BBVA reinforces presence
BBVA is a global financial services group, offering the widest range of products and services to its clients, which comprises both private individuals and companies.
BBVA is a leading bank in Spain and Latin America and is in a position of growth in the United States and Asia.
The bank employs some 100,000 people worldwide, has 42 million clients and over 800,000 shareholders.
A global bank like BBVA cannot ignore one of the biggest and fastest growing markets of the world: Asia.
In 2005, BBVA made a strategic decision to create a significant presence in the Asia-Pacific region, where it already had an established branch operating in Hong Kong, as well as offices in Beijing and Tokyo.
As a result, the BBVA Group has increased its presence in the region to include the major financial markets of Shanghai, Singapore, Seoul, Mumbai and Sydney.
BBVA's growth plan in Asia was launched along the following guidelines: extend the franchise and visibility of BBVA in the region, acquire a profitable base of business and develop gain in opportunities.
Before the start-up of the plan, BBVA was already the leader among Spanish banks in China, with more than 20 years' presence in the market.
In 2006, BBVA reached a strategic agreement with the CITIC Group, a banking powerhouse whose two pillars are the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong, and the investment amount has so far reached around 1 billion euros ($1.3 billion).
The strategic partnership with BBVA embodies a series of cooperation in several areas, such as corporate banking, trade finance, consumer finance, treasury operations and an exchange of know-how.
BBVA contributes business models and platforms, while CITIC provides knowledge of the local market.
The extent and dimension of these agreements are being developed by a joint committee of nominated members, which has already been put into action.
For CITIC, such an alliance with an international group spells welcome support in their quest for a successful encounter with the developments and challenges created by the expansion and liberalization of China's banking system.
To BBVA, the agreement provides an entry to a market as important as China.
The strategic formula used by BBVA to enter the Asian market is to understand the local business and local clients by relying on their global products capacity, together with their knowledge of the Latin American market, said BBVA Asia General Manager Manuel Galatas.
BBVA has also shown greater interest in China's mutual fund management companies as part of its strategy of focusing more attention on Asia, especially on China's pension and insurance markets.
It follows an innovative management model that focuses on the customer and is considerate of society in gaining profit.
(China Daily 06/27/2007 page27)
