Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria

Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria is a global financial services group offering customers and companies a range of services. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria SA (BBVA) is a Spain-based international financial group. The Company’s activities are focused on such business units as banking, pension and insurance in Spain and Portugal, Mexico and South America. 

BBV and Argentaria announced their planned merger on 19th October 1999. The goal was to continue creating value. The new bank (BBVA) had the advantages of considerable size, a solid capital base, a considerable financial structure and appropriate geographic diversification of its business and risks. As a result, there was greater profit potential. In the USA and Puerto Rico, the Bank only comprises the banking business. 

In addition, The Company has two cross-sectorial business units, Corporate and Investment Banking and Global Retail & Business Banking, which includes retail banking, commercial and small and medium enterprises (SMEs) banking, payment systems, consumer finance and private banking, among others. BBVA is a parent company of Grupo Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, which comprises such entities as BBVA Banco Frances SA and BBVA International Limited, among others. 

In December 2013, the Company sold the entirety of its about 98.92% direct and indirect interest in Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria (Panama) SA (BBVA Panama) to Leasing Bogota SA, Panama.

1857: The BBVA Historical Archive is a private business archive that traces its roots back 160 years, to the bank´s founding in 1857.

1896 The company lived through a panic that caused much of the Spanish banking system to fail in 1896. In 1901 the Banco de Vizacaya is formed. The bank began its international expansion by establishing a Paris branch in 1902, becoming the first Spanish bank to have a foreign presence.

In 1918, it earned a national presence when it absorbed the Banca Luis Roy Sobrino in Madrid and made it into Banco de Vizcaya's first branch in the capital. By 1935, Banco de Vizcaya operates 200 offices.

The government that emerged from the 1936 elections did not adopt a bellicose stance against the Spanish banking sector. The succession of controversial events that plagued the first half of the year contributed to turning Spanish society into a tinderbox under a stifling political climate. When Francisco Franco came to power in 1939, the country faced substantial material losses at home. Franco's Ministerial Order of May 17, 1940, established a policy of adhering to the banking status quo.

The bank gave its London and Paris offices a greater role in company operations, and in 1945 it established a branch specifically to form contacts for cooperative ventures in the United States and South America. Minister Benjamin’s Banking Law of 1946 further pulled in the already tight reins on the Spanish banking sector.

1948: Despite a number of urban development plans, Madrid did not spread into the open spaces around it, not even crossing the Manzanares River until 1948. In 1959 Franco devalues the peseta to halt the country's financial decline; Spain joins the Organization for European Economic Cooperation. By 1962, a new government department was created to plan and coordinate economic development, and the Law of Banking and Credit institutionalized the preeminent position of the major Spanish banks.

In 1971 Banco de Bilbao begins to issue credit cards; Banco de Vizcaya creates Liscaya as a leasing company for major corporations. Banco de Vizcaya also developed an insurance company when it became part of Plus-Ultra in 1972. The liberalization of banking regulations in 1974 led to further expansion for Banco de Vizcaya. In 1979, managers took a step that was not yet common among Spanish banks: calling upon an independent auditing firm to publicly document its position, a move that has had an impact on Spanish banking ever since.

To remain competitive by becoming larger, Banco de Bilbao took an unprecedented step in 1987 when it made a hostile takeover bid for its rival, Banco Español de Credito, known as Banesto. Having grown dramatically since its 1988 merger, BBVA appeared well-positioned for future prosperity. Also this year, Banco de Bilbao and Banco de Vizcaya merge, forming Banco Bilbao Vizcaya (BBV). Later that year, the firm announced that it would merge with Argentaria Caja Postal y Banco Hipotecario S.A., which was formed in 1991 to focus on corporate banking.

Together, they had the scale to continue that profitability in an economic climate that went through dramatic changes when Spain was incorporated into the European Economic Community, or European Union, in 1993. The firm began a new strategy in 1994 entitled the "1,000 Day Program," which was set in place to develop the company as the preferred financial provider not only in Spain but in Latin America as well.

In August 1996, it took a 40 percent stake in Banco Ganadero, the largest bank in Columbia. The Argentaria Merger was in1998. A year later, Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria was founded on December 18, 1999, and is headquartered in Madrid, Spain. BBVA is the result of the 1999 merger of Banco Bilbao Vizcaya (BBV) and Banco Argentaria.

On March 11, 2004, Madrid suffered a series of terrorist attacks. Construction of the Valdecarros district in the southeast of Madrid’s municipality, expected to house about 150,000 residents, began in 2007.

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“At BBVA, we work for a better future for people”