to public funding. It will also help European banks boost the amount of high-quality capital in their balance sheets.