Policy

A new toolkit designed to explain the power of artificial intelligence (AI) and to standardise its use has been launched by the World Economic Forum with help from BBVA.

The European Council meeting held on June 28 and 29 took some steps toward euro reform; conclusion of agreements will likely occur at the next meeting in December. Although it was hoped that the summit would address key questions like the budget proposed by Germany and France, ultimately the European partners chose to adopt a minimum agreement. The agreement includes measures such as support for a banking resolution fund, but the reform of the euro was deferred.

The Council of Europe will hold its June summit at a complex time with significant challenges on economic, political, and social issues. As BBVA Research points out, it also represents an opportunity to further strengthen the EU's Economic and Monetary Union. As such, the reform of the euro will be one of the decisive elements, although also one of the most controversial.

In a strong show of support Wednesday, the Senate passed a bipartisan financial regulatory reform bill by a favorable vote of 67-31.

The bill, S. 2155, the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act, includes an easing of regulations particularly for small banks, community lenders and regional banks and is widely seen as the most significant revision to financial rules since the sweeping regulatory reform known as Dodd-Frank was passed in the wake of the financial meltdown in 2010.

BBVA Compass assembled a worldly-wise panel in Houston last week to help its Global Markets clients, all of whom maintain assets outside the U.S., sort through the barrage of global economic news to better understand the risks.

Sustainable Development is essential to achieving more peaceful and just societies and the United Nations counts on the private sector to help in this effort. The BBVA Microfinance Foundation (BBVAMF) has contributed its experience in the finance sector to the report entitled “Business and SDG 16: contributing to peaceful, just and inclusive societies,” drawn up by the Sustainable Development Goals Fund and the University of Pennsylvania.

The European Union’s banking and medicine agencies are moving. This is one of the direct consequences of the United Kingdom’s approaching departure from the European Union (Brexit). On Monday, November 20th, the 27 member states will vote on which European cities will be the new home of these two agencies.

After seven years of negotiations, the Canada-Europe Trade Agreement, CETA, has entered into force provisionally.  Under this bilateral agreement, the most ambitious signed to date by Brussels, most custom duties levied on trade flows between both countries will be scrapped.

For every 100 euros European citizens earn, they pay an average of 50 euros in taxes and contributions.  Of the amount they pay in taxes, only 1 euro is devoted to financing the budget of the European Union.  Thus, in total, Europe manages a budget equivalent to 1% of the gross national income of its Member States.  However, the way this money is invested has a direct impact on the lives of Europeans.

The current climate of change inside and outside Europe has led the European Commission to reflect on the future of its public accounts.  In the document entitled  'The Future of EU finances', the Commission analyzes the current configuration of the budget and its future options. This document is part of a series of reflections brought about by the White Paper on the future of Europe, which set forth the different challenges and scenarios the EU will be facing through 2025.

Companies are facing the challenge of correctly interpreting information to create valid patterns they can apply to their businesses.

Technological capital, human capital, regulatory capital and social capital… all are dimensions that the science of economics measures and includes in its analyses. Cultural capital is not a common concept in this science, however. But Timothy Besley, Professor at the London School of Economics (LSE) feels it is fundamental as a conditioning aspect of the economic activity of any organization, institution or country.

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.

Now that the end of 2016 is just a few hours away, it may be the right time to take a look at some of the highlights of a politically charged year.  Elections, referendums, resignations and international events marked the course of the world and grabbed endless headlines.

Are you having a crushingly tedious day at work? Try playing Google autocomplete. Type the start of a question into the world's most trusted search engine, and marvel as the aggregated curiosity of the global crowd is marshalled to anticipate your inquiry

Fintech firms could be the saving grace for the U.K.’s financial sector, but greater complications to attract global talent could pose a serious problem. It all depends on the political negotiations.

Europe hopes to end the tax breaks that some countries in the region offer to major corporations. The New York times published an overview of all the battle fronts in the current crusade led by Denmark's Margrethe Vestager, European Commissioner for Competition.

Just as in previous years, the G20 summit – held in China this year – has drawn worldwide attention. But the leaders of the 20 major economies were not the only ones to meet in Hangzhou. In parallel, business leaders from these same economies presented their proposals in the Business 20 event.

The planet’s survival is an issue over which, by definition, all interests converge. Finally, after wasting precious decades and, with some exceptions, renewable energies seem to be managing to get politicians, businesses and citizens to unite and fight for a common cause.

The recent report, The Business of Financial Inclusion: Insights from Banks in Emerging Markets represents a new endeavor for the Institute of International Finance (IIF). It is based on the insights of 24 executives in charge of financial inclusion, a topic of growing interest.

Nelson Mandela International Day is held on July 18. In November 2009 the United Nations General Assembly decided to set this day in honor of the former President of South Africa to coincide with the date of his birth. In the body's resolution 64/13 Mandela's values, his struggle for democracy, promoting human rights, equality and peace and great humanitarian work are recognized.

Fed members just can’t seem to make up their mind these days. One minute they are shouting out encouraging signals about the U.S. economy, and the next it is all gloom and doom. In the end, we are left with a mixed signal as to what is really going on, with the impression that Fed members themselves don’t really have any idea on how to proceed in such an uncertain economic environment.

In the closest elections of Peru’s history, the economist Pedro Pablo Kuczynski was selected as the new President of Peru, winning by a slight margin over Keiko Fujimori.

The San Pablo leper colony in Iquitos in the Peruvian Amazon is not only famous for being one of the hostels where Che Guevara stayed during his travels around Latin America in his youth. It is also known for having been the research institute where Dr Maxime Kuczynski began his fight against tropical disease in the Peruvian jungle. Maxime, a German doctor with Polish and Jewish roots, married the schoolmistress, Madeline Godard, a French citizen with Swiss lineage. Together they had a son called Pedro Pablo, born October 3 1938 in the city of Lima, the capital of Peru.

The first time the Peruvians set eyes on Keiko Fujimori was on the morning of April 8, 1990. It was a direct broadcast on national television of the breakfast of the surprise candidate in the presidential elections that year. In the general elections in Peru the tradition is for journalists to go en masse to the home or campaign headquarters of the presidential candidates to accompany and follow them to each of the campaign events, the first of which is their breakfast.

Mexico's President, Enrique Peña Nieto, brought the work of the National Meeting of BBVA Bancomer Directors to a close, saying confidence in the country was strong, as demonstrated by 110 billion dollars of direct foreign investment over the last thee years.

After enduring over 40 civil wars during the 19th century, the 20th century brought the rise of the guerilla warfare to Colombia. Today, in the midst of the 21st century, the country still does not know what it means to live in peace. But hope remains alive today more than ever, thanks to the strides made in the negotiation process that Juan Manuel Santos’ government is holding with the two only guerrillas that remain active in the country, and in Latin America at large: The FARC or Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia and the ELN or National Freedom Army. Signing a final deal with these two groups would mean the end of one of the world’s longest-running conflicts in the world.

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.

The Brexit (the term coined to refer to an eventual departure of the United Kingdom from the European Union) was the main topic discussed during the last European Council, which took place during February 18th and 19th. After two days of negotiations, an agreement was concluded that, in general terms, meets the UK’s demands.