Volume key for profitability as banking market normalizes; flurry of equity deals to fuel M&A and organic growth.

This year BBVA wins Euromoney’s award for best bank for corporate social responsibility (CSR) in Latin America for its dedication to transparency and to promoting financial literacy and inclusion.

Choosing the winner of the best bank for transaction services in Latin America was difficult. The shortlisted banks – BBVA, Citi and BAML – all demonstrated real growth and innovation in working within this politically and economically diverse region.

The Argentine banking system is beginning to return to a semblance of normality, with signs such as positive interest rates. But the road back to international standards is a long one. After many years of economic dysfunction and highly prescriptive banking regulations (including mandatory lending to segments and floors and caps on interest rates), it will take a long time for an orthodox banking sector to appear.

The world seems to be turning away from globalization and towards protectionism. Yet despite this challenging environment for trade, the bankers who finance it remain surprisingly upbeat.

Results index

Results index Global All transactions 2016 2015 Bank Score 1 2 HSBC 6548 2 3 Citi 3830 3 1 Deutsche Bank 3116 4 13 Bank of New York Mellon 1728 5 14 Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation 1536 6 8 JPMorgan 1534 7 5 Commerzbank 1359 8 4 Bank of America Merrill Lynch 1339 9 6 Standard Chartered 1305 10 7 Barclays 1303 11 9 Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ 1209 12 32 Industrial & Commercial Bank of China 1057 13 45 DBS Bank 1045 14 12 Wells Fargo 823 15 11 Bank of China 817 16 19 Societe Generale 721 17 18 Mizuho Bank 692 18 16 UniCredit 607 19 21 ADCB 605 20 15 RBS 535 21 10 BNP Paribas Fortis 504 22 Cathay United Bank 501 23 22 Yapi Kredi 355 24 UOB 352 25 ANZ Banking Group 340 26 23 ING Group 265 27 35= Agricultural Bank of China 251 28 29 Akbank 250 29 17 RZB 223 30 137= Bank Mandiri 218 31 42 Arab Bank 194 32 39 Bank of Communications 193 33 28 UBS 189 34 ATF Bank 188 35 208= Bank Central Asia 182 36 BNI 46 162 37 CIMB 156 38 38 Danske Bank 152 39 65= Banco BPI 144 40 208= Bangkok Bank 132 41 Siam Commercial Bank 126 42 40 Credit Agricole 122 43 34 BBVA 118 44 Hang Seng 116 45 41 Lloyds 114 46= 27 Garanti Bank 110 46= 74= Bancolombia 110 48 Bank Danamon 107 49 NAB 106 50 Bank of Nanjing 103

BBVA’s executive chairman has thrown himself into every challenge he has faced in a career spanning more than 50 years. Now Francisco González is focused on what that future will actually be. ‘Platform as a service’ does not trip off the tongue as a killer phrase to describe the future of banking, but the visionary that other bank CEOs flock to for insights into the transformation of their industry sees it as the destination for winning banks.

When his global peers want leadership or advice on the challenge of technology, they turn to BBVA’s executive chairman. Given what he has achieved at the bank, this comes as no surprise.

From retail and investment to emerging market banking, regulatory technology is redrawing the global financial map. Data is the new capital, ideas are the new risk.

Banco de Credito del Peru is named as the best bank in the region; Citi retains investment banking award.

This year marks the 25th anniversary of the Euromoney Awards for Excellence. They were the first of their kind in the global financial publishing industry. The nature of the global banking industry is constantly changing, and this year we made fundamental changes to the categories to reflect this.

Austrian market leader Erste Bank posted another set of healthy results in 2015 but the standout story of the year, in terms of both growth and profitability, belonged to Bawag PSK. The private equity-owned bank saw its bottom-line result jump by 26% year-on-year to €418 million, giving a sector-beating return on equity of 16.2% on the back of higher core revenues, lower operating expenses and a dramatic reduction in risk costs.

Banking in Argentina has been challenging in recent years. Increasingly stringent regulation has required banks to lend to certain segments at capped interest rates, while high inflation has complicated other transactional business. The banking system has, by and large, coped well with the poor business environment, and now (in private) bankers are optimistic about the money to be made in the country – from mortgages and retail lending to corporate loans, securitizations and capital markets.

Results index In digital innovation, however, no bank in the US can touch BBVA Compass, which wins the award for North America’s best digital bank. Whereas large domestic banks have pushed back against disrupters, BBVA Compass exemplifies what can happen when a bank embraces them. That journey began more than five years ago when the bank began overhauling its core technology system into a real-time platform, making it among the first to implement real time processing. It was almost unheard of for US banking customers to have that level of transparency and control, but then BBVA Compass took it to a new level: it opened its platform to digital innovators. As a result, customers of BBVA Compass can send and receive funds instantly through Dwolla rather than wait for Automated Clearing House.

Results index The flexible local deployment of a global electronic platform is the reason why BBVA is at the forefront of digitizing retail banking in Latin America, taking the award for best digital bank in the region. The gains to the bank are clear: lower costs, higher efficiencies and the ability to compete throughout national markets without extending physical infrastructure.

Euromoney names BNP Paribas as the world’s best bank and HSBC the world’s best investment bank for 2016; BBVA’s Francisco González is banker of the year and completes a great night for Europe.

BBVA's diversification drive across new retail markets and its mobile banking push reveal a global emerging market institution to be reckoned with

Loan production offices instead of branches; tech tie-ups lead to nationwide presence.

Best private banking services overall

BBVA has embarked on a bold transformational strategy to become the world’s first digital global bank, and reinvent itself as a knowledge-based information company, fit – it hopes – for the modern era and beyond. Could the Spanish bank be providing a blueprint for the future of banking? CEO Francisco González certainly believes so.

This year Spanish bank BBVA has risen into the top 25 in the Euromoney survey for the first time. Over the past three years, the bank has risen nine places in the overall rankings and more than doubled its volumes.

BBVA’s additional tier 1 capital raising generated an astonishing €9 billion of orders, prompting bankers to proclaim it the opening of a big new market. But the staggering array and complexity of conversion triggers contained in the deal has set off alarm bells among investors.

Bank on quiet hiring spree; More M&A and ECM in Latin America

Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria SA (BBVA), Spain’s second-largest lender, has made two hires in its FX division, according to two people familiar with the situation.

BBVA: Staying ahead?

Banking: BBVA remains bullish on regional prospects

Spanish bank BBVA has announced plans to open a new platform in Brazil, following the sale of its 5.01% stake in Banco Bradesco.

With high profits, a low and declining cost/income ratio and an expansive global strategy, BBVA ought to be riding high in the stock markets. But some investors seem to think it is overstretching itself and have marked it down. Peter Koh reports on a success story that some in the market are not reading.