BBVA CEO Carlos Torres Vila explained this morning that “the customer will be the biggest winner” in the transformation that the banking sector is going through. BBVA is “redefining its value proposal, determined to become a better bank for our customers,” he explained in the 13th Meeting on the Financial Sector, organized by Deloitte together with ABC and Sociedad de Tasación. “We have the opportunity to make a positive impact on the life of people, helping them manage their finances and meet their lifetime goals”.

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.

BBVA Colombia is 60 years old: six decades dedicated to promote economic growth. We review its history from the livestock fairs, the first office and its growth par with the needs of Colombian people, to become a model of innovation in the financial sector.

It’s been over 20 years since we first landed in Colombia, drawn by the enormous potential of the country, in what after years of hard work has been proven to be a more than successful bet. A bet we stand by and renew every day, a commitment to the millions of Colombians that get up every day to kick-start a country that, without a doubt, is in the spotlight.

“Everledger is a digital, global ledger that tracks and protects items of value… and it’s on the blockchain.” Nearly seven months have passed since Everledger CEO and founder Leanne Kemp used this pitch to explain Everledger at the BBVA Open Talent 2015 Europe finals. After winning the European title of BBVA’s startup contest, Everledger has continued its hard work and achieved several major accomplishments, including moving into new areas like fine art and ethical supply chain finance – with more on the way. [Just as of last week, Everledger was included in the prestigious ranking The FinTech 50 of 2016]

In 2015, green bond issues totaled 41.3 billion dollars, 15% more than the volume issued in 2014. The main issue currencies are the U.S. dollar and the euro, along with a very small proportion of other currencies which development banks are testing in their capital market development programs. BBVA Global Markets Research estimates that in 2016 these issues will reach at least 50 billion dollars, on a global basis.

BBVA launched today successfully its fourth issue of contingent convertible bonds, also known as CoCos (Additional Tier 1) for €1bn. With this issue, BBVA completes the 1.5% that can be computed as Additional Tier 1 Capital according to applicable regulations (CRD IV).

A concept under constant discussion in the corporate world, innovation remains unfinished business for many companies. Despite investing enormous amounts of time and money, innovation frequently fails, making it a frustrating pursuit for many companies. It is no easy task and even less so if innovation is not integrated in the company’s over-arching strategy.