BBVA in 2012

Business areasIn this section we discuss the more significant aspects of the activities and earnings of the Group’sdifferent business areas, along with those of the main units within each, plus Corporate Activities.Specifically, we deal with the income statement, the balance sheet and the main ratios: efficiency,NPA ratio, NPA coverage ratio and risk premium.In 2012 the main change in the reporting structure of the business areas of the BBVA Group hasbeen the transfer to the United States of the assets and liabilities of a branch in Houston, whichpreviously belonged to Mexico (BBVA Bancomer). This has been done taking into account thegeographical nature of the Group’s reporting structure. In addition, other changes have been madethat affect other areas and which owing to their irrelevant nature need no comment.Thus, the composition of the business areas in 2012 is very similar to that existing in theprevious year:• Spain, which includes: The retail network, with the segments of individual customers, privatebanking, and small businesses in the domestic market; Corporate and Business Banking (CBB),which handles the needs of SMEs, corporations, government and developers in the country;Corporate & Investment Banking (CIB), which includes activity with large corporations andmultinational groups; Global Markets (GM), with the trading floor and distribution business inthe domestic market; and other units, among them BBVA Seguros and Asset Management(management of mutual and pension funds in Spain).• Eurasia, which includes business in the rest of Europe and Asia. Europe includes BBVA Portugal,Consumer Finance Italia and Portugal, the retail business of the branches in Paris, London andBrussels, the wholesale activity carried out in the region (excluding Spain) and Turkey (includingthe stake in Garanti). Asia includes all the retail and wholesale business in that continent and thestake in CNCB and CIFH.• Mexico: includes the banking, pensions and insurance businesses in the country.• United States: encompasses the Group’s business in the United States.• South America: includes the banking, pensions and insurance businesses in South America.As well as the units indicated, all the areas also have allocations of other businesses that alsoinclude eliminations and other items not assigned to the units.Finally, the Corporate Activities area includes the rest of items that are not allocated to thebusiness areas, as in previous years. These basically include the costs of headquarters with astrictly corporate function, certain allocations to provisions such as early retirements and othersalso of a corporate nature. Corporate Activities also performs financial management functionsfor the Group as a whole; essentially management of asset and liability positions for interest ratesin the euro-denominated balance sheet and for exchange rates, as well as liquidity and capitalmanagement functions. The management of asset and liability interest-rate risk in currenciesother than the euro is recorded in the corresponding business areas. Lastly, it includes certainportfolios and assets not linked to customers, with its corresponding revenues and costs, suchas the industrial and financial holdings and the Group’s real-estate assets in Spain assigned toheadquarter services and foreclosed or purchased assets.In addition, supplementary information is provided of the global business (formerly calledWholesale Banking & Asset Management –WB&AM– and now Corporate & Investment Banking)carried out by the BBVA Group. This aggregate does not include the asset management business.This aggregate of businesses is considered relevant to better understand the BBVA Group becauseof the customers served, the type of products offered and the risks undertaken.132 Business areas