Company: BBVXF
Filing Date: 2025-02-21
Form Type: 20-F
Source: 0000842180-25-000010
Chunk: 113

Company: BANCO BILBAO VIZCAYA ARGENTARIA, S.A.
Filing Date: 2025-02-21
Form: 20-F
Item: Item 4
Chunk 113
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2. As interest rates have risen, competition among Spanish entities and from other alternative savings financial products has led to higher deposit rates, especially time deposit rates. However, the excess liquidity of the Spanish banking system (as shown by the system’s loans-to-deposits ratio, which was approximately 84% as of November 2024), and the strong competition in the loan market, caused deposit rates in Spain to increase less than in other European countries.
The entry of “fintech companies” and online banks into the Spanish market for financial services has further increased competition, particularly in payment services. Insurance companies and other financial service firms also compete for customer funds. Insurance companies and other financial service firms are also expanding the services they offer to consumers in Spain, which have traditionally been the domain of commercial banks. We face competition from other commercial banks, former savings banks and, to a lesser extent, credit cooperatives across all types of loans and deposits.
In Spain and in Europe, changes in banking regulation could have a significant potential impact on competition in the near future. The EU Directive on Investment Services permits all brokerage houses authorized to operate in other member states of the European Union to carry out investment services in Spain. Although the EU Directive is not specifically addressed to banks, it affects the activities of banks operating in Spain. Certain initiatives have also been implemented in order to facilitate the creation of a Pan-European financial market, such as the Single Euro Payments Area, which is a payment-integration initiative for the harmonization of payment services (bank transfers, direct debits and payment cards) mainly within the European Union, and MiFID, complemented with the introduction of MiFID II in January 2018, which aims to create a European framework for investment services. In addition, further steps have been taken towards achieving a banking and capital markets union in Europe, such as the Retail Investment Strategy (RIS). The ECB assumed responsibility as the unique supervisor of the Eurozone banking sector in November 2014, responsible for the supervision of over 100 entities (including BBVA). Moreover, the foundations of a single resolution mechanism were laid with, among others, the appointment of the SRB and the adoption of the Bail-in Tool. Finally, in June 2024, the new Anti-Money Laundering (AML) package was published in the Official Journal of the EU. This package includes the establishment of the new European AML Authority (AMLA), the Regulation, and the 6th Directive on the prevention of money laundering and terrorist financing