1. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria
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Grupo BBVA
Public (NYSE: BBV, BMAD: BBVA,
Type
BVPASA: BBV)
1999
Founded
Bilbao, Spain
Headquarters
Francisco González (Executive chairman),
José Ignacio Goirigolzarri (President and
Key people
COO)
Financial services
Industry
Banking, insurance, asset management
Products
€ 27.959 Billion (2009)[1]
Market cap
Operating
▲ €10.54 billion (2007)[2]
income

2. ▲ €6.126 billion (2007)[2]
Profit
€502.2 billion (2007)[2]
Total assets
111,900 (2007)[2]
Employees
http://www.bbva.com/
Website
BBVA headoffice building in Bilbao.
BBVA offices in Bilbao

3. BBVA building in Madrid
Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria (BBVA), (NYSE: BBV, BMAD: BBVA, BVPASA: BBV)
is a multinational Spanish banking group. It was formed in 1999 from a merger of Banco Bilbao
Vizcaya and Argentaria, both of which in turn had previously amalgamated three important
banks in Spain, namely Banco de Bilbao, Banco de Vizcaya, Banco Exterior de España and the
state-owned Caja Postal de Ahorros, with other minor entities. BBVA is the second largest bank
in Spain and 7th largest financial institution in the western world with a market capitalization of
over 61 billion €. The bank has recently focused on overseas expansion, and now operates in 40
countries. Like many other Spanish companies, it enjoys a dominant position in Spanish-
speaking Latin American countries. It also has a presence in many Mediterranean countries,
especially Portugal and Italy, and has announced its intention to expand into the United States
and in Asia.
Contents
1 History
o 1.1 Development in the 1960s
o 1.2 Development in the 1980s
o 1.3 Merger
2 Entering the U.S. market
3 Strategic move into Asia
4 See also
5 References
6 External links
[edit] History
BBVA’s story began in 1857 when the Spanish Board of Trade sponsored the creation of Banco
de Bilbao as a currency-issuing and discount bank. Until the 1890s it was practically the only
bank in the Basque Country. In the second half of the 19th century Banco de Bilbao played a
leading role in operations involving infrastructure projects and development of the steel industry.
In 1878 it lost the right to issue currency and reorganised as lending and discount bank. Banco
de Vizcaya was set up in 1901. It carried out its first operations in Bilbao and gradually extended
throughout Spain. Apart from its activities as a commercial and general purpose bank, it
intervened in the creation and development of a large part of Spanish industry. In 1902 Banco de

4. Bilbao merged with Banco del Comercio although both continued to operate as separate entities.
In 1909 Caja Postal de Ahorros was set up as a public entity and started operations in 1916,
based on savings books. A consortium of bankers and manufacturers founded Banco de Crédito
Industrial (BCI) in 1920 with the express aim of boosting the installation and consolidation of
industry through long-term lending. Both Banco de Bilbao and Banco de Vizcaya formed part of
this consortium. In 1923 the Servicio Nacional de Crédito Agrícola was created under the
ministry of agriculture to provide loans to agricultural associations against the joint and several
liability of their members. A combination of public and private interests set up Banco de Crédito
Local (BCL) in 1925 in the form of a joint-stock company. Its purpose was to finance local
authorities and other public institutions. Banco Exterior de España (BEX) was created in 1929 to
encourage foreign trade, to seek new markets for Spanish products and to help local companies
with imports and exports.
[edit] Development in the 1960s
Banco de Bilbao grew further, absorbing other banks. At the same time Banco de Vizcaya also
expanded and began to emerge as an important financial group. Greater flexibility by the
authorities regarding new branches allowed it to extend its network. Caja Postal added current
accounts, securities and specific credit lines to its existing services. The Banking Sector Reform
Act 1962 nationalised BCI, BHE and BCL and converted the Servicio Nacional de Crédito
Agrícola into Banco de Crédito Agrícola (BCA). All four thus became public entities. However
in 1971 they were recast as joint stock companies and became official loan entities (under the
Official Credit System Act).
[edit] Development in the 1980s
During the 1980s, Banco de Bilbao’s strategy was to attain sufficient size in order to participate
in financial operations generated by advances in technology, deregulation, securitisation and the
interrelationship between domestic and international markets. Banco de Vizcaya contributed to
the refloating of banks affected by the economic crisis and pursued a policy of strong growth
through acquisitions. This turned it into a large banking group. The most important operation
was the acquisition of Banca Catalana in 1984. In the meantime, the official credit entities
expanded their business through market operations. In 1982, BEX lost the exclusive right to
provide export finance. It refocused its goals on becoming a universal bank and on building a
financial group. During this process it acquired Banco de Alicante in 1983. In 1988, Banco de
Bilbao and Banco de Vizcaya merged to form Banco Bilbao Vizcaya (BBV).
Corporación Bancaria de España (CBE) was set up in 1991 as a government corporation and
credit entity with bank status. Argentaria started out with a federated banking model. However in
1998 Corporación Bancaria de España (already privatised via IPOs), BEX (which had merged
with BCI), BHE and Caja Postal were merged into a single bank, Argentaria.
[edit] Merger
BBV and Argentaria announced their planned merger on October 19, 1999. The new group had
the advantages of significant size, a strong capital base, a considerable financial structure and

5. appropriate geographic diversification of its business and risks. As a result there was a greater
profit potential.
Customers now had access to a larger network and a wider range of products. They also enjoyed
easier access to new channels and a considerable international presence. Employees also had
more opportunity for career advancement. The smooth integration of BBVA was attributed to the
following:
the speed of strategic decisions
the immediate definition of the new organisation and a framework agreement with
employees
the speed with which working groups were set up and plans were made for each area of
activity
the successful achievement of ambitious timetables
the enthusiasm, commitment, effort and co-operative spirit
The integration process was given an important boost in January 2000 by the roll-out of the
single BBVA brand. This helped the group generate an image that was strongly positioned in
terms of identity and distinguishing characteristics.
The integration of the group's retail businesses in Spain (BBV, Argentaria, Banca Catalana,
Banco del Comercio and Banco de Alicante) led to the creation of a significant branch network
under the BBVA banner. The efficiency of the BBVA integration was recognised by top
financial publications. In 2000 it was chosen World’s Best Bank (Forbes) and Best Bank in
Spain (The Banker). In 2001, it was Best Bank in Latin America (Forbes) and Best European
Bank (Lafferty).
[edit] Entering the U.S. market
In 2005, BBVA Group acquired Laredo, Texas, based Laredo National Bank. In 2006, it
acquired Texas Regional Bancshares of McAllen, Texas and State National Bancshares to
become the fourth biggest bank of Texas after Wells Fargo, Bank of America and JPMorgan
Chase.
On February 16, 2007, BBVA announced a definitive agreement to acquire Birmingham,
Alabama, based Compass Bancshares Inc. BBVA plans to create the biggest bank in the Sun Belt
by consolidating all those banks.[3]
[edit] Strategic move into Asia
In the year 2006, BBVA outbid Banco Santander Central Hispano, Bank of America, and formed
an alliance with China CITIC Bank one of the biggest banks in China by acquiring a stake in the
bank and in CITIC International Financial Holdings Limited (CIFH), China Citic Group's main
international arm.

6. Details and memorandum of the deal are as below:
The BBVA Group is announcing an investment of €989m, the biggest outlay by a
Spanish company in mainland China and Hong Kong so far
BBVA will acquire 5% of China CITIC Bank (CNCB) for €501m with an option to
increase to 9.9%
It will also purchase a 15% stake in CITIC International Financial Holdings (CIFH) for
€488m and could increase this in the coming months
The alliance between BBVA and CITIC covers the development of retail and corporate
banking in mainland China and Hong Kong, one of the fastest growing markets in the
world, via CNCB and/or CIFH
BBVA and CIFH (CITIC Group’s international arm) will conduct corporate banking,
investment banking and treasury business across the Asia region
BBVA will have one director on CNCB’s board and two on CIFH’s
CNCB, whose head office is in Beijing, has assets of €62.2 billion, 13,485 employees (as of June
2006) and 416 branches, distributed throughout mainland China
CIFH, whose headquarters are in Hong Kong, has assets of €9.3 billion, 1,711 staff and
38 branches
[edit] See also
BBVA Bancomer
BBVA Banco Francés
BBVA Banco Provincial
BBVA Banco Continental
European Financial Services Roundtable
[edit] References
1. ^ http://www.bolsamadrid.es/comun/fichaemp/fichavalor.asp?isin=ES0113211835&id=ing
2. ^ a b c d quot;Annual Report 2007quot; (PDF). BBVA.
http://inversores.bbva.com/TLBB/fbin/Annual_Report_2007_tcm240-161076.pdf. Retrieved on
2008-12-31.
3. ^ [1]. El Mundo online Spanish newspaper.
[edit] External links
Media related to BBVA at Wikimedia Commons
Official site
Yahoo! - Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, SA Company Profile

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9. This page was last modified on 10 February 2009, at 17:10.
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