Corporate responsibility (CR) at BBVA has become a strategic
management tool in the current economic and financial crisis.
Despite difficult conditions the Group remains committed to
sustainability and is playing a leading role in this regard. BBVA
is convinced that this commitment is also profitable. Its 2008-
2012 Global Eco-efficiency Plan will produce additional cost
savings in the coming years and offset the bank’s direct impact
on the environment. According to the Dow Jones Sustainability
Index (DJSI), BBVA is now 82% ahead of average in the
worldwide financial sector in terms of environmental concern.
The most relevant events related to the Group’s corporate
responsibility in the second quarter were as follows:
Customer focus
BBVA and the Antena 3 Group launched a new service
(Destructores de Paro) on TV and radio that allows the bank’s
customers to advertise job opportunities free of charge. BBVA
Banco Provincial (Venezuela) made important improvements to
its complaint processing system (Reclamos) as part of a wider
corporate project for 2009.
Access to finance
The World Bank will take a 16.4% stake in Caja Nuestra Gente
(Peru), a bank set up by the BBVA Microfinance Foundation in
2008.
Responsible products and services
The second quarter witnessed the creation of SpainSIF, a forum for
promoting socially responsible investment which will be chaired
by BBVA. The Group became the first Spanish bank to certify the
sustainability of all its employee pension plans. The bank launched
a project for female executives (Proyecto Enlaza) that aims to
foster innovation leading to better business management. BBVA
signed an agreement (Convenio ICO-Anticipo) that expedites
payment of money owed to small and mid-size entities (SMEs) by
the authorities. Furthermore it improved the range of its anti-crisis
financial solutions for families, companies and the self-employed.
BBVA South America and the Inter-American Investment
Corporation signed an agreement to support SME management.
Responsible HR management
BBVA rolled out a new corporate platform (e-Campus) to
improve access to training. In Spain the Group organised a
family concert to introduce opera to employees’ children. BBVA
is reinforcing its presence in socially oriented networks by
adopting a Web 2.0 approach in the recruitment area with the
goal of communicating in a more direct and effective manner. It
also opened the third international photography and video
competition for all employees. Moreover the Group awarded
this year’s Passion for People Prizes to three BBVA programmes
in the Americas. And Banco Francés (Argentina) has joined a
national institute that opposes discrimination (INADI).
Corporate responsibility
Commitment to society
EDUCATION. BBVA Colombia, UNICEF and the Ministry of
Education have launched a project to improve education.
SOCIAL ACTION PLAN FOR LATIN AMERICA. BBVA promoted
its plan that focuses on children by showing a documentary
film, Los que se quedan, which was sponsored by the BBVA
Bancomer Foundation in Mexico. BBVA Colombia provided the
aid for its scholarship programme in co-operation with the
Corazón Caribe Foundation.
COMMUNITY SUPPORT. The Group held a ceremony to present
the BBVA Prize for Integration. The award, which entails
€200,000, promotes social and occupational integration for the
handicapped. The bank’s Volunteer Office carried out a solidarity
campaign in April to collect books and send them to prisons.
PROMOTION OF CORPORATE RESPONSIBILITY. Through its
banks in Latin America, BBVA joined a movement to promote CR
in the region (Declaración de Compromiso de Puerto España).
THE BBVA FOUNDATION. The foundation presented its
Frontiers of Knowledge Prizes with a total value of €3.2m in
eight categories, including climate change, development co-
operation and ecology & conservation biology.
Prizes and recognition
BBVA is recognised as the top Spanish company and seventh
bank worldwide in terms of corporate reputation in the Ethical
ranking. And according to the latest ranking by MillwardBrown
Optimimor, covering the world’s top 100 most valuable brands,
BBVA has risen from 77th to 55th place. The Mexican Centre
for Philanthropy declared BBVA Bancomer a socially
responsible company for the ninth year running.
BBVA and the sustainability indices
BBVA has maintained its position in the world’s most important
sustainability indices. Its participation in such indices in shown
below:
Main sustainability indices in which
BBVA participates
(1)
DJSI World 0.74
DJSI STOXX 1.65
DJSI EURO STOXX 3.16
ASPI Eurozone Index 2.32
Ethibel Sustainability Index Excellence Europe 1.84
Ethibel Sustainability Index Excellence Global 1.08
FTSE KLD Global Sustainability Index 0.60
FTSE KLD Global Sustainability Index Ex-US 1.05
FTSE KLD Europe Sustainability Index 1.81
FTSE KLD Europe Asia Pacific Sustainability 0.93
(1) In May 2009 FTSE and KLD merged their sustainability indices.
BBVA’s participation (%)
2Q09
51
To view a Ceros magazine you need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser and have the flash player 8 or higher installed. To install the latest flash player, click the icon above, install the flash plugin and then click here to refresh this page.