Corporate governance

BBVA has a corporate governance system that is designed taking into consideration its features and special nature, the rules that are applicable to the Bank as a financial institution listed on national and international institutional shareholders, and best practices and recommendations on this field. BBVA's corporate governance system mainly rests on the adequate composition of its corporate bodies, on its distribution of duties between the Board of Directors and its Committees, on a suitable decision-making process and on a solid supervision and control system.

The Group’s compliance system constitutes one of the bases upon which BBVA assumes the institutional pledge to conduct all operations and businesses in accordance with strict codes of ethical conduct. BBVA has updated its Code of Conduct in 2015, which sets out the Group's view of integrity. It entails a different style, more direct, closer, simpler and more accessible.

Lastly, as regards internal control, BBVA has an internal control model organized around three lines of defense (3LoD), as well as a governance scheme called Corporate Assurance.