BBVA in 2012

CIB highlights in 2012• Lending activity continues strong in Latin America and reduction in Europe and the United States.• Favorable trend in fund gathering in the fourth quarter, which represents a turning point following therating downgrades announced during the year.• Diversified revenue.• Resilience and recurrence of earnings in a very complex environment.• Leadership positions in M&A and in equity market in Spain.• Several awards and recognitions received.DefinitionCorporate & Investment Banking (CIB) embraces the Group’s wholesale businesses in all thegeographical areas where it operates. The area develops products and services that provideadded-value solutions for wholesale customers, i.e. large corporations and institutional investors,and retail (customers, i.e. SMEs, companies and institutions. These products include: globallending (financing activity), global transactional banking (transactional business), corporatefinance (financial advice and investment banking) and global markets (trading and distributionbusiness).Industry trendsThe environment of economic crisis prevailing in 2012 has affected the wholesale business activity,which closed the year with a decline in both volumes and number of transactions, particularly inthe developed countries. For instance, Spain’s rating downgrades, especially in the second quarterof 2012, had a negative impact on the business, mainly in Europe.In addition, the large number of regulatory reforms implemented as a reaction to the financialcrisis, both in the United States and in Europe, is resulting in a decrease in income due to thetightening of capital requirements, greater operating complexity and various restrictions towholesale banking activity.This situation is leading to a structural change in the wholesale business, which is shiftingtoward a model with greater disintermediation, with more widespread use of digital platforms.Furthermore, a more demanding and meticulous regulatory environment, due to the proliferationof protectionist legislation at the local level, can give rise to a fragmentation of the industry.Against this background, competitors have reacted by focusing on their core products andmarkets, reducing costs, restricting lending and cutting back on operations with high capitalconsumption products.Unless indicated otherwise, all comments below on percentage changes refer to constantexchange rates, with the aim of providing a better understanding of the performance of BBVA’swholesale business.Management prioritiesIn the above situation, Corporate & Investment Banking has continued to show highlyresilient earnings, leveraging its relationship with key customers and its geographicaldiversification. In other words, thanks to its customer-centric and diversified business model,202 Business areas