BBVA has always prided itself as being an active community participant in the countries in which it operates in Latin America. However, the bank’s recent efforts to deepen the integration of its Latin American banks have increased the value of the combined efforts in this area.

As European banks fight back against neobanks such as N26, Wise, Starling, Monzo and Revolut that are taking more of the incumbents’ market share and competing across every service area, it is the Spanish banks who look best placed to match them.

After the 2020 sale of its US bank, BBVA’s global ambitions in retail are alive and well. It has entered Brazil with digital bank Neon, ploughed more capital into UK app-based lender Atom Bank and launched in Italy in a way that presages branchless growth across the eurozone.

Perhaps it is not such a strange time to bet billions on Turkey’s economy.

Covid has, unsurprisingly, dominated the corporate responsibility agenda at banks across Europe. A key determinant in this category was the effectiveness with which firms addressed the acute challenges that many of their clients have faced, from the initial healthcare emergency to longer-term financial distress. BBVA stepped up to the task promptly and at scale and takes the regional award this year.

BBVA is relying more on its Latin America business. And the countries in that region are relying more and more on the global bank in turn. BBVA’s global head of country monitoring, Jorge Sáenz-Azcúnaga, explains how he expects this symbiosis to evolve.

Selling its US bank to PNC fixes BBVA’s capital problem and allows it to consolidate in Spain. Arch-rival Santander’s similar troubles may be harder to solve.

The chief executive of PNC Financial Services is making good on his plan to deploy the proceeds from this year’s sale of its stake in BlackRock in support of its national strategy.

One intriguing sub-plot of a wild year in bank capital has been the advent of green AT1 and tier-2 deals.

Latin America’s best bank this year is BBVA. The Spanish-headquartered bank has long been vulnerable to competitors’ claims that it was more a federation than an integrated network of subsidiaries, but the bank’s most recent performance shows that the management – overseen by Jorge Sáenz-Azcúnaga, head of country monitoring at BBVA – has addressed this weakness.

In September 2019 Garanti BBVA signed the world’s first gender loan, a newly designed structure that the bank hopes will encourage its customers to improve their gender equality performance.

Across sustainable finance and microfinance, BBVA is working to support greener and more inclusive economies. It wins the award for best bank in Latin America for sustainable finance.

UniCredit is the region’s best bank in this year’s Euromoney Awards for Excellence.

BBVA is the big winner in Latin America in this year's Euromoney Awards for Excellence.

Banks have been trying to rebuild trust since the global financial crisis. They have touted corporate responsibility and stakeholder capitalism as core tenets of their businesses. Covid-19 and the subsequent economic crisis will be a big test of their commitment.

The country’s biggest firms are doing all they can to bolster their reputation, as the nation faces a human and economic crisis brought on by Covid-19.

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With falling rates in Europe and the US, and Turkey still in trouble, only Latin America – especially Mexico – can keep up BBVA’s spirits.

Spanish bank profitability will sink even further as left-wing populists Podemos enter a coalition with the socialist party, making a private-sector future for Bankia ever more remote.

European bank shares have sunk to levels not seen since 2008, and even some of the region’s bank CEOs admit it is hard to make a compelling investment case for them. Euromoney speaks to the people at the top about their potential to re-emerge as global leaders.

European banks don’t have a continental market, right? Wrong. Even if they cannot do full-blown mergers, the cross-border consolidation of specific business lines offers a way of gaining some of the economies of scale that US and Chinese banks enjoy.

Garanti BBVA sets a high standard for banking – it is a founding member of the UN’s principles for responsible banking – and this year wins the award for the best bank for corporate responsibility in central and eastern Europe.

Ever-larger investments in digital banking have been an important part of European banks’ efforts to cut costs. At the same time, digital banking is central to their attempts to establish a growth story.

As trade disputes between China and the US continue, Latin America has been caught in the middle. Countries across the continent have been forced to choose whether they trade with their American neighbour or their Asian partner.

Latin America’s best bank for sustainable finance this year is BBVA.

Financial inclusion is only useful if it creates long-term financial health and security. BBVA is committed to ensure that it does through its research and education programmes.

DBS named world’s best bank in Euromoney Awards for Excellence 2019; JPMorgan is the world’s best investment bank; Erste’s Treichl recognized as banker of the year.

Argentina Best Bank

Digital banking blurs boundaries.