Notes to the accompanying Consolidated Financial Statements

1. Introduction, basis for the presentation of the Consolidated Financial Statements, Internal Control over Financial Reporting and other information

1.1 Introduction

Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, S.A. (hereinafter “the Bank”, “BBVA" or “BBVA, S.A.”) is a private-law entity subject to the laws and regulations governing banking entities operating in Spain. It carries out its activity through branches and agencies across the country and abroad.

The Bylaws and other public information are available for inspection at the Bank’s registered address (Plaza San Nicolás, 4 Bilbao) as noted on its web site (www.bbva.com).

In addition to the activities it carries out directly, the Bank heads a group of subsidiaries, joint ventures and associates which perform a wide range of activities and which together with the Bank constitute the Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria Group (hereinafter, the “Group” or the “BBVA Group”). In addition to its own separate financial statements, the Bank is required to prepare Consolidated Financial Statements comprising all consolidated subsidiaries of the Group.

As of December 31, 2020, the BBVA Group had 269 consolidated entities and 48 entities accounted for using the equity method (see Notes 3 and 16 and Appendix I to V).

The Consolidated Financial Statements of the BBVA Group for the year ended December 31, 2019 were approved by the shareholders at the Annual General Meetings (“AGM”) held on March 13, 2020.

BBVA Group’s Consolidated Financial Statements and the Financial Statements for the Bank and the majority of the remaining entities within the Group have been prepared as of December 31, 2020, and are pending approval by their respective AGMs. Notwithstanding, the Board of Directors of the Bank understands that said financial statements will be approved without changes.

1.2 Basis for the presentation of the Consolidated Financial Statements

The BBVA Group’s Consolidated Financial Statements are presented in compliance with IFRS-IASB (International Financial Reporting Standards as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board), as well as in accordance with the International Financial Reporting Standards endorsed by the European Union (hereinafter, “EU-IFRS”) applicable as of December 31, 2020, considering the Bank of Spain Circular 4/2017, and with any other legislation governing financial reporting which is applicable and with the format and mark-up requirements established in the EU Delegated Regulation 2019/815 of the European Commission.

The BBVA Group’s accompanying Consolidated Financial Statements for the year ended December 31, 2020 were prepared by the Group’s Directors (through the Board of Directors meeting held on February 8, 2021) by applying the principles of consolidation, accounting policies and valuation criteria described in Note 2, so that they present fairly the Group’s total consolidated equity and financial position as of December 31, 2020, together with the consolidated results of its operations and cash flows generated during the year ended December 31, 2020.

These Consolidated Financial Statements were prepared on the basis of the accounting records kept by the Bank and each of the other entities in the Group. Moreover, they include the adjustments and reclassifications required to harmonize the accounting policies and valuation criteria used by the Group (see Note 2.2).

All effective accounting standards and valuation criteria with a significant effect in the Consolidated Financial Statements were applied in their preparation.

The amounts reflected in the accompanying Consolidated Financial Statements are presented in millions of euros, unless it is more appropriate to use smaller units. Some items that appear without a balance in these Consolidated Financial Statements are due to how the units are expressed. Also, in presenting amounts in millions of euros, the accounting balances have been rounded up or down. It is therefore possible that the totals appearing in some tables are not the exact arithmetical sum of their component figures.

The percentage changes in amounts have been calculated using figures expressed in thousands of euros.

1.3 Comparative information

The information included in the accompanying consolidated financial statements for the years ended December 31, 2019 and December 31, 2018, is presented in accordance with the applicable regulation, for the purpose of comparison with the information for the year ended December 31, 2020.

Agreement for the sale of BBVA’s U.S. subsidiary to PNC Financial Service Group

As mentioned in Note 3, in 2020 BBVA reached an agreement to sell its entire stake in BBVA USA Bancshares, Inc., parent company of the Group companies engaged in the banking business in the United States. As required by IFRS 5 "Non-current assets held for sale and discontinued operations", the balances of assets and liabilities corresponding to said companies for sale have been reclassified from their corresponding accounting headings to the headings "Non-current assets and disposal groups classified as held for sale” and “Liabilities included in disposal groups classified as held for sale” respectively, from the consolidated balance sheet as of December 31, 2020. Similarly, as required by the aforementioned IFRS 5, the results generated by these companies during the financial year 2020 are presented in the heading “Profit (loss) after taxes from discontinued operations” of the consolidated income statement for such year, and in the heading "Non-current assets and disposal groups classified as held for sale" in the consolidated statements of recognized income and expense for such year. Additionally, the results corresponding to the years 2019 and 2018 have been reclassified, to facilitate the comparison between years, to that same section of the respective consolidated income statements and consolidated statements of recognized income and expense for both years. Finally, in the consolidated statements of cash flows, the balances corresponding to cash and cash equivalents have been reclassified to the heading "Total cash and cash equivalents classified as non-current assets and disposal groups classified as held for sale" as of and for the year ended December 31, 2020.

Note 21 includes the condensed consolidated balance sheets, the condensed consolidated income statements and the condensed consolidated cash flow statements of the companies for sale in the United States as of and for the years 2020, 2019 and 2018.

Hyperinflationary economies

Considering the interpretation issued by the International Financial Reporting Interpretations Committee (IFRIC) in its “IFRIC Update” of March 2020 on IAS 29 “Financial information in hyperinflationary economies”, the Group made an accounting policy change which involves recording the differences generated when translating the restated financial statements of the subsidiaries in hyperinflationary economies into euros in the line item “Accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) – Items that may be reclassified to profit or loss – Foreign currency translation” of our consolidated balance sheet net equity.

In order to make the information as of December 31, 2019 and 2018 comparable with information as of December 31, 2020, such information has been restated by reclassifying €2,985 million and €2,987 million, respectively, from “Shareholders’ funds – Retained earnings” and €6 million and €20 million, respectively, from “Shareholders’ funds – Other reserves” to the headings “Accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) – Items that may be reclassified to profit or loss – Foreign currency translation and “Accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) – Items that may be reclassified to profit or loss – Share of other recognized income and expense of investments in joint ventures and associates” as of December 31, 2019 and 2018, respectively.

The reclassifications corresponding to January 1, 2020 and 2019 are included as "Effect of changes in accounting policies" in the Consolidated Total Statements of Changes in Equity corresponding to the years ended December 31, 2019 and 2018, respectively.

IFRS 9- collection of interest on impaired financial assets

As a consequence of the application of the interpretation issued by the IFRIC in its “IFRIC Update” of March 2019 regarding the collection of interest on impaired financial assets under IFRS 9, such collections are presented since 2020 as reductions in credit-related write-offs whereas previously they were included as interest income. In order to make the information comparable, the consolidated income statement information for the years ended December 31, 2019 and 2018 has been restated by recognizing a €78 and €80 million reduction in the heading “Interest and other income”, respectively against the heading “Impairment or reversal of impairment on financial assets not measured at fair value through profit or loss or net gains by modification”. This reclassification has had no net impact on the profit for the years ended December 31, 2019 and 2018, respectively, nor on the consolidated net equity as of December 31, 2019 and 2018, respectively.

Trading derivatives recognition

Information as of and for the year ended December 31, 2020 has been subject to certain non-significant presentation modifications, in the balance sheet related to the derivative activity. In order to make the information as of and for the years ended December 31, 2019 and 2018 comparable with the information as of and for the year ended December 31, 2020, figures as of and for the years ended December 31, 2019 and 2018 have been restated by recognizing a €953 million and a €1,013 million reduction in the Total Assets and Total Liabilities, respectively.

1.4 Seasonal nature of income and expense

The nature of the most significant activities carried out by the BBVA Group’s entities is mainly related to typical activities carried out by financial institutions, and are not significantly affected by seasonal factors within the same year.

1.5 Management and impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic

The appearance of the Coronavirus COVID-19 in China and its global expansion to a large number of countries, motivated the viral outbreak to be classified as a global pandemic by the World Health Organization since last March 11, 2020. The pandemic has affected and continues to adversely affect the world economy and economic activity and conditions in the countries in which the Group operates, leading many of them to economic recession. The governments of the different countries in which the Group operates have adopted different measures that have conditioned the evolution of the year (see Note 7.2).

In this pandemic situation, BBVA has focused its attention on ensuring the continuity of the business operational security as a priority and monitoring the impacts on the business and on the risks of the Group (such as the impacts on results, capital or liquidity). Additionally, BBVA adopted from the beginning a series of measures to support its main interest groups. In this sense, the purpose and the Group's long-term strategic priorities remain the same and are even reinforced, with a commitment to technology and data-driven decision-making.

With the aim of mitigating the impact of COVID-19, various European and International bodies have made pronouncements aimed at allowing greater flexibility in the implementation of the accounting and prudential frameworks. The BBVA Group has taken these pronouncements into consideration when preparing these consolidated financial statements (see Note 7.2.1).

The main impacts of COVID-19 pandemic in the BBVA Group's consolidated Financial Statements are detailed in the following Notes:

• Note 1.6 includes information on the consideration of the COVID-19 pandemic in the estimates made.
• Note 4 mentions the amendment of the Group’s shareholder remuneration policy, in accordance with the recommendation issued by the European Central Bank, which no longer pays any amount as a dividend for the financial year 2020 until as long as the uncertainties generated by the pandemic remain.
• Note 7.1 details the main risks associated with the pandemic as well as the impacts that have occurred both in the operations and in the consolidated financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2020. Information on the impact of COVID-19 is included in the macroeconomic forecasts and in the calculation of expected losses.
• Note 7.2 includes information related to the initiatives carried out by the Group to help the most affected clients, jointly with the corresponding governments. Likewise, it contains, among others, information regarding the level of activity and the amount corresponding to moratorium measures, both public and private, granted by the Group worldwide.
• Note 7.5 presents information regarding the impact on liquidity and financing risk.
• Note 18.1 includes information concerning the impairment of the goodwill in the United States carried out during the first quarter of 2020, mainly due to the impact of COVID-19 in updating the macroeconomic scenario and the expected evolution of interest rates.
• Note 32 includes information with regard to the impact on the Group's capital.
• Note 47 includes information on the impact of the update of the macroeconomic scenario affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

1.6 Responsibility for the information and for the estimates made

The information contained in the BBVA Group’s Consolidated Financial Statements is the responsibility of the Group’s Directors.

Estimates were required to be made at times when preparing these Consolidated Financial Statements in order to calculate the recorded or disclosed amount of some assets, liabilities, income, expense and commitments. These estimates relate mainly to the following:

• Loss allowances on certain financial assets (see Notes 7, 12, 13, 14 and 16).
• The assumptions used to quantify certain provisions (see Notes 23 and 24) and for the actuarial calculation of post-employment benefit liabilities and commitments (see Note 25).
• The useful life and impairment losses of tangible and intangible assets (see Notes 17, 18, 20 and 21).
• The valuation of goodwill and price allocation of business combinations (see Note 18).
• The fair value of certain unlisted financial assets and liabilities (see Notes 7, 8, 10, 11, 12 and 13).
• The recoverability of deferred tax assets (see Note 19).

As mentioned before, on March 11, 2020, COVID-19 was declared as a global pandemic by the World Health Organization (see Note 1.5). The great uncertainty associated to the unprecedented nature of this pandemic entails a greater complexity of developing reliable estimations and applying judgment.

Therefore, these estimates were made on the basis of the best available information on the matters analyzed, as of December 31, 2020. However, it is possible that events may take place in the future which could make it necessary to amend these estimations (upward or downward), which would be carried out prospectively, recognizing the effects of the change in estimation in the corresponding consolidated income statement.

During 2020 there have been no relevant changes in the assumptions and estimates made as of December 31, 2019 and 2018, with the exception of those indicated in these consolidated Financial Statements.

1.7 BBVA Group’s Internal Control over Financial Reporting

BBVA Group’s Consolidated Financial Statements are prepared under an Internal Control over Financial Reporting Model (ICFR). It provides reasonable assurance with respect to the reliability and the integrity of the consolidated financial statements. It is also aimed to ensure that the transactions are processed in accordance with the applicable laws and regulations.

The ICFR is in accordance with the control framework established in 2013 by the “Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission” (hereinafter, "COSO"). The COSO 2013 framework sets five components that constitute the basis of the effectiveness and efficiency of the internal control systems:

• The establishment of an appropriate control framework.
• The assessment of the risks that could arise during the preparation of the financial information.
• The design of the necessary controls to mitigate the identified risks.
• The establishment of an appropriate system of information to detect and report system weaknesses.
• The monitoring activities over the controls to ensure they perform correctly and are effective over time.

The ICFR is a dynamic model that evolves continuously over time to reflect the reality of the BBVA Group’s businesses and processes, as well as the risks and controls designed to mitigate them. It is subject to a continuous evaluation by the internal control units located in the different entities of BBVA Group.

These internal control units are integrated within the BBVA internal control model, defined and led by Regulation & Internal Control, and which is based in two pillars:

• A control system organized into three lines of defense that has been updated and strengthened in 2020, as described below:

• The first line of defense (1LoD) is located within the business and support units, which are responsible for identifying risks associated with their processes, as well as for implementing and executing the necessary controls to mitigate them. In 2019, in order to reinforce the adequate risk management in each area’s processes, the role of the Risk Control Assurer was created.
• The second line of defense (2LoD) comprises the specialized control units for each type of risk (Finance, Legal, IT, Third Party, Compliance or Processes among others). This second line defines the mitigation and control frameworks for their areas of responsibility across the entire organization and performs challenge to the control model (supervises the implementation and design of the controls and assesses their effectiveness).
• The third line of defense (3LoD) is the Internal Audit unit, which conducts an independent review of the model, verifying the compliance and effectiveness of the model.

• A committee structure in the Group, called Corporate Assurance, which enables the escalation of possible weaknesses and internal control issues to the management at a Group level and also in each of the countries where the Group operates.

The internal control units within Finance comply with a common and standard methodology established at the Group level, as set out in the following diagram:

BBVA's INTERNAL CONTROL OVER FINANCIAL REPORTING

The ICFR Model is subject to annual evaluations by the Group’s Internal Audit Unit. It is also supervised by the Audit Committee of the Bank’s Board of Directors.

The BBVA Group is also required to comply with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (hereafter “SOX”) for Consolidated Financial Statements as a listed company with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”). The main senior executives of the Group are involved in the design, compliance and implementation of the internal control model to make it effective and to ensure the quality and accuracy of the financial information.

The description of the ICFR is included in the Corporate Governance Annual Report within the Management Report attached to the consolidated financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2020.

2. Principles of consolidation, accounting policies and measurement bases applied and recent IFRS pronouncements

The Glossary includes the definition of some of the financial and economic terms used in Note 2 and subsequent Notes of the accompanying consolidated Financial Statements.

2.1 Principles of consolidation

In terms of its consolidation, in accordance with the criteria established by IFRS, the BBVA Group is made up of four types of entities: subsidiaries, joint ventures, associates and structured entities, defined as follows:

• Subsidiaries

• Subsidiaries are entities controlled by the Group (for definition of control, see Glossary). The financial statements of the subsidiaries are fully consolidated with those of the Bank. The share of non-controlling interests from subsidiaries in the Group’s consolidated total equity is presented under the heading “Minority interests (Non-controlling interests)” in the consolidated balance sheet. Their share in the profit or loss for the period or year is presented under the heading “Attributable to minority interest (non-controlling interests)” in the accompanying consolidated income statement (see Note 31).
• Note 3 includes information related to the main subsidiaries in the Group as of December 31, 2020. Appendix I includes other significant information on all entities.

• Joint ventures

• Joint ventures are those entities for which there is a joint arrangement to joint control with third parties other than the Group (for definitions of joint arrangement, joint control and joint venture, refer to Glossary).
• The investments in joint ventures are accounted for using the equity method (see Note 16). Appendix II shows the main figures for joint ventures accounted for using the equity method as of December 31, 2020.

• Associates

• Associates are entities in which the Group is able to exercise significant influence (for definition of significant influence, see Glossary). Significant influence is deemed to exist when the Group owns 20% or more of the voting rights of an investee directly or indirectly, unless it can be clearly demonstrated that this is not the case.
• However, certain entities in which the Group owns 20% or more of the voting rights are not included as Group associates, since the Group does not have the ability to exercise significant influence over these entities. Investments in these entities, which do not represent material amounts for the Group, are classified as “Financial assets at fair value through other comprehensive income” or “Non-trading financial assets mandatorily at fair value through profit or loss”.
• In contrast, some investments in entities in which the Group holds less than 20% of the voting rights are accounted for as Group associates, as the Group is considered to have the ability to exercise significant influence over these entities. As of December 31, 2020, these entities are not significant to the Group.
• Appendix II shows the most significant information related to the associates (see Note 16), which are accounted for using the equity method.

• Structured Entities

• A structured entity is an entity that has been designed so that voting or similar rights are not the dominant factor in deciding who controls the entity, such as when the voting rights relate to administrative matters only and the relevant activities are directed by means of contractual arrangements (see Glossary).
• In those cases where the Group sets up entities or has a holding in such entities, in order to allow its customers access to certain investments, to transfer risks or for other purposes, in accordance with internal criteria and procedures and with applicable regulations, the Group determines whether control over the entity in question actually exists and therefore whether it should be subject to consolidation.
• Such methods and procedures determine whether there is control by the Group, considering how the decisions are made about the relevant activities, assessing whether the Group has control over the relevant elements, exposure to variable returns from involvement with the investee and the ability to use control over the investee to affect the amount of the investor’s returns.

• Structured entities subject to consolidation

• To determine if a structured entity is controlled by the Group, and therefore should be consolidated into the Group, the existing contractual rights (different from the voting rights) are analyzed. For this reason, an analysis of the structure and purpose of each investee is performed and, among others, the following factors will be considered:

• - Evidence of the current ability to manage the relevant activities of the investee according to the specific business needs including any decisions that may arise only in particular circumstances).
• - Potential existence of a special relationship with the investee.
• - Implicit or explicit Group commitments to support the investee.
• - The ability to use the Group´s power over the investee to affect the amount of the Group’s returns.

• These types of entities include cases where the Group has a high exposure to variable returns and retains decision-making power over the investee, either directly or through an agent.
• The main structured entities of the Group are the asset securitization funds, to which the BBVA Group transfers loans and advances, and other vehicles, which allow the Group’s customers to gain access to certain investments or to allow for the transfer of risks or for other purposes (see Appendices I and V). The BBVA Group maintains the decision-making power over the relevant activities of these vehicles and financial support through securitized market standard contracts. The most common ones are: investment positions in equity note tranches, funding through subordinated debt, credit enhancements through derivative instruments or liquidity lines, management rights of defaulted securitized assets, “clean-up” call derivatives, and asset repurchase clauses by the grantor.
• For these reasons, the loans and receivable portfolios related to the vast majority of the securitizations carried out by the Bank or Group subsidiaries are not derecognized in the books of said entity and the issuances of the related debt securities are recorded as liabilities within the Group’s consolidated balance sheet.
• For additional information on the accounting treatment for the transfer and derecognition of financial instruments, see Note 2.2.2. “Transfers and derecognition of financial assets and liabilities”.

• Non-consolidated structured entities

• The Group owns other vehicles also for the purpose of allowing customers access to certain investments, to transfer risks, and for other purposes, but without the Group having control of the vehicles, which are not consolidated in accordance with IFRS 10 – “Consolidated Financial Statements”. The balance of assets and liabilities of these vehicles is not material in relation to the Group’s Consolidated Financial Statements.
• As of December 31, 2020, there was no material financial support from the Bank or its subsidiaries to unconsolidated structured entities.
• The Group does not consolidate any of the mutual funds it manages since the necessary control conditions are not met. Particularly, the BBVA Group does not act as arranger but as agent since it operates the mutual funds on behalf and for the benefit of investors or parties (arranger or arrangers) and, for this reason it does not control the mutual funds when exercising its authority for decision making.
• The mutual funds managed by the Group are not considered structured entities (generally, retail funds without corporate identity over which investors have participations which gives them ownership of said managed equity). These funds are not dependent on a capital structure that could prevent them from carrying out activities without additional financial support, being in any case insufficient as far as the activities themselves are concerned. Additionally, the risk of the investment is absorbed by the fund participants, and the Group is only exposed when it becomes a participant, and as such, there is no other risk for the Group.

In all cases, the operating results of equity method investees acquired by the BBVA Group in a particular period only include the period from the date of acquisition to the financial statements date. Similarly, the results of entities disposed of during any year only include the period from the start of the year to the date of disposal.

The consolidated financial statements of subsidiaries, associates and joint ventures used in the preparation of the Consolidated Financial Statements of the Group have the same presentation date as the Consolidated Financial Statements. If financial statements at those same dates are not available, the most recent will be used, as long as these are not older than three months, and adjusted to take into account the most significant transactions. As of December 31, 2020, financial statements as of December 31 of all Group entities were utilized except for the case of the consolidated financial statements of 6 associates deemed non-significant for which financial statements as of November 30, 2020 were used.

Separate financial statements

The separate financial statements of the parent company of the Group are prepared under Spanish regulations (Circular 4/2017 of the Bank of Spain, and following other regulatory requirements of financial information applicable to the Bank). The Bank uses the cost method to account in its separate financial statements for its investments in subsidiaries, associates and joint venture entities, which are consistent with the requirements of Bank of Spain Circular 4/2017 and IAS 27 “Consolidated and Separate Financial Statements”.

Appendix IX shows BBVA’s financial statements as of and for the years ended December 31, 2020 and 2019.

2.2 Accounting principles and policies and applied valuation methods

The accounting principles and policies and the valuation methods applied in the preparation of the consolidated financial statements may differ from those used, at the individual level, by some of the entities that are part of the BBVA Group; This is why, in the consolidation process, the necessary adjustments and reclassifications are made to standardize such principles and criteria among themselves and bring them into line with the IFRS-EU.

In preparing the accompanying consolidated Annual Accounts, the following accounting principles and policies and assessment criteria have been applied:

2.2.1 Financial instruments

IFRS 9 became effective as of January 1, 2018 and replaced IAS 39 regarding the classification and measurement of financial assets and liabilities, the impairment of financial assets and hedge accounting. However, the Group has chosen to continue applying IAS 39 for accounting for hedges, until the completion of the macro-hedging project of IFRS 9 as permitted by IFRS 9.

Classification and measurement of financial assets

Classification of financial assets

IFRS 9 contains three main categories for financial assets classification: measured at amortized cost, measured at fair value with changes through other comprehensive income, and measured at fair value through profit or loss.

The classification of financial instruments in the categories of amortized cost or fair value depends on the business model with which the entity manages the assets and the contractual characteristics of the cash flows, commonly known as the "solely payments of principle and interest" criterion (hereinafter, the SPPI).

The assessment of the business model should reflect the way the Group manages groups of financial assets and does not depend on the intention for an individual instrument. Thus, for each entity within the BBVA Group there are different business models for managing assets.

In order to determine the business model, the following aspects are taken into account:

• The way in which the performance of the business model (and that of the assets which comprise such business model) is evaluated and reported to the entity's key personnel;
• The risks and the way in which the risks that affect the performance of the business model are managed;
• The way in which business model managers are remunerated;
• The frequency, amount and timing of sales in previous years, the reasons for such sales and expectations regarding future sales.

Regarding the SPPI test, the analysis of the cash flows aims to determine whether the contractual cash flows of the assets correspond only to payments of principal and interest on the principal amount outstanding at the beginning of the transaction. Interest is understood here as the consideration for the time value of money; and for the credit risk associated with the principal amount outstanding during a specific period; and for financing and structure costs, plus a profit margin.

The most significant judgments used by the Group in evaluating compliance with the conditions of the SPPI test are the following:

• Modified time value: in the event that a financial asset includes a periodic interest rate adjustment but the frequency of this adjustment does not coincide with the term of the reference interest rate (for example, the interest rate reset every six months to a one-year rate), the Group assesses, at the time of the initial recognition, this mismatch to determine whether the contractual cash flows (undiscounted) differ significantly or not from the cash flows (undiscounted) of a benchmark financial asset, for which there would be no change in the time value of money. The defined tolerance thresholds are 10% for the differences in each period and 5% for the analysis accumulated throughout the financial asset life.
• Contractual clauses: The contractual clauses can modify the calendar or the amount of the contractual cash flows are analyzed to verify if the contractual cash flows that would be generated during the life of the instrument due to the exercise of those clauses are only payments of principal and interest on the principal amount outstanding. To do this, the contractual cash flows that may be generated before and after the modification are analyzed.
• The main criteria taken into account in the analysis are:

• Early termination clauses: generally a contractual clause that permits the debtor to prepay a debt instrument before maturity is consistent with SPPI when the prepayment amount substantially represents unpaid amounts of principal and interest on the principal amount outstanding (which may include reasonable additional compensation for the early termination of the contract).
• Instruments with an interest rate linked to contingent events:

• An instrument whose interest rate is reset to a higher rate if the debtor misses a particular payment may meet the SPPI criterion because of the relationship between missed payments and an increase in credit risk.
• An instrument with contractual cash flows that are indexed to the debtor’s performance – e.g. net income or is adjusted based on a certain index or stock market value would not meet the SPPI criterion.

• Perpetual instruments: to the extent that they can be considered instruments with continuous (multiple) extension options, they meet the SPPI test if the contractual flows meet it. When the issuer can defer the payment of interest, if such payment would affect their solvency, they would meet the SPPI test if the deferred interest accrues additional interest, while if they do not, they would not meet the test.

• Non-recourse financial instruments: In the case of debt instruments that are repaid primarily with the cash flows of specific assets or projects and the debtor has no legal responsibility, the underlying assets or cash flows are evaluated to determine whether the contractual cash flows of the instrument are consistent with payments of principal and interest on the principal amount outstanding.

• If the contractual terms do not give rise to additional cash flows to payments of principal and interest on the amount of principal outstanding or limitations to these payments, the SPPI test is met.
• If the debt instrument effectively represents an investment in the underlying assets and its cash flows are inconsistent with principal and interest (because they depend on the performance of a business), the SPPI test is not met.

• Contractually linked instruments: a look-through analysis is carried out in the case of transactions that are set through the issuance of multiple financial instruments forming tranches that create concentrations of credit risk in which there is an order of priority that specifies how the flows of cash generated by the underlying set of financial instruments are allocated to the different tranches. The debt tranches of the instrument will comply with the requirement that their cash flows represent only payment of principal and interest on the outstanding principal if:

• the contractual terms of the tranche being assessed for classification (without looking through to the underlying pool of financial instruments) give rise to cash flows that are solely payments of principal and interest on the principal amount outstanding
• the underlying pool of financial instruments comprises instruments with cash flow that are solely payments of principal and interest on the principal amount outstanding, and
• the exposure to credit risk in the underlying pool of financial instruments inherent in the tranche is equal to or lower than the exposure to credit risk of the underlying pool of financial instruments (for example, the credit rating of the tranche being assessed for classification is equal to or higher than the credit rating that would apply to a single tranche that funded the underlying pool of financial instruments)

In any event, the contractual conditions that, at the time of the initial recognition, have a minimal effect on cash flows or depend on the occurrence of exceptional and highly unlikely events do not prevent compliance with the conditions of the SPPI test.

Based on the above characteristics, financial assets will be classified and valued as described below.

A debt instrument will be classified in the amortized cost portfolio if the two following conditions are fulfilled:

• The financial asset is managed within a business model whose purpose is to maintain the financial assets to maturity, to receive contractual cash flows; and
• The contractual conditions of the financial asset give rise to cash flows that are only payments of principal and interest.

A debt instrument will be classified in the portfolio of financial assets at fair value with changes through other comprehensive income if the two following conditions are fulfilled:

• The financial asset is managed with a business model whose purpose combines collection of the contractual cash flows and sale of the assets, and
• The contractual characteristics of the instrument generate cash flows which only represent the return of the principal and interest.

A debt instrument will be classified at fair value with changes in profit and loss provided that the entity's business model for their management or the contractual characteristics of its cash flows do not require classification into one of the portfolios described above.

In general, equity instruments will be measured at fair value through profit or loss. However the Group may make an irrevocable election, at initial recognition to present subsequent changes in the fair value through “other comprehensive income”.

Financial assets will only be reclassified when BBVA Group decides to change the business model. In this case, all of the financial assets assigned to this business model will be reclassified. The change of the objective of the business model should occur before the date of the reclassification.

Measurement of financial assets

All financial instruments are initially recognized at fair value, plus, those transaction costs which are directly attributable to the issue of the particular instrument, with the exception of those financial assets which are classified at fair value through profit or loss.

All changes in the value of financial assets due to the interest accrual and similar items are recorded in the headings "Interest income and other similar income" or "Interest expenses", of the consolidated income statement of the year in which the accrual occurred (see Note 37), except for trading derivatives that are not economic and accounting hedges.

The changes in fair value after the initial recognition, for reasons other than those mentioned in the preceding paragraph, are treated as described below, according to the categories of financial assets.

“Financial assets held for trading”, “Non-trading financial assets mandatorily at fair value through profit and loss” or “Financial assets designated at fair value through profit or loss”

Financial assets are recorded under the heading “Financial assets held for trading” if the objective of the business model is to generate gains by buying and selling these financial instruments or generate short-term results. The financial assets recorded in the heading “Non-trading financial assets mandatorily at fair value through profit or loss” are assigned to a business model which objective is to obtain the contractual cash flows and / or to sell those instruments but its contractual cash flows do not comply with the requirements of the SPPI test. Financial assets are classified in “Financial assets designated at fair value through profit or loss” only if it eliminates or significantly reduces a measurement or recognition inconsistency (an ‘accounting mismatch’) that would otherwise arise from measuring financial assets or financial liabilities, or recognizing gains or losses on them, on different bases.

The assets recognized under these headings of the consolidated balance sheet are measured upon acquisition at fair value and changes in the fair value (gains or losses) are recognized as their net value under the headings “Gains (losses) on financial assets and liabilities held for trading, net”, “Gains (losses) on non-trading financial assets mandatorily at fair value through profit or loss, net” and “Gains (losses) on financial assets designated at fair value through profit or loss, net” in the accompanying consolidated income statement (see Note 41). Changes in fair value resulting from variations in foreign exchange rates are recognized under the heading “Exchange differences, net” in the accompanying consolidated income statements (Note 41).

”Financial assets at fair value through other comprehensive income”

• Debt instruments

Assets recognized under this heading in the consolidated balance sheets are measured at their fair value. This category of valuation implies the recognition of the information in the income statement as if it were an instrument valued at amortized cost, while the instrument is valued at fair value in the balance sheet. Thus, both interest income on these instruments and the exchange differences and impairment that arise in their case are recorded in the profit and loss account, while subsequent changes in its fair value (gains or losses) are recognized temporarily (by the amount net of tax effect) under the heading “Accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) - Items that may be reclassified to profit or loss - Fair value changes of debt instruments measured at fair value through other comprehensive income” in the consolidated balance sheets (see Note 30).

The amounts recognized under the headings “Accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) - Items that may be reclassified to profit or loss - Fair value changes of financial assets measured at fair value through other comprehensive income” continue to form part of the Group's consolidated equity until the corresponding asset is derecognized from the consolidated balance sheet or until a loss allowance is recognized on the corresponding financial instrument. If these assets are sold, these amounts are derecognized and included under the headings “Gains (losses) on financial assets and liabilities, net” (see Note 41).

The net loss allowances in “Financial assets at fair value through other comprehensive income” over the year are recognized under the heading “Impairment or reversal of impairment on financial assets not measured at fair value through profit or loss or net gains by modification - Financial assets at fair value through other comprehensive income” (see Note 48) in the consolidated income statement for that period.

Interest income on these instruments are recorded in the consolidated profit and loss account (see Note 37). Changes in foreign exchange rates are recognized under the heading “Exchange differences, net" in the accompanying consolidated income statements (see Note 41).

• Equity instruments

At the time of initial recognition of specific investments in equity instruments, the BBVA Group may make the irrevocable decision to present subsequent changes in fair value in other comprehensive income. Subsequent changes in this valuation will be recognized in "Other accumulated comprehensive income - Items that will not be reclassified in results - Changes in the fair value of equity instruments measured at fair value with changes in other comprehensive income". Dividends received from these investments are recorded in the heading "Dividend income" in the consolidated income statement (see Note 38). These instruments are not subject to the impairment model of IFRS 9.

“Financial assets at amortized cost”

The assets under this category are subsequently measured at amortized cost, using the effective interest rate method.

Net loss allowances of assets recorded under these headings arising in each period are recognized under the heading “Impairment or reversal of impairment on financial assets not measured at fair value through profit or loss or net gains by modification – financial assets measured at amortized cost” in the consolidated income statement for such period (see Note 47).

Classification and measurement of financial liabilities

Classification of financial liabilities

Under IFRS 9, financial liabilities are classified in the following categories:

• Financial liabilities at amortized cost;
• Financial liabilities that are held for trading, including derivatives, are financial instruments which are recorded in this category when the Group’s objective is to generate gains by buying and selling these financial instruments;
• Financial liabilities that are designated at fair value through profit or loss on initial recognition under the Fair Value Option. The Group has the option to designate irrevocably, on the initial moment of recognition, a financial liability as at fair value through profit or loss provided that doing so results in the elimination or significant reduction of measurement or recognition inconsistency, or if a group of financial liabilities, or a group of financial assets and financial liabilities, has to be managed, and its performance evaluated, on a fair value basis in accordance with a documented risk management or investment strategy.

Measurement of financial liabilities

Financial liabilities are initially recorded at fair value, less transaction costs that are directly attributable to the issuance of instruments, except for financial instruments that are classified at fair value through profit or loss.

Variations in the value of financial liabilities due to the interest accrual and similar items are recorded in the headings “Interest income and other similar income” or “Interest expense”, of the consolidated income statement for the period in which the accrual occurred (see Note 37), except for trading derivatives that are not economic and accounting hedges.

The changes in fair value after the initial recognition, for reasons other than those mentioned in the preceding paragraph, are treated as described below, according to the categories of financial liabilities.

“Financial liabilities held for trading” and “Financial liabilities designated at fair value through profit or loss“

The subsequent changes in the fair value (gains or losses) of the liabilities recognized under these headings of the consolidated balance sheets are recognized as their net value under the headings “Gains (losses) on financial assets and liabilities held for trading, net” and “Gains (losses) on financial assets and liabilities designated at fair value through profit or loss, net” in the accompanying consolidated income statements (see Note 41). Nevertheless, the changes in the own credit risk of the liabilities designated under the fair value option is presented in “Accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) – Items that will not be reclassified to profit or loss – Fair value changes of financial liabilities at fair value through profit or loss attributable to changes in their credit risk”, unless this treatment brings about or increases an asymmetry in the income statement. However, changes in fair value resulting from variations in foreign exchange rates are recognized under the heading “Exchange differences, net” in the accompanying consolidated income statements (Note 41).

“Financial liabilities at amortized cost”

The liabilities under this category are subsequently measured at amortized cost, using the “effective interest rate” method.

Hybrid financial liabilities

When a financial liability contains an embedded derivative, the Group analyzes whether the economic characteristics and risks of the embedded derivative and the host instrument are closely related.

If the characteristics and risks of the host and the derivative are closely related, the instrument as a whole will be classified and measured according to the general rules for financial liabilities. If, on the other hand, the economic characteristics and risks of the embedded derivative are not closely related to the economic characteristics and risks of the host, its terms meet the definition of a derivative and the hybrid contract is not measured at fair value with changes in fair value recognized in profit or loss, the embedded derivative shall be separated from the host and accounted for as a derivative separately at fair value with changes in profit and loss and the host instrument will be classified and measured according to its nature.

“Derivatives-Hedge Accounting” and “Fair value changes of the hedged items in portfolio hedges of interest-rate risk”

The Group uses financial derivatives as a tool for managing financial risks, mainly interest rates and exchange rates (See Note 7).

When these transactions meet certain requirements, they are considered "hedging".

Changes occurring subsequent to the designation of the hedging relationship in the measurement of financial instruments designated as hedged items as well as financial instruments designated as hedge accounting instruments are recognized as follows:

• In fair value hedges, the changes in the fair value of the derivative and the hedged item attributable to the hedged risk are recognized under the heading “Gains (losses) from hedge accounting, net” in the consolidated income statement, with a corresponding offset under the headings where hedging items ("Hedging derivatives") and the hedged items are recognized, as applicable, except for interest-rate risks hedges (which are almost all of the hedges used by the Group), for which the valuation changes are recognized under the headings “Interest and other income” or “Interest expense”, as appropriate, in the accompanying consolidated income statement (see Note 37).
• In fair value hedges of interest rate risk of a portfolio of financial instruments (portfolio-hedges), the gains or losses that arise in the measurement of the hedging instrument are recognized in the consolidated income statement, with the corresponding offset on the headings “Derivatives-Hedge Accounting” and the gains or losses that arise from the change in the fair value of the hedged item (attributable to the hedged risk) are also recognized in the consolidated income statement (in both cases under the heading “Gains (losses) from hedge accounting, net”, using, as a balancing item, the headings "Fair value changes of the hedged items in portfolio hedges of interest rate risk" in the consolidated balance sheets, as applicable).
• In cash flow hedges, the gain or loss on the hedging instruments relating to the effective portion are recognized temporarily under the heading “Accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) - Items that may be reclassified to profit or loss - Hedging derivatives. Cash flow hedges (effective portion)” in the consolidated balance sheets, with a balancing entry under the heading “Hedging derivatives” of the Assets or Liabilities of the consolidated balance sheets as applicable. These differences are recognized under the headings “Interest and other income” or “Interest expense” at the time when the gain or loss in the hedged instrument affects profit or loss, when the forecast transaction is executed or at the maturity date of the hedged item (see Note 37).
• Differences in the measurement of the hedging items corresponding to the ineffective portions of cash flow hedges are recognized directly in the heading “Gains (losses) from hedge accounting, net” in the consolidated income statement (see Note 41).
• In the hedges of net investments in foreign operations, the differences attributable to the effective portions of hedging items are recognized temporarily under the heading "Accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) - Items that may be reclassified to profit or loss – Hedging of net investments in foreign operations (effective portion)" in the consolidated balance sheets with a balancing entry under the heading “Hedging derivatives” of the Assets or Liabilities of the consolidated balance sheets as applicable. These differences in valuation are recognized under the heading “Exchange differences, net" in the consolidated income statement when the investment in a foreign operation is disposed of or derecognized (see Note 41).

Loss allowances on financial assets

The “expected losses” impairment model is applied to financial assets valued at amortized cost, to debt instruments valued at fair value with changes in other accumulated comprehensive income, to financial guarantee contracts and other commitments. All financial instruments valued at fair value through profit or loss are excluded from the impairment model

The standard classifies financial instruments into three categories, which depend on the evolution of their credit risk from the moment of initial recognition. The first category includes the transactions when they are initially recognized (Stage 1); the second comprises the financial assets for which a significant increase in credit risk has been identified since its initial recognition (Stage 2) and the third one, the impaired financial assets (Stage 3).

The calculation of the provisions for credit risk in each of these three categories must be done differently. In this way, expected loss up to 12 months for the financial assets classified in the first of the aforementioned categories must be recorded, while expected losses estimated for the remaining life of the financial assets classified in the other two categories must be recorded. Thus, IFRS 9 differentiates between the following concepts of expected loss:

• Expected loss at 12 months: expected credit loss that arises from possible default events within 12 months following the presentation date of the financial statements; and
• Expected loss during the life of the transaction: this is the expected credit loss that arises from all possible default events over the remaining life of the financial instrument.

Both, the modeling for expected losses estimates and the factors affecting such losses forecasts require considerable judgment, which must be carried out on a weighted probability basis.

The BBVA Group has applied the following definitions:

• Default

• The Group has applied a definition of default for financial instruments that is consistent with that used in internal credit risk management, and coherent with the definition applied by the Group within the prudential context. The Group has considered the existence of default when one of the following situations occurs:

• Payment past-due for more than 90 days; or
• There are reasonable doubts regarding the full reimbursement of the instrument.

In accordance with IFRS 9, the 90-day past-due stipulation may be waived in cases where the entity considers it appropriate, based on reasonable and documented information that it is appropriate to use a longer term. As of December 31, 2020, the Group has not considered periods higher than 90 days for any significant portfolio.

These criteria are aligned in all the geographies where the Group operates, being only minor differences kept in order to facilitate management adoption al a national level. In this sense, national criteria are permitted, within the Group standards and searching for consistency and coherence between the geographies, easing the adoption of the default definition management.

• Credit impaired asset

• An asset is credit-impaired according to IFRS 9 if one or more events have occurred and they have a detrimental impact on the estimated future cash flows of the asset. Evidence that a financial asset is credit-impaired includes observable data about the following events:

• Significant financial difficulty of the issuer or the borrower.
• A breach of contract (e.g. a default or past due event).
• A lender having granted a concession to the borrower – for economic or contractual reasons relating to the borrower’s financial difficulty – that the lender would not otherwise consider.
• It becoming probable that the borrower will enter bankruptcy or other financial reorganization.
• The disappearance of an active market for that financial asset because of financial difficulties, or
• The purchase or origination of a financial asset at a deep discount that reflects the incurred credit losses.

It may not be possible to identify a single discrete event. Instead, the combined effect of several events may cause financial assets to become credit-impaired.

The definition of impaired financial assets in the Group is aligned with the definition of default explained in the above paragraphs.

Credit risk management for wholesale counterparties is carried out at the customer (or group) level. For this reason, the classification of any of a client's exposures as impaired, whether due to more than 90 days of default or due to any of the subjective criteria, implies the classification as impaired of all the client's exposures. There may be some justified exception that, in any case, are not significant.

Regarding retail clients, which are managed at the operation level, the scoring systems review their score, among other reasons, in the event of a breach in any of their transactions which also triggers the necessary recovery actions. These include refinancing measures that, where appropriate, may lead to all customer transactions being considered impaired. Furthermore, given the granularity of the retail portfolios, the differential behavior of these clients in relation to their products and collateral provided, as well as the time necessary to find the best solution, the Group has established as an indicator that when a transaction of a retail client has default in excess of 90 days and this represents more than 20% of the client's total balance, all its transactions are considered impaired, this without prejudice to the fact that lower limits have been established due to management practices in some geography.

• Significant increase in credit risk

The objective of the impairment requirements is to recognize lifetime expected credit losses for financial instruments for which there have been significant increases in credit risk since initial recognition considering all reasonable and supportable information, including that which is forward-looking.

The model developed by the Group for assessing the significant increase in credit risk has a two-prong approach that is applied globally (for more detail on the methodology used, see Note 7.2.1):

• Quantitative criterion: the Group uses a quantitative analysis based on comparing the current expected probability of default over the life of the transaction with the original adjusted expected probability of default, so that both values are comparable in terms of expected default probability for their residual life (see Note 7.2.1).
• Qualitative criterion: most indicators for detecting significant risk increase are included in the Group's systems through rating and scoring systems or macroeconomic scenarios, so the quantitative analysis covers the majority of circumstances. The Group uses additional qualitative criteria to identify significant increase in credit risk and thus, to include circumstances that are not reflected in the rating/score systems or macroeconomic scenarios used. Such qualitative criteria are the following:

• More than 30 days past due. According to IFRS 9, default of more than 30 days is a presumption that can be rebutted in those cases in which the entity considers, based on reasonable and documented information, that such non-payment does not represent a significant increase in risk. As of December 31, 2020, the Group has not considered periods higher than 30 days.
• Watch list: They are subject to special watch by the Risk units because they show negative signs in their credit quality, even though there may be no objective evidence of impairment.
• Refinance or restructuring that does not show evidence of impairment, or that, having been previously identified, the existence of significant increase in credit risk is still considered.

Although the standard introduces a series of operational simplifications, also known as practical solutions, for analyzing the increase in significant risk, the Group does not use them as a general rule. However, for high-quality assets, mainly related to certain government institutions and bodies, the standard allows for considering that their credit risk has not increased significantly because they have a low credit risk at the presentation date. This possibility is limited to those financial instruments that are classified as having high credit quality and high liquidity to comply with the liquidity coverage ratio (“LCR”). This does not prevent these assets from being assigned the credit risk coverage that corresponds to their classification as Stage 1 based on their credit rating and macroeconomic expectations.

The classification of financial instruments subject to impairment under IFRS 9 is as follows:

• Stage 1– without significant increase in credit risk

• Financial assets which are not considered to have significantly increased in credit risk have loss allowances measured at an amount equal to 12 months expected credit losses derived from defaults.

• Stage 2– significant increases in credit risk

• When the credit risk of a financial asset has increased significantly since the initial recognition, the loss allowances of that financial instrument is calculated as the expected credit loss during the entire life of the asset.

• Stage 3 – Impaired

• When there is objective evidence that the instrument is credit impaired, the financial asset is transferred to this category in which the provision for losses of that financial instrument is calculated as the expected credit loss during the entire life of the asset.

When the recovery of any recognized amount is considered remote, such amount is written-off on the consolidated balance sheet, without prejudice to any actions that may be taken in order to collect the amount until the rights extinguish in full either because it is time-barred debt, the debt is forgiven, or other reasons.

Method for calculating expected credit loss

Method for calculating expected loss

In accordance with IFRS 9, the measurement of expected losses must reflect:

• A considered and unbiased amount, determined by evaluating a range of possible results;
• The time value of money, and
• Reasonable and supportable information that is available without undue cost or effort and that reflects current conditions and forecasts of future economic conditions.

Expected losses are measured both individually and collectively

The individualized estimate of credit losses results from calculating the difference between the expected cash flows discounted at the effective interest rate of the transaction and the carrying amount of the instrument (See Note 7.2.1).

For the collective measurement of expected losses the instruments are classified into groups of assets based on their risk characteristics. Exposure within each group is segmented according to credit risk common characteristics, which indicate the payment capacity of the borrower according to the contractual conditions. These risk characteristics have to be relevant in estimating the future flows of each group. The characteristics of credit risk may consider, among others, the following factors (see Note 7):

• Type of instrument.
• Rating or scoring tools.
• Credit risk scoring or rating.
• Type of collateral.
• Amount of time at default for stage 3.
• Segment.
• Qualitative criteria which can have a significant increase in risk.
• Collateral value if it has an impact on the probability of a default event.

The estimated losses are derived from the following parameters:

• PD: estimate of the probability of default in each period.
• EAD: estimate of the exposure in case of default at each future period, taking into account the changes in exposure after the presentation date of the financial statements.
• LGD: estimate of the loss in case of default, calculated as the difference between the contractual cash flows and receivables, including guarantees. For these purposes, the probability of executing the guarantee is considered in the estimation, the moment until its ownership and subsequent realization, the expected cashflows and acquisition and sale costs.
• CCF: cash conversion factor is the estimate made on off-balance sheet to determine the exposure subject to credit risk in the event of a default.

At the BBVA Group, the calculated expected credit losses are based on internal models developed for all portfolios within the IFRS 9 scope, except for the cases that are subject to individual analysis.

The calculation and recognition of expected losses includes exposures with governments and credit institutions, for which, despite having a reduced number of defaults in the information databases, internal models have been developed, considering, as sources of information, the data provided by external rating agencies or other observed in the market, such as changes in bond yields, prices of credit default swaps or any other public information on them.

Use of present, past and future information

IFRS 9 requires incorporation of present, past and future information to detect any significant increase in risk and measure expected loss.

The standard does not require identification of all possible scenarios for measuring expected loss. However, the probability of a loss event occurring and the probability it will not occur have to be considered, even though the possibility of a loss may be very low. To achieve this, the Group generally evaluates the linear relationship between its estimated loss parameters (PD, GDP, EAD) with the historical and future forecasts of the macroeconomic scenarios.

Additionally, when there is no linear relation between the different future economic scenarios and their associated expected losses, more than one future economic scenario must be used for the measurement.

The approach used by the Group consists of using a methodology based on the use of three scenarios. The first is the most probable scenario (base scenario) that is consistent with that used in the Group's internal management processes, and two additional ones, one more positive and the other more negative. The combined outcome of these three scenarios is calculated considering the weight given to each of them. The main macroeconomic variables that are valued in each of the scenarios for each of the geographies in which the Group operates are the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), the real estate price index, interest rates and the unemployment rate, although, in the first place, the main goal is seeking the greatest predictive capacity with respect to the former two (see Note 7.2.1).

2.2.2 Transfers and derecognition of financial assets and liabilities

The accounting treatment of transfers of financial assets is determined by the form in which risks and benefits associated with the financial assets involved are transferred to third parties. Thus the financial assets are only derecognized from the consolidated balance sheet when the cash flows that they generate are extinguished, when their implicit risks and benefits have been substantially transferred to third parties or when the control of financial asset is transferred even in case of no physical transfer or substantial retention of such assets. In the latter case, the financial asset transferred is derecognized from the consolidated balance sheet, and any right or obligation retained or created as a result of the transfer is simultaneously recognized.

Similarly, financial liabilities are derecognized from the consolidated balance sheet only if their obligations are extinguished or acquired (with a view to subsequent cancellation or renewed placement).

The Group is considered to have transferred substantially all the risks and benefits if such risks and benefits account for the majority of the risks and benefits involved in ownership of the transferred financial assets. If substantially all the risks and benefits associated with the transferred financial asset are retained:

• The transferred financial asset is not derecognized from the consolidated balance sheet and continues to be measured using the same criteria as those used before the transfer.
• A financial liability is recognized at the amount equal to the amount received, which is subsequently measured at amortized cost or fair value with changes in the income statement, whichever the case.
• Both the income generated on the transferred (but not derecognized) financial asset and the expense of the new financial liability continue to be recognized.

Treatment of securitizations

The securitizations to which the Group entities transfer their credit portfolios are consolidated entities of the Group. For more information, refer to Note 2.1 “Principles of consolidation”.

The Group considers that the risks and benefits of the securitizations are substantially retained if the subordinated bonds are held and/ or if subordination funding has been granted to those securitization funds, which means that the credit loss risk of the securitized assets will be assumed. Consequently, the Group is not derecognizing those transferred loan portfolios.

On the other hand, the Group has carried out synthetic securitizations, which are transactions where risk is transferred through derivatives or financial guarantees and in which the exposure of these securitizations remains in the balance sheet of the Group. The Group has established the synthetic securitizations through received financial guarantees. As for the commissions paid, they are accrued during the term of the financial guarantee.

2.2.3 Financial guarantees

Financial guarantees are considered to be those contracts that require their issuer to make specific payments to reimburse the holder of the financial guarantee for a loss incurred when a specific borrower breaches its payment obligations on the terms – whether original or subsequently modified – of a debt instrument, irrespective of the legal form it may take. Financial guarantees may take the form of a deposit, bank guarantee, insurance contract or credit derivative, among others.

In their initial recognition, financial guarantees are recognized as liabilities in the consolidated balance sheet at fair value, which is generally the present value of the fees, commissions and interest receivable from these contracts over the term thereof, and the Group simultaneously recognizes a corresponding asset in the consolidated balance sheet for the amount of the fees and commissions received at the inception of the transactions and the amounts receivable at the present value of the fees, commissions and interest outstanding.

Financial guarantees, irrespective of the guarantor, instrumentation or other circumstances, are reviewed periodically so as to determine the credit risk to which they are exposed and, if appropriate, to consider whether a provision is required for them. The credit risk is determined by application of criteria similar to those established for quantifying loss allowances on debt instruments measured at amortized cost (see Note 2.2.1).

The provisions recognized for financial guarantees are recognized under the heading “Provisions - Provisions for contingent risks and commitments” on the liability side in the consolidated balance sheets (see Note 24). These provisions are recognized and reversed with a charge or credit, respectively to “Provisions or reversal of provision” in the consolidated income statements (see Note 46).

Income from financial guarantees is recorded under the heading “Fee and commission income” in the consolidated income statement and is calculated by applying the rate established in the related contract to the nominal amount of the guarantee (see Note 40).

Synthetic securitizations made by the Group to date meet the requirements of the accounting regulations for accounting as guarantees. Consideration as a financial guarantee means recognition of the commission paid for it over the period.

2.2.4 Non-current assets and disposal groups classified as held for sale and liabilities included in disposal groups classified as held for sale

The heading “Non-current assets and disposal groups classified as held for sale” in the consolidated balance sheet includes the carrying amount of individual items or items integrated in a group ("disposal group") or that form part of a significant business line or geographic area that it is intended to be disposed of (“discontinued operation”) whose sale is highly probable that it will take place under the conditions in which such assets are currently located within a period of one year from the date to which the financial statements refer. Additionally, assets that were expected to be disposed of within a year but which disposal is delayed and is caused by events and circumstances beyond the control of the Group can be classified as held for sale (see Note 21).

Symmetrically, the heading “Liabilities included in disposal groups classified as held for sale” in the consolidated balance sheet reflects the balances payable arising from disposal groups and discontinued operations.

The heading "Non-current assets and disposal groups as held for sale" includes the assets received by the subsidiaries for the satisfaction, in whole or in part, of the payment obligations of their debtors (foreclosed or received in payment of debt or recoveries from financial leasing transactions, unless the Group has decided to make continued use of those assets). The BBVA Group has specific units focused on real estate management and sale of these types of assets.

Non-current assets and disposal groups classified as held for sale are measured, at the acquisition date and at any later date deemed necessary, at either their carrying amount or the fair value of the property (less costs to sell), whichever is lower. An impairment or reversal of impairment for the difference is recognized if applicable. When the amount of the sale less estimated costs of sale is higher than the carrying value, the gain is not recognized until the moment of disposal and derecognition from the balance sheet.

Non-current assets and disposal groups held for sale groups classified as held for sale are not depreciated while included under the heading “Non-current assets and disposal groups classified as held for sale”.

In the case of real estate assets foreclosed or received in payment of debts, they are initially recognized at the lower of: the restated carrying amount of the financial asset and the fair value at the time of the foreclosure or receipt of the asset less estimated sales costs. The carrying amount of the financial asset is updated at the time of the foreclosure, treating the real property received as a secured collateral and taking into account the credit risk coverage that would correspond to it according to its classification prior to the delivery. For these purposes, the collateral will be valued at its current fair value (less sale costs) at the time of foreclosure. This carrying amount will be compared with the previous carrying amount and the difference will be recognized as a provision increase, if applicable. On the other hand, the fair value of the foreclosed assets is based mainly on appraisals or valuations carried out by independent experts on an annual basis or more frequently if there are indications of impairment by appraisal, evaluating the need to apply a discount on the asset derived from the specific conditions of the asset or the market situation for these assets and in any case, deducting the company’s estimated sale costs.

Gains and losses generated on the disposal of assets and liabilities classified as non-current held for sale, and liabilities included in disposal groups classified as held for sale as well as impairment losses and, where pertinent, the related recoveries, are recognized in “Gains (losses) from non-current assets and disposal groups classified as held for sale not qualifying as discontinued operations” in the consolidated income statement (see Note 50). The remaining income and expense items associated with these assets and liabilities are classified within the relevant consolidated income statement headings.

Income and expense for discontinued operations, whatever their nature, generated during the year, even if they have occurred before their classification as discontinued operations, are presented net of the tax effect as a single amount under the heading “Profit (loss) after tax from discontinued operations” in the consolidated income statement (see Note 1.3 and 21). This heading includes the earnings from their sale or other disposal (net of tax effects).

2.2.5 Tangible Assets

Property, plant and equipment for own use

This heading includes the assets under ownership or acquired under lease terms (right to use), intended for future or current use by the BBVA Group and that it expects to hold for more than one year. It also includes tangible assets received by the consolidated entities in full or partial settlement of financial assets representing receivables from third parties which are expected to be held for continuing use.

For more information regarding the accounting treatment of right to use assets under lease terms, see Note 2.2.18 "Leases".

Property, plant and equipment for own use are presented in the consolidated balance sheets at acquisition cost, less any accumulated depreciation and, where appropriate, any estimated impairment losses resulting from comparing the net carrying amount of each item with its corresponding recoverable amount (see Note 17).

Depreciation is calculated using the straight-line method, during the useful life of the asset, on the basis of the acquisition cost of the assets less their residual value; the land is considered to have an indefinite life and is therefore not depreciated.

The tangible asset depreciation charges are recognized in the accompanying consolidated income statements under the heading "Depreciation and Amortization" (see Note 45) and are based on the application of the following depreciation rates (determined on the basis of the average years of estimated useful life of the various assets):

Depreciation rates for tangible assets

Download table

At each reporting date, the Group entities analyze whether there are internal or external indicators that a tangible asset may be impaired. When there is evidence of impairment, the Group analyzes whether this impairment actually exists by comparing the asset’s net carrying amount with its recoverable amount (defined as the higher between its recoverable amount less disposal costs and its value in use). When the carrying amount exceeds the recoverable amount, the carrying amount is written down to the recoverable amount and depreciation charges going forward are adjusted to reflect the asset’s remaining useful life.

Similarly, if there is any indication that the value of a previously impaired tangible asset is now recoverable, the consolidated entities will estimate the recoverable amounts of the asset and recognize it in the consolidated income statement, recording the reversal of the impairment loss recognized in previous years and thus adjusting future depreciation charges. Under no circumstances may the reversal of an impairment loss on an asset raise its carrying amount above that which it would have if no impairment losses had been recognized in prior years.

In the BBVA Group, most of the buildings held for own use are assigned to the different Cash-Generating-Units (CGU) to which they belong. The corresponding impairment analyses are performed for these CGUs to check whether sufficient cash flows are generated to support the value of the assets comprised within.

Operating and maintenance expense relating to tangible assets held for own use are recognized as an expense in the year they are incurred and recognized in the consolidated income statements under the heading "Administration costs - Other administrative expense - Property, fixtures and materials" (see Note 44.2).

Other assets leased out under an operating lease

The criteria used to recognize the acquisition cost of assets leased out under operating leases, to calculate their depreciation and their respective estimated useful lives and to recognize the impairment losses on them, are the same as those described in relation to tangible assets for own use.

Investment properties

The heading “Tangible assets - Investment properties” in the consolidated balance sheets reflects the net values (purchase cost minus the corresponding accumulated depreciation and, if appropriate, estimated impairment losses) of the land, buildings and other structures that are held either to earn rentals or for capital appreciation through sale and that are neither expected to be sold off in the ordinary course of business nor are destined for own use (see Note 17).

The criteria used to recognize the acquisition cost of investment properties, calculate their depreciation and their respective estimated useful lives and recognize the impairment losses on them, are the same as those described in relation to tangible assets held for own use.

The BBVA Group determines periodically the fair value of its investment properties in such a way that, at the end of the financial year, the fair value reflects the market conditions of investment property assets’ market at such date. This fair value will be determined taking as references the valuations performed by independent experts.

2.2.6 Business combinations

A business combination is a transaction, or any other deal, by which the Group obtains control of one or more businesses. It is accounted for by applying the “acquisition method”.

According to this method, the acquirer has to recognize the assets acquired and the liabilities and contingent liabilities assumed, including those that the acquired entity had not recognized in the accounts. The method involves the measurement of the consideration received for the business combination and its allocation to the assets, liabilities and contingent liabilities measured according to their fair value, at the purchase date, as well as the recognition of any non-controlling participation (minority interests) that may arise from the transaction.

In a business combination achieved in stages, the acquirer shall measure its previously held equity interest in the acquiree at its acquisition-date fair value and recognize the resulting gain or loss, if any, in profit or loss under the heading “Gains (losses) on derecognition of non-financial assets and subsidiaries, net” of the consolidated income statements. In prior reporting periods, the acquirer may have recognized changes in the value of its equity interest in the acquiree in other comprehensive income. If so, the amount that was recognized in other comprehensive income shall be recognized on the same basis as would be required if the acquirer had disposed directly of the previously held equity interest.

In addition, the acquirer shall recognize an asset in the consolidated balance sheet under the heading “Intangible asset - Goodwill” if on the acquisition date there is a positive difference between:

• the sum of the consideration transferred, the amount of all the non-controlling interests and the fair value of stock previously held in the acquired business; and
• the net fair value of the assets acquired and liabilities assumed.

If this difference is negative, it shall be recognized directly in the income statement under the heading “Negative goodwill recognized in profit or loss”.

Non-controlling interests in the acquired entity may be measured in two ways: either at their fair value; or at the proportional percentage of net assets identified in the acquired entity. The method of valuing non-controlling interest may be elected in each business combination. BBVA Group has always elected for the second method.

2.2.7 Intangible assets

Goodwill

Goodwill represents a portion of consideration transferred in advance by the acquiring entity for the future economic benefits from assets that cannot be individually identified and separately recognized. Goodwill is never amortized. It is subject periodically to an impairment analysis, and is written off if there has been impairment (see Note 18).

Goodwill is assigned to one or more CGUs that expect to be the beneficiaries of the synergies derived from the business combinations. The CGUs represent the Group’s smallest identifiable asset groups that generate cash flows for the Group and that are largely independent of the flows generated from the Group’s other assets or groups of assets. Each unit or units to which goodwill is allocated:

• Is the lowest level at which the entity manages goodwill internally.
• Is not larger than an operating segment.

The cash generating units to which goodwill has been allocated are tested for impairment (including the allocated goodwill in their carrying amount). This analysis is performed at least annually or more frequently if there is any indication of impairment.

For the purpose of determining the impairment of a cash-generating unit to which a part of goodwill has been allocated, the carrying amount of that cash-generating unit, adjusted by the theoretical amount of the goodwill attributable to the non-controlling interests, in the event they are not valued at fair value, is compared with its recoverable amount.

The recoverable amount of a cash-generating unit is equal to the fair value less sale costs or its value in use, whichever is greater. Value in use is calculated as the discounted value of the cash flow projections that the unit’s management estimates and is based on the latest budgets approved for the coming years. The main assumptions used in its calculation are: a growth rate to extrapolate the cash flows indefinitely, and the discount rate used to discount the cash flows, which is equal to the cost of the capital assigned to each cash-generating unit, and equivalent to the sum of the risk-free rate plus a risk premium inherent to the cash-generating unit being evaluated for impairment.

If the carrying amount of the cash-generating unit exceeds the related recoverable amount, the Group recognizes an impairment loss; the resulting loss is apportioned by reducing, first, the carrying amount of the goodwill allocated to that unit and, second, if there are still impairment losses remaining to be recognized, the carrying amount of the remainder of the assets. This is done by allocating the remaining loss in proportion to the carrying amount of each of the assets in the unit. In the event the non-controlling interests are measured at fair value, the deterioration of goodwill attributable to non-controlling interests will be recognized. In any case, an impairment loss recognized for goodwill shall not be reversed in a subsequent period.

Goodwill impairment losses are recognized under the heading "Impairment or reversal of impairment on non-financial assets – Intangible assets” (see Note 49).

Other intangible assets

These assets may have an indefinite useful life if, based on an analysis of all relevant factors, it is concluded that there is no foreseeable limit to the period over which the asset is expected to generate net cash flows for the consolidated entities. In all other cases they have a finite useful life (see Note 18).

Intangible assets with a finite useful life are amortized according to the duration of this useful life, using methods similar to those used to depreciate tangible assets. The defined useful life intangible asset is made up mainly of IT applications acquisition costs which have a useful life of 3 to 5 years. The amortization charge of these assets is recognized in the accompanying consolidated income statements under the heading "Depreciation and amortization" (see Note 45).

The consolidated entities recognize any impairment losses on the carrying amount of these assets with charge to the heading “Impairment or reversal of impairment on non-financial assets- Intangible assets” in the accompanying consolidated income statements (see Note 49). The criteria used to recognize the impairment losses on these assets and, where applicable, the recovery of impairment losses recognized in prior years, are similar to those used for tangible assets.

2.2.8 Insurance and reinsurance contracts

The assets and liabilities of the BBVA Group’s insurance subsidiaries are recognized according to their nature under the corresponding headings of the consolidated balance sheets, and the initial recognition and valuation is carried out according to the criteria set out in IFRS 4.

The heading “Insurance and reinsurance assets” in the accompanying consolidated balance sheets includes the amounts that the consolidated insurance subsidiaries are entitled to receive under the reinsurance contracts entered into by them with third parties and, more specifically, the reinsurer´s share of the technical provisions recognized by the consolidated insurance subsidiaries.

The heading “Liabilities under insurance and reinsurance contracts” in the accompanying consolidated balance sheets includes the technical provisions for direct insurance and inward reinsurance recognized by the consolidated insurance subsidiaries to cover claims arising from insurance contracts open at period-end (see Note 23).

The income or expense reported by the BBVA Group’s consolidated insurance subsidiaries on their insurance activities is recognized, in accordance with their nature, in the corresponding items of the consolidated income statements.

The consolidated insurance entities of the BBVA Group recognize the amounts of the premiums written and a charge for the estimated cost of the claims that will be incurred at their final settlement to their consolidated income statements. At the close of each year the amounts collected and unearned, as well as the costs incurred and unpaid, are accrued.

The most significant provisions recorded by consolidated insurance entities with respect to insurance policies issued by them are set out by their nature in Note 23.

According to the type of product, the provisions may be as follows:

• Life insurance provisions:

• Represents the value of the net obligations undertaken with the life insurance policyholder. These provisions include:

• Provisions for unearned premiums. These are intended for the accrual, at the date of calculation, of the premiums written. Their balance reflects the portion of the premiums received until the closing date that has to be allocated to the period from year-end to the end of the insurance policy period.
• Mathematical reserves: Represents the value of the life insurance obligations of the insurance entities at year-end, net of the policyholder’s obligations, arising from life insurance contracted.

• Non-life insurance provisions:

• Provisions for unearned premiums. These provisions are intended for the accrual, at the date of calculation, of the premiums written. Their balance reflects the portion of the premiums received until the closing date that has to be allocated to the period between the year-end and the end of the policy period.
• Provisions for unexpired risks: The provision for unexpired risks supplements the provision for unearned premiums by the amount by which that provision is not sufficient to reflect the assessed risks and expenses to be covered by the consolidated insurance subsidiaries in the policy period not elapsed at year-end.

• Provision for claims:

• This reflects the total amount of the outstanding obligations arising from claims incurred prior to year-end. Insurance subsidiaries calculate this provision as the difference between the total estimated or certain cost of the claims not yet reported, settled or paid, and the total amounts already paid in relation to these claims.

• Provision for bonuses and rebates:

• This provision includes the amount of the bonuses accruing to policyholders, insurees or beneficiaries and the premiums to be returned to policyholders or insurees, as the case may be, based on the behavior of the risk insured, to the extent that such amounts have not been individually assigned to each of them.

• Technical provisions for reinsurance ceded:

• Calculated by applying the criteria indicated above for direct insurance, taking account of the assignment conditions established in the open reinsurance contracts.

• Other technical provisions:

• Insurance entities have recognized provisions to cover the probable mismatches in the market reinvestment interest rates with respect to those used in the valuation of the technical provisions.

The BBVA Group controls and monitors the exposure of the insurance subsidiaries to financial risk and, to this end, uses internal methods and tools that enable it to measure credit risk and market risk and to establish the limits for these risks.

2.2.9 Tax assets and liabilities

Expenses on corporate income tax applicable to the BBVA Group’s Spanish entities and on similar income taxes applicable to consolidated foreign entities are recognized in the consolidated income statement, except when they result from transactions on which the profits or losses are recognized directly in equity, in which case the related tax effect is also recognized in equity.

The total corporate income tax expense is calculated by aggregating the current tax arising from the application of the corresponding tax rate as per the tax base for the year (after deducting the tax credits or discounts allowable for tax purposes) and the change in deferred tax assets and liabilities recognized in the consolidated income statement.

Deferred tax assets and liabilities include temporary differences, defined as the amounts to be payable or recoverable in future years arising from the differences between the carrying amount of assets and liabilities and their tax bases (the “tax value”), and tax loss and tax credit or discount carry forwards. These amounts are calculated by applying to each temporary difference the tax rates that are expected to apply when the asset is realized or the liability settled (see Note 19).

The "Tax Assets" line item in the accompanying consolidated balance sheets includes the amount of all the assets of a tax nature, broken down into: "Current” (amounts of tax recoverable in the next twelve months) and "Deferred" (which includes the amount of tax to be recovered in future years, including those arising from tax losses or credits for deductions or rebates that can be compensated). The "Tax Liabilities" line item in the accompanying consolidated balance sheets includes the amount of all the liabilities of a tax nature, except for provisions for taxes, broken down into: "Current” (income tax payable on taxable profit for the year and other taxes payable in the next twelve months) and "Deferred" (the amount of corporate tax payable in subsequent years).

Deferred tax liabilities attributable to taxable temporary differences associated with investments in subsidiaries, associates or joint venture entities are recognized as such, except where the Group can control the timing of the reversal of the temporary difference and it is unlikely that it will reverse in the future. Deferred tax assets are recognized to the extent that it is probable that the consolidated entities will generate enough taxable profits to make deferred tax assets effective and do not correspond to those from initial recognition (except in the case of business combinations), which also does not affect the fiscal outcome.

The deferred tax assets and liabilities recognized are reassessed by the consolidated entities at each balance sheet date in order to ascertain whether they still qualify as deferred tax assets and liabilities, and the appropriate adjustments are made on the basis of the findings of the analyses performed. In those circumstances in which it is unclear how a specific requirement of the tax law applies to a particular transaction or circumstance, and the acceptability of the definitive tax treatment depends on the decisions taken by the relevant taxation authority in future, the entity recognizes current and deferred tax liabilities and assets considering whether it is probable or not that a taxation authority will accept an uncertain tax treatment. Thus, if the entity concludes that it is not probable that the taxation authority will accept an uncertain tax treatment, the entity uses the amount expected to be paid to (recovered from) the taxation authorities.

The income and expense directly recognized in consolidated equity that do not increase or decrease taxable income are accounted for as temporary differences.

2.2.10 Provisions, contingent assets and contingent liabilities

The heading “Provisions” in the consolidated balance sheets includes amounts recognized to cover the BBVA Group’s current obligations arising as a result of past events. These are certain in terms of nature but uncertain in terms of amount and/or settlement date. The settlement of these obligations is deemed likely to entail an outflow of resources embodying economic benefits (see Note 24). The obligations may arise in connection with legal or contractual provisions, valid expectations formed by Group entities relative to third parties in relation to the assumption of certain responsibilities or through virtually certain developments of particular aspects of the regulations applicable to the operation of the entities; and, specifically, future legislation to which the Group will certainly be subject. The provisions are recognized in the consolidated balance sheets when each and every one of the following requirements is met:

• They represent a current obligation that has arisen from a past event. At the date of the Consolidated Financial Statements, there is more probability that the obligation will have to be met than that it will not.
• It is probable that an outflow of resources embodying economic benefits will be required to settle the obligation.
• The amount of the obligation can be reasonably estimated.

Among other items, these provisions include the commitments made to employees by some of the Group entities mentioned in Note 2.2.11, as well as provisions for tax and legal litigation.

Contingent assets are possible assets that arise from past events and whose existence is conditional on, and will be confirmed only by, the occurrence or non-occurrence of events beyond the control of the Group. Contingent assets are not recognized in the consolidated balance sheet or in the consolidated income statement; however, they will be disclosed, should they exist, in the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements, provided that it is probable will give rise to an increase in resources embodying economic benefits.

Contingent liabilities are possible obligations of the Group that arise from past events and whose existence is conditional on the occurrence or non-occurrence of one or more future events beyond the control of the Group. They also include the existing obligations of the Group when it is not probable that an outflow of resources embodying economic benefits will be required to settle them; or when, in extremely rare cases, their amount cannot be measured with sufficient reliability.

Contingent liabilities are not recognized in the consolidated balance sheet or the income statement (excluding contingent liabilities from businesses combinations) but are disclosed in the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements, unless the possibility of an outflow of resources embodying economic benefits is remote.

2.2.11 Pensions and other post-employment commitments

Below we provide a description of the most significant accounting policies relating to post-employment and other employee benefit commitments assumed by BBVA Group entities (see Note 25).

Short-term employee benefits

Benefits for current active employees which are accrued and settled during the year and for which a provision is not required in the entity´s accounts. These include wages and salaries, social security charges and other personnel expense.

Costs are charged and recognized under the heading “Administration costs – Personnel expense – Other personnel expense” of the consolidated income statement (see Note 44.1).

Post-employment benefits – Defined-contribution plans

The Group sponsors defined-contribution plans for the majority of its active employees. The amount of these benefits is established as a percentage of remuneration and/or as a fixed amount.

The contributions made to these plans in each year by BBVA Group entities are charged and recognized under the heading “Administration costs – Personnel expense– Defined-contribution plan expense” of the consolidated income statement (see Note 44.1).

Post-employment benefits – Defined-benefit plans

Some Group entities maintain pension commitments with employees who have already retired or taken early retirement, certain closed groups of active employees still accruing defined benefit pensions, and in-service death and disability benefits provided to most active employees. These commitments are covered by insurance contracts, pension funds and internal provisions.

In addition, some of the Spanish entities have offered certain employees the option to retire before their normal retirement age, recognizing the necessary provisions to cover the costs of the associated benefit commitments, which include both the liability for the benefit payments due as well as the contributions payable to external pension funds during the early retirement period.

Furthermore, certain Group entities provide welfare and medical benefits which extend beyond the date of retirement of the employees entitled to the benefits.

All of these commitments are quantified based on actuarial valuations, with the amounts recorded under the heading “Provisions – Provisions for pensions and similar obligations” in the consolidated balance sheet and determined as the difference between the value of the defined-benefit commitments and the fair value of plan assets at the date of the Consolidated Financial Statements (see Note 25).

Current service cost is charged and recognized under the heading “Administration costs – Personnel expense – Defined-benefit plan expense” of the consolidated income statement (see Note 44.1).

Interest credits/charges relating to these commitments are charged and recognized in net terms under the headings “Interest and other income” or, where appropriated, “Interest expense” of the consolidated income statement (see Note 37).

Past service costs arising from benefit plan changes as well as early retirements granted during the year are recognized under the heading “Provisions or reversals of provisions” of the consolidated income statement (see Note 46).

Other long-term employee benefits

In addition to the above commitments, certain Group entities provide long-term service awards to their employees, consisting of monetary amounts or periods of vacation granted upon completion of a number of years of qualifying service.

These commitments are quantified based on actuarial valuations and the amounts recorded under the heading “Provisions – Other long-term employee benefits” of the consolidated balance sheet (see Note 24).

Valuation of commitments: actuarial assumptions and recognition of gains/losses

The present value of these commitments is determined based on individual member data. Active employee costs are determined using the “projected unit credit” method, which treats each period of service as giving rise to an additional unit of benefit and values each unit separately.

In establishing the actuarial assumptions we take into account that:

• They should be unbiased, i.e. neither unduly optimistic nor excessively conservative.
• Each assumption does not contradict the others and adequately reflect the existing relationship between economic variables such as price inflation, expected wage increases, discount rates and the expected return on plan assets, etc. Future wage and benefit levels should be based on market expectations, at the balance sheet date, for the period over which the obligations are to be settled.
• The interest rate used to discount benefit commitments is determined by reference to market yields, at the balance sheet date, on high quality bonds.

The BBVA Group recognizes actuarial gains (losses) relating to early retirement benefits, long service awards and other similar items under the heading “Provisions or reversal of provisions” of the consolidated income statement for the period in which they arise (see Note 46). Actuarial gains (losses) relating to pension and medical benefits are directly charged and recognized under the heading "Accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) – Items that will not be reclassified to profit or loss – Actuarial gains (losses) on defined benefit pension plans" of equity in the consolidated balance sheet (see Note 30).

2.2.12 Equity-settled share-based payment transactions

Equity –settled share-based payment transactions, provided they constitute the delivery of such equity instruments once completion of a specific period of services has occurred, are recognized as an expense for services being provided by employees, by way of a balancing entry under the heading “Shareholders’ funds – Other equity instruments” in the consolidated balance sheet. These services are measured at fair value for the employees services received, unless such fair value cannot be calculated reliably. In such case, they are measured by reference to the fair value of the equity instruments granted, taking into account the date on which the commitments were granted and the terms and other conditions included in the commitments.

When the initial compensation agreement includes what may be considered market conditions among its terms, any changes in these conditions will not be reflected in the consolidated income statement, as these have already been accounted for in calculating the initial fair value of the equity instruments. Non-market vesting conditions are not taken into account when estimating the initial fair value of equity instruments, but they are taken into account when determining the number of equity instruments to be issued. This will be recognized on the consolidated income statement with the corresponding increase in total consolidated equity.

2.2.13 Termination benefits

Termination benefits are recognized in the financial statements when the BBVA Group agrees to terminate employment contracts with its employees and has established a detailed plan.

2.2.14 Treasury shares

The value of common stock issued by the BBVA Group’s entities and held by them - basically, shares and derivatives on the Bank’s shares held by some consolidated entities that comply with the requirements to be recognized as equity instruments - are recognized as a decrease to net equity, under the heading "Shareholders’ funds - Treasury stock" in the consolidated balance sheets (see Note 29).

These financial assets are recognized at acquisition cost, and the gains or losses arising on their disposal are credited or debited, as appropriate, to the heading “Shareholders’ funds - Retained earnings” in the consolidated balance sheets (see Note 28).

2.2.15 Foreign-currency transactions and exchange differences

The BBVA Group’s functional currency, and thus the currency in which the Consolidated Financial Statements are presented, is the euro. As such, all balances and transactions denominated in currencies other than the euro are deemed to be denominated in “foreign currency”.

Conversion to euros of the balances held in foreign currency is performed in two consecutive stages:

• Conversion of the foreign currency to the entity’s functional currency (currency of the main economic environment in which the entity operates); and
• Conversion to euros of the balances held in the functional currencies of the entities whose functional currency is not the euro.

Conversion of the foreign currency to the entity’s functional currency

Transactions denominated in foreign currencies carried out by the consolidated entities (or entities accounted for using the equity method) are initially accounted for in their respective currencies. Subsequently, the monetary balances in foreign currencies are converted to their respective functional currencies using the exchange rate at the close of the financial year. In addition,

• Non-monetary items valued at their historical cost are converted to the functional currency at the exchange rate applicable on the purchase date.
• Non-monetary items valued at their fair value are converted at the exchange rate in force on the date on which such fair value was determined.
• Monetary items are converted to the functional currency at the closing exchange rate.
• Income and expense are converted at the period’s average exchange rates for all the operations carried out during the year. When applying this criterion the BBVA Group considers whether significant variations have taken place in exchange rates during the year which, owing to their impact on the statements as a whole, may require the application of exchange rates as of the date of the transaction instead of such average exchange rates.

The exchange differences produced when converting the balances in foreign currency to the functional currency of the consolidated entities are generally recognized under the heading "Exchange differences, net" in the consolidated income statements (see Note 41). However, the exchange differences in non-monetary items measured at fair value are recorded to equity under the heading “Accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) - Items that will not be reclassified to profit or loss - Fair value changes of equity instruments measured at fair value through other comprehensive income” in the consolidated balance sheets (see Note 30).

Conversion of functional currencies to euros

The balances in the financial statements of consolidated entities whose functional currency is not the euro are converted to euros as follows:

• Assets and liabilities: at the closing spot exchange rates as of the date of each of the consolidated balance sheets.
• Income and expense and cash flows are converted by applying the exchange rate applicable on the date of the transaction, and the average exchange rate for the financial year may be used, unless it has undergone significant variations during the year.
• Equity items: at the historical exchange rates.

The exchange differences arising from the conversion to euros of balances in the functional currencies of the consolidated entities whose functional currency is not the euro are recognized under the heading “Accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) – Items that may be reclassified to profit or loss - Foreign currency translation” in the consolidated balance sheets (Notes 30 and 31 respectively). Meanwhile, the differences arising from the conversion to euros of the financial statements of entities accounted for by the equity method are recognized under the heading “Accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) - Items that may be reclassified to profit or loss - of other recognized income and expense of investments in joint ventures and associates" (Note 30) until the item to which they relate is derecognized, at which time they are recognized in the income statement.

The financial statements of companies of hyperinflationary economies are restated for the effects of changes in prices before their conversion to euros following the provisions of IAS 29 "Financial information in hyperinflationary economies" (see Note 2.2.19). Both these adjustments for inflation and the exchange differences that arise when converting the financial statements of companies into hyperinflationary economies are accounted for in “Accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) – Items that may be reclassified to profit or loss - Foreign currency translation”.

The breakdown of the main consolidated balances in foreign currencies, with reference to the most significant foreign currencies, is set forth in Appendix VII.

Venezuela

Local financial statements of the Group subsidiaries in Venezuela are expressed in Venezuelan Bolivar, and converted into euros for the consolidated financial statements. Venezuela is a country with strong exchange restrictions that has different rates officially published, and, since December 31, 2015, the Board of Directors considers that the use of these exchanges rates for converting bolivars into euros in preparing the Consolidated Financial Statements does not reflect the true picture of the financial statements of the Group and the financial position of the Group subsidiaries in this country. Therefore, since the year ended December 31, 2015, the exchange rate for converting bolivars into euros is an estimation taking into account the evolution of the estimated inflation in Venezuela.

As of December 31, 2020, 2019 and 2018, the impact on the financial statements that would have resulted by applying the last published official exchange rate instead of the exchange rate estimated by BBVA Group was not significant (see Note 2.2.19).

2.2.16 Recognition of income and expense

The most significant policies used by the BBVA Group to recognize its income and expense are as follows.

• Interest income and expense and similar items:

• As a general rule, interest income and expense and similar items are recognized on the basis of their period of accrual using the effective interest rate method.
• They shall be recognized within the consolidated income statement according to the following criteria, independently from the financial instruments’ portfolio which generates the income or expense:

• The interest income past-due before the initial recognition and pending to be received will form part of the gross carrying amount of the debt instrument.
• The interest income accrued after the initial recognition will form part of the gross carrying amount of the debt instrument until it will be received.

• The financial fees and commissions that arise on the arrangement of loans and advances (basically origination and analysis fees) are deferred and recognized in the income statement over the expected life of the loan. From that amount, the transaction costs identified as directly attributable to the arrangement of the loans and advances will be deducted. These fees are part of the effective interest rate for the loans and advances.
• Once a debt instrument has been impaired, interest income is recognized applying the effective interest rate used to discount the estimated recoverable cash flows on the carrying amount of the asset

• Income from dividends received:

• Dividends shall be recognized within the consolidated income statement according to the following criteria, independently from the financial instruments’ portfolio which generates this income:

• When the right to receive payment has been declared before the initial recognition and when the payment is pending to be received, the dividends will not form part of the gross carrying amount of the equity instrument and will not be recognized as income. Those dividends are accounted for as financial assets separately from the net equity instrument.
• If the right to receive payment is received after the initial recognition, the dividends from the net equity instruments will be recognized within the consolidated income statement. If the dividends correspond indubitable to the profits of the issuer before the date of initial recognition, they will not be recognized as income but as reduction of the gross carrying amount of the equity instrument because it represents a partial recuperation of the investment. Amongst other circumstances, the generation date can be considered to be prior to the date of initial recognition if the amounts distributed by the issuer as from the initial recognition are higher than its profits during the same period.

• Commissions, fees and similar items:

• Income and expense relating to commissions and similar fees are recognized in the consolidated income statement using criteria that vary according to the nature of such items. The most significant items in this connection are:

• Those relating to financial assets and liabilities measured at fair value through profit or loss, which are recognized when collected/paid.
• Those arising from transactions or services that are provided over a period of time, which are recognized over the life of these transactions or services.
• Those relating to a singular transaction, which are recognized when this singular transaction is carried out.

• Non-financial income and expense:

• These are recognized for accounting purposes on an accrual basis.

• Deferred collections and payments:

• These are recognized for accounting purposes at the amount resulting from discounting the expected cash flows at market rates.

2.2.17 Sales of assets and income from the provision of non-financial services

The heading “Other operating income” in the consolidated income statements includes the proceeds of the sales of assets and income from the services provided by the Group entities that are not financial institutions. In the case of the Group, these entities are mainly real estate and service entities (see Note 42).

2.2.18 Leases

Effective January 1, 2019, IFRS 16 replaced IAS 17 “Leases”. The single lessee accounting model requires the lessee to record assets and liabilities for all lease contracts. The standard provides two exceptions to the recognition of lease assets and liabilities that can be applied in the case of short-term contracts and those in which the underlying assets have low value. BBVA elected to apply both exceptions. A lessee is required to recognize a right-of-use asset representing its right to use the underlying leased asset, which is recorded under the headings ‘‘Tangible assets – Property plants and equipment’’ and ‘‘Tangible assets – Investment properties’’ of the consolidated balance sheet (see Note 17) and a lease liability representing its obligation to make lease payments which is recorded under the heading ‘‘ Financial liabilities at amortized cost – Other financial liabilities’’ in the consolidated balance sheet (see Note 22.5).

At the initial date of the lease, the lease liability represents the present value of all lease unpaid payments. The liabilities registered under this heading of the consolidated balance sheets are measured after their initial recognition at amortized cost, this being determined in accordance with the “effective interest rate” method.

The right to use assets are initially recorded at cost. This cost consists of the initial measurement of the lease liability, any payment made before the initial date less any lease incentives received, all direct initial expenses incurred, as well as an estimate of the expenses to be incurred by the lessee, such as expenses related to the removal and dismantling of the underlying asset. The right to use assets recorded under this heading of the consolidated balance sheets are measured after their initial recognition at cost less:

• The accumulated depreciation and accumulated impairment.
• Any remeasurement of the lease liability.

The interest expense on the lease liability is recorded in the consolidated income statements under the heading “Interest expense” (see note 37). Variable payments not included in the initial measurement of the lease liability are recorded under the heading “Administration costs – Other administrative expense” (see Note 44).

Amortization is calculated using the straight-line method over the lifetime of the lease contract, on the basis of the cost of the assets. The tangible asset depreciation charges are recognized in the accompanying consolidated income statements under the heading "Depreciation and Amortization" (see Note 45).

In case of electing one of the exceptions in order not to recognize the corresponding right to use and the liability in the consolidated balance sheets, payments related to the corresponding lease are recognized in the consolidated income statements, over the contract period, lineally, or in the way that best represents the structure of the lease operation, under the heading "Other operating expense” (see Note 42).

Operating lease and sublease incomes are recognized in the consolidated income statements under the headings “Other operating income” (see Note 42).

As a lessor, lease contracts are classified as finance leases from the inception of the transaction if they substantially transfer all the risks and rewards incidental to ownership of the asset forming the subject-matter of the contract. Leases other than finance leases are classified as operating leases.

When the consolidated entities act as the lessor of an asset under finance leases, the aggregate present values of the lease payments receivable from the lessee plus the guaranteed residual value (normally the exercise price of the lessee’s purchase option on expiration of the lease agreement) are recognized as financing provided to third parties and, therefore, are included under the heading “Loans and advances” in the accompanying consolidated balance sheets (see Note 14).

When the consolidated entities act as lessors of an asset in operating leases, the acquisition cost of the leased assets is recognized under "Tangible assets – Property, plant and equipment – Other assets leased out under an operating lease" in the consolidated balance sheets (see Note 17). These assets are depreciated in line with the criteria adopted for items of tangible assets for own use, while the income arising from the lease arrangements is recognized in the consolidated income statements on a straight-line basis within “Other operating income” and "Other operating expense" (see Note 42).

If a fair value sale and leaseback results in a lease, the profit or loss generated from the effectively transferred part of the sale is recognized in the consolidated income statement at the time of sale (only for the effectively transmitted part).

The assets leased out under operating lease contracts to other entities in the Group are treated in the Consolidated Financial Statements as for own use, and thus rental expense and income is eliminated in consolidation and the corresponding depreciation is recognized.

2.2.19 Entities and branches located in countries with hyperinflationary economies

In accordance with the EU-IFRS criteria, to determine whether an economy has a high inflation rate the country's economic situation is examined, analyzing whether certain circumstances are fulfilled, such as whether the population prefers to keep its wealth or savings in non-monetary assets or in a relatively stable foreign currency, whether prices can be set in that currency, whether interest rates, wages and prices are pegged to a price index or whether the accumulated inflation rate over three years reaches or exceeds 100%. The fact that any of these circumstances is fulfilled will not be a decisive factor in considering an economy hyperinflationary, but it does provide some reasons to consider it as such.

Argentina

Since 2018, the economy of Argentina has been considered hyperinflationary under the above criteria. As a result, the financial statements of the BBVA Group’s entities located in Argentina have therefore been adjusted to correct for the effects of inflation in accordance with IAS 29 “Financial reporting in hyperinflationary economies“.

During 2020, 2019 and 2018, the increase in the reserves of Group entities located in Argentina derived from the re-expression for hyperinflation (IAS 29) amounts to €343, €470 and €703 million, respectively, of which €228, €313 and €463 million, respectively, have been recorded within “Equity – Accumulated other comprehensive income /(loss)” and €115, €157 and €240 million, respectively, within “Minority interests – Accumulated other comprehensive income/(loss)”. Furthermore, during 2020, 2019 and 2018 the decrease in the reserves of Group entities located in Argentina derived from the conversion (IAS 21) amounted to €482, €460 and €773 million, respectively, of which €320, €305 and €515 million, respectively, have been recorded within “Equity – Accumulated other comprehensive income/(loss)”, and €162, €155 and €258 million, respectively, within “Minority interests – Accumulated other comprehensive income/(loss)”. The net impact of both effects is presented under the caption “Other increases or (-) decreases in equity” in the consolidated statement of changes in equity for the years ended December 31, 2020, 2019 and 2018. The net loss in the profit attributable to the parent company of the Group in 2020, 2019 and 2018 derived from the application of IAS 29 amounted to €148, €190 and €209 million, respectively. In addition, there is a net loss in the profit attributable to the parent company of the Group in 2020, 2019 and 2018 derived from the application of IAS 21 which amounted to €26, €34 and €57 million, respectively.

The breakdown of the General Price Index (“GPI”) and the inflation index used as of December 31, 2020 for the inflation of the financial statements of the Group companies located in Argentina is as follows:

General Price Index

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Venezuela

Since 2009, the economy of Venezuela has been considered hyperinflationary under the above criteria. As a result, the financial statements of the BBVA Group’s entities located in Venezuela have therefore been adjusted to correct for the effects of inflation in accordance with IAS 29 “Financial reporting in hyperinflationary economies“.

The losses recognized under the heading “Profit attributable to the parent company” in the accompanying consolidated income statement as a result of the adjustment for inflation on net monetary position of the Group entities in Venezuela amounted to €5, €8 and €12 million in 2020, 2019 and 2018, respectively (see Note 2.2.15).

2.3 Recent IFRS pronouncements

Standards and interpretations that became effective in 2020

The following amendments to the IFRS standards or their interpretations (hereinafter “IFRIC”) became effective in 2020.

IAS 1 and IAS 8 – “Definition of Material”

The amendments clarify the definition of “material” in the preparation of the financial statements by aligning the definition of the Conceptual Framework, IAS 1 and IAS 8 (which, before such amendment, contained similar but not identical definitions). The new definition of material is as follows: “information is material if its omission, misrepresentation or obscuration can reasonably be expected to influence the decisions made by the primary users of a specific entity’s general purpose financial statements, based on those financial statements.”

The implementation of this standard has had no significant impact on the Group´s consolidated financial statements.

IFRS 3 – “Definition of a business”

The amendment clarifies the difference between “acquiring a business” or “acquiring a group of assets” for accounting purposes. To determine whether a transaction is the acquisition of a business, an entity has to evaluate and conclude that the following two conditions are met:

• The fair value of the assets acquired is not in a single asset or group of similar assets.
• The set of acquired activities and assets includes, as a minimum, an input and a substantive process that together contribute to the ability to create products.

The implementation of this standard has had no significant impact on the Group´s consolidated financial statements.

IFRS 9, IAS 39 and IFRS 7 – Modifications – IBOR Reform

The IBOR Reform (Phase 1) refers to the amendments issued by the IASB on IFRS 9, IAS 39 and IFRS 7 to avoid that some accounting hedges have to be discontinued in the period before the reform of the reference rates becomes effective. BBVA Group applies IAS 39 for hedge accounting, and therefore the amendments to IFRS 9 referred to in this section do not apply.

In some cases, and/or jurisdictions, there may exist uncertainty about the future of some reference rates or their impact on the entity’s contracts, which directly causes uncertainty about the timing or amounts of cash flows of the hedged instrument or the hedging instrument. Due to such uncertainties, some entities may be forced to discontinue an accounting hedge, or not be able to designate new hedging relationships.

Consequently, the amendments include several temporary simplifications of the requirements for the application of hedge accounting which apply to all hedging relationships that are affected by the uncertainty arising from the Reform. A hedging relationship is affected by the reform if it generates uncertainty about the timing or amount of cash flows of the hedged financial instrument or the hedge linked to the specific benchmark. The simplifications refer to the requirements on the highly probable future transaction in cash flow hedges, on prospective and retrospective effectiveness (exemption from compliance with the 80%-125% effectiveness ratio) and on the need to separately identify the risk component.

As the amendments aim is to provide temporary exceptions to the application of certain specific hedge accounting requirements, these exceptions should terminate once the uncertainty is resolved or the hedge ceases to exist.

The Group also has cash flow and fair value hedge accounting relationships which are exposed to different IBORS, predominantly EURIBOR, LIBOR in US dollars and to a much lesser degree Sterling LIBOR and other benchmark interest rates. The Group considers that the amendments to IAS 39 and IFRS 7 are applicable when there is uncertainty about future cash flows.

The nominal amount of the hedging instruments directly affected by the IBOR reform as of December 31, 2020 is the following:

Millions of Euros

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As of December 31, 2020, the Group considers that, in general, there is no uncertainty regarding EURIBOR as it has been replaced by the hybrid EURIBOR which uses a methodology that meets the standards required by the various international organizations. In the case of accounting hedges which are referenced to other benchmark interest rates, despite the uncertainty, based on the simplifications provided by the standard, the hedging relationships for the annual period that ended on December 31, 2020, will not be affected by the IBOR reform.

IFRS 16 –Leases – COVID-19 modifications

On May 28, 2020, the IASB approved an amendment to IFRS 16 to include a practical expedient to the accounting treatment for rent concessions (payment deferrals and temporary rent reductions) that occur due to a direct consequence of COVID-19 (see Note 1.5).

The amendment permits lessees to account for rent concessions as if they were not lease modifications to the initial ones. It is applicable to rent concessions related to COVID-19, which reduces lease payments before June 30, 2021. This amendment is effective from June 1, 2020.

The implementation of this standard has had no significant impact on the Group´s consolidated financial statements.

Standards and interpretations issued but not yet effective as of December 31, 2020

The following new International Financial Reporting Standards together with their Interpretations had been published at the date of preparation of the accompanying consolidated financial statements, but are not mandatory as of December 31, 2020. Although in some cases the International Accounting Standards Board (“IASB”) allows early adoption before their effective date, the BBVA Group has not proceeded with this option for any such new standards.

IFRS 9, IAS 39, IFRS 7, IFRS 4 and IFRS 16 - Modifications - IBOR reform

On August 27, 2020, the IASB issued the second phase of the IBOR reform that involves the introduction of amendments to IFRS 9, IAS 39, IFRS 7, IFRS 4 and IFRS 16, to ensure that the financial statements reflect the economic effects of the IBOR reform. The amendments focus on the accounting for financial instruments once a new benchmark has been introduced.

Such modifications introduce the practical simplification of accounting for changes in the cash flows of the financial instruments directly caused by the IBOR reform and, if they take place under an “economically equivalent” context, through the effective interest rate of the financial instrument update. Similarly, a practical simplification will be applied to IFRS 16 “Leases” for leases, when accounting for modifications in lease agreements as a consequence of the IBOR reform. Additionally, some exemptions to the hedging requirements are introduced so as not to discontinue certain hedging relationships. However, similar to the phase 1 amendments, these phase 2 amendments do not provide exceptions to the valuation requirements applicable to hedged items and hedging instruments in accordance with IFRS 9 or IAS 39. Thus, once the new benchmark has been implemented, the hedged items and hedging instruments must be valued according to the new index, and any possible ineffectiveness that may exist in the hedge will be recognized in profit or loss. On the other hand, new disclosures are introduced.

The IBOR transition is considered to be a complex initiative, which affects BBVA Group in different geographical areas and business lines, as well as in a multitude of products, systems and processes. Therefore, BBVA Group has established an IBOR transition program, provided with a robust governance structure by means of an Executive Steering Committee, with representation from senior management of the affected areas, which reports directly to the Group's Global Leadership Team. At the local level, each geography has defined a local governance structure with the participation of senior management. The coordination between geographies is realized through the Project Management Office (PMO) and the Global Working Groups that incorporate a multi-geographic and transversal view on the areas of Legal, Risk, Regulatory, Engineering, Finance and Accounting. The project also involves both Corporate Assurance of the different geographies and business lines and Global Corporate Assurance of the Group.

The IBOR transition project within BBVA Group takes into account the different approaches and timings of transition to the new RFRs (risk-free rate) when evaluating the economic, operational, legal, financial, reputational or compliance risks associated with the transition, as well as defining the lines of action to mitigate them. A relevant aspect of this transition is its impact on contracts referenced to LIBOR (mainly dollar) and EONIA rates that mature after 2021. In this regard, in the case of the EONIA, BBVA aims to carry out a novation of the contracts maturing after 2021 (it should be noted that these exposures are immaterial in the Group) and has already begun, proactively, the renegotiation of collateral contracts to adapt them to the operations against clearing houses homogeneously which already migrated last July. The Group already has new fallbacks in place which incorporate the €STR as a replacement rate, as well as language to incorporate this benchmark as the main reference rate in new contracts. In the case of LIBOR, BBVA Group has identified the stock of contracts expiring after 2021 and is working on the implementation of tools/systems that will allow the stock to be migrated to solutions such as those proposed by ISDA (Group entities are either already adhering to the ISDA protocol or in the process of doing so). Likewise, BBVA Group continues to work on adapting all its systems and processes to deal with alternative Risk Free Rates, such as SOFR and SONIA. In the case of EURIBOR, the European authorities have encouraged amendments of its methodology so that it complies with the requirements of the European Regulation on Benchmarks. BBVA actively participates in various working groups, including the EURO RFR WG which works specifically, amongst others, on the definition of fallbacks in contracts, in anticipation of an option to change the index in the future.

BBVA Group has a significant number of financial assets and liabilities referenced to IBOR rates, especially EURIBOR, which are used, among others, in loans, deposits, debt issuances and financial derivatives. Furthermore, although the exposure to EONIA is lower in the banking book, this benchmark interest rate is used in financial derivatives in the trading book, as well as in the collateral agreements and most are booked in Spain. In the case of LIBOR, the USD is the most relevant currency for both cash products and financial derivatives in the banking book and the trading book. Other LIBOR currencies (CHF, GBP and JPY) have a much lower specific weight.

These modifications introduced in the second phase of the reform will be mandatory as of January 2021, with possible early adoption. In this sense, based on the progress of the transition to the new indices in the Group, the BBVA Group has considered that it is not necessary to early adopt IBOR reform phase 2 in the BBVA Group in 2020. On January 13, 2021, the European Commission has endorsed the aforementioned modifications.

IFRS 17 – Insurance Contracts

IFRS 17 establishes the principles for the accounting for insurance contracts and supersedes IFRS 4. The new standard introduces a single accounting model for all insurance contracts and requires the entities to use updated assumptions.

An entity shall divide the contracts into groups and recognize and measure groups of insurance contracts at the total of:

• the fulfilment cash flows, that comprises the estimate of future cash flows, an adjustment to reflect the time value of money and the financial risk associated with the future cash flows and a risk adjustment for non-financial risk; and
• the contractual service margin that represents the unearned profit.

The amounts recognized in the consolidated income statement shall be disaggregated into insurance revenue, insurance service expenses and insurance finance income or expenses. Insurance revenue and insurance service expenses shall exclude any investment components. Insurance revenue shall be recognized over the period the entity provides insurance coverage and in proportion to the value of the provision of coverage that the insurer provides in the period.

This Standard will be applied to the accounting years starting on or after January 1, 2023. In 2019, the Group established an IFRS 17 implementation project with the objective of harmonizing the criteria in the Group and with the participation of all the affected areas.

Amendments to IFRS 4 Insurance Contracts

The amendment to IFRS 4 includes a deferral in the temporary exception option regarding the application of IFRS 9 for entities whose business model is predominantly an insurance model until January 1, 2023, aligning it with the entry into force of the IFRS 17 Insurance Contracts rule. This modification will be applicable from January 1, 2021, although it will not have an impact on the Group since the Bank will not take such option.

3. BBVA Group

The BBVA Group is an international diversified financial group with a significant presence in retail banking, wholesale banking and asset management. The Group also operates in the insurance sector.

The following information is detailed in the appendices of these consolidated financial statements of the Group for the year ended December 31, 2020:

• Appendix I shows relevant information related to the consolidated subsidiaries and structured entities.
• Appendix II shows relevant information related to investments in joint ventures and associates accounted for using the equity method.
• Appendix III shows the main changes and notification of investments and divestments in the BBVA Group.
• Appendix IV shows fully consolidated subsidiaries with more than 10% owned by non-Group shareholders.

The following table sets forth information related to the Group’s total assets as of December 31, 2020, 2019 and 2018, broken down by the Group’s entities according to their activity:

Contribution to Consolidated Group total assets. Entities by main activities (Millions of Euros)

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The total assets and results of operations broken down by operating segments are included in Note 6.

The BBVA Group’s activities are mainly located in Spain, Mexico, South America, the United States and Turkey, with active presence in other countries, as shown below:

• Spain

• The Group’s activity in Spain is mainly carried out through Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, S.A. The Group also has other entities that mainly operate in Spain’s banking sector and insurance sector.

• Mexico

• The BBVA Group operates in Mexico, not only in the banking sector, but also in the insurance sector through BBVA Mexico.

• South America

• The BBVA Group’s activities in South America are mainly focused on the banking, financial and insurance sectors, in the following countries: Argentina, Colombia, Peru, Uruguay and Chile. It has a representative office in Sao Paulo (Brazil).
• The Group owns more than 50% of most of the entities based in these countries. Appendix I shows a list of the entities which, although less than 50% owned by the BBVA Group as of December 31, 2020, are consolidated (see Note 2.1).

• The United States

• The Group’s activity in the United States is mainly carried out through the BBVA, S.A. New York branch, the Houston branch of BBVA Mexico, the stake in Propel Venture Partners and the business developed through its broker dealer BBVA Securities Inc. and a representative office in Silicon Valley (California). Regarding the sale agreement reached with PNC, it includes BBVA USA and other subsidiaries in the United States with activities related to the banking activity (see below “Significant transactions in the Group in 2020” in this same Note)

• Turkey

• The Group’s activity in Turkey is mainly carried out through the Garanti BBVA Group.

• Rest of Europe

• The Group’s activity in Europe is carried out through banks and financial institutions in Switzerland, Italy, Germany, the Netherlands, Finland and Romania, and branches in Germany, Belgium, France, Italy, Portugal and the United Kingdom.

• Asia-Pacific

• The Group’s activity in this region is carried out through the Bank branches (in Taipei, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Singapore and Shanghai) and representative offices (in Beijing, Seoul, Mumbai, Abu Dhabi and Jakarta).

Significant transactions in the Group in 2020

Divestitures

Agreement for the sale of BBVA’s U.S. subsidiary to PNC Financial Service Group

On November 15, 2020, BBVA reached an agreement with The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. for the sale of 100% of the capital stock of its subsidiary BBVA USA Bancshares, Inc., which in turn owns all the capital stock of the bank, BBVA USA, as well as other companies of the BBVA Group in the United States with activities related to this banking business.

The agreement reached does not include the sale of the institutional business of the BBVA Group developed through its broker dealer BBVA Securities Inc. nor the participation in Propel Venture Partners US Fund I, L.P. which will be transferred by BBVA USA Bancshares, Inc. to entities of the BBVA Group prior to the closing of the transaction. In addition, BBVA will continue to develop the wholesale business that it currently carries out through its branch in New York.

The price of the transaction amounts to approximately $11,600 million. The price will be fully paid in cash.

It is expected that the transaction would result in a positive impact on BBVA Group’s Common Equity Tier 1 ratio (fully loaded) of approximately 294 basis points and positive results (net of taxes) of approximately €580 million (calculated at an exchange rate 1.20 EUR /USD). During the year ended December 31, 2020, approximately €300 million has been recognized for the entities to be disposed of (which corresponds to the results of the entities to be disposed of recognized in the caption Profit (loss) after tax from discontinued operations excluding the impacts of the impairment of goodwill), as well as an approximately positive impact of 9 basis points of Common Equity Tier I (fully loaded).

The closing of the transaction is subject to obtaining regulatory authorizations from the competent authorities. It is estimated that the closing of the transaction would take place in mid 2021.

Note 21 shows, among other information the condensed balance sheets of the entities to be disposed of as of December 31, 2020, 2019 and 2018 and the related condensed income statements as of and for the years ended December 31, 2020, 2019 and 2018.

Alliance with Allianz, Compañía de Seguros y Reaseguros, S.A.

On April 27, 2020, BBVA reached an agreement with Allianz, Compañía de Seguros y Reaseguros, S.A. to create a bancassurance joint venture in order to develop the non-life insurance business in Spain, excluding the health insurance line of the business.

On December 14, 2020, once the required authorizations had been obtained, BBVA completed the operation and announced the transfer to Allianz, Compañía de Seguros y Reaseguros, S.A. of half plus one share of the company BBVA Allianz Seguros y Reaseguros, SA, for which it received €274 million euros, without taking into account a variable part of the price (up to 100 million euros depending on certain objectives and planned milestones). This operation has resulted in a profit net of taxes of 304 million euros and a positive impact on the fully loaded CET1 of the BBVA Group of 7 basis points.

Significant transactions in the Group in 2019

Divestitures

Sale of BBVA’s stake in BBVA Paraguay

On August 7, 2019, BBVA reached an agreement with Banco GNB Paraguay, S.A., an affiliate of Grupo Financiero Gilinski, for the sale of its wholly-owned subsidiary Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria Paraguay, S.A. (“BBVA Paraguay”). BBVA owned, directly and indirectly, 100% of its share capital in BBVA Paraguay.

On January 22, 2021 and after obtaining all required authorizations, BBVA has completed the sale to Banco GNB Paraguay, S.A., an affiliate of Grupo Gilinski, of its 100% direct and indirect stake share capital in Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria Paraguay, S.A. (“BBVA Paraguay”).

The amount received by BBVA amounts to approximately USD250 million (approximately €210 million). The transaction results in a capital loss of approximately €9 million net of taxes. A positive impact on BBVA Group’s Common Equity Tier 1 (fully loaded) of approximately 6 basis points is estimated to be recognized during the first quarter of 2021 (see Note 56).

Significant transactions in the Group in 2018

Divestitures

Sale of BBVA’s stake in BBVA Chile

On November 28, 2017, BBVA received a binding offer (the “Offer”) from The Bank of Nova Scotia group (“Scotiabank”) for the acquisition of BBVA’s stake in Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria Chile, S.A. (“BBVA Chile”) as well as in other companies of the Group in Chile with operations that are complementary to the banking business (amongst them, BBVA Seguros Vida, S.A.). BBVA owned approximately, directly and indirectly, 68.19% of BBVA Chile share capital. On December 5, 2017, BBVA accepted the Offer and entered into a sale and purchase agreement and the sale was completed on July, 6, 2018.

The consideration received in cash by BBVA as consequence of the referred sale amounted to, approximately, USD 2,200 million. The transaction resulted in a capital gain, net of taxes, of €633 million, which was recognized in 2018.

Agreement for the creation of a joint-venture and transfer of the real estate business in Spain

On November 29, 2017, BBVA reached an agreement with a subsidiary of Cerberus Capital Management, L.P. (“Cerberus”) for the creation of a “joint venture” to which an important part of the real estate business of BBVA in Spain was transferred (the “Business”).

The Business comprises: (i) foreclosed real estate assets (the “REOs”), with a gross book value of approximately €13,000 million, taking as starting point the position of the REOs as of June 26, 2017; and (ii) the necessary assets and employees to manage the Business in an autonomous manner. For the purpose of the agreement with Cerberus, the whole Business was valued at approximately €5,000 million.

On October 10, 2018, after obtaining all required authorizations, BBVA completed the transfer of the real estate business in Spain. Closing of the transaction has resulted in the sale of 80% of the share capital of the company Divarian Propiedad, S.A. to an entity managed by Cerberus. Divarian is the company to which the BBVA Group has contributed the Business.

The transaction did not have a significant impact on BBVA Group’s attributable profit of 2018 or the Common Equity Tier 1 (fully loaded) as of December 31, 2018.

4. Shareholder remuneration system

Cash Dividends

Throughout 2018, 2019 and 2020, BBVA’s Board of Directors approved the payment of the following dividends (interim or final dividends) fully in cash, recorded in “Total Equity- Interim Dividends” and “Total Equity – Retained earnings” of the consolidated balance sheet of the relevant year:

• The Annual General Meeting of BBVA held on March 16, 2018 approved, under item 1 of the Agenda, the payment of a final dividend for 2017, in addition to other dividends previously paid, in cash for an amount equal to €0.15 (€0.1215 net of withholding tax) per BBVA share. The total amount paid to shareholders on April 10, 2018, after deducting treasury shares held by the Group’s companies, amounted to €996 million and is recognized under heading “Total equity- Retained earnings” of the consolidated balance sheet as of December 31, 2018.
• The Board of Directors, at its meeting held on September 26, 2018, approved the payment in cash of €0.10 (€0.081 net of withholding tax) per BBVA share, as gross interim dividend against 2018 results. The total amount paid to shareholders on October 10, 2018, after deducting treasury shares held by the Group's companies, amounted to €663 million and is recognized under the heading “Total equity- Interim dividends” of the consolidated balance sheet as of December 31, 2018.
• The Annual General Meeting of BBVA held on March 15, 2019, approved, under item 1 of the Agenda, the payment of a final dividend for 2018, in addition to other dividends previously paid, in cash for an amount equal to €0.16 (€0.1296 net of withholding tax) per BBVA share. The total amount paid to shareholders on April 10, 2019, after deducting treasury shares held by the Group’s Companies, amounted to €1,064 million and is recognized under the heading “Total equity- Retained earnings” of the consolidated balance sheet as of December 31, 2019.
• The Board of Directors, at its meeting held on October 2, 2019, approved the payment in cash of €0.10 (€0.081 net of withholding tax) per BBVA share, as gross interim dividend based on 2019 results. The total amount paid to shareholders on October 15, 2019, after deducting treasury shares held by the Group´s companies, amounted to €665 million and is recognized under the heading “Total equity- Interim dividends” of the consolidated balance sheet as of December 31, 2019.
• The Annual General Meeting of BBVA held on March 13, 2020, approved, under item 1 of the Agenda, the payment of a final dividend for 2019, in addition to other dividends previously paid, in cash for an amount equal to €0.16 (€0.1296 net of withholding tax) per BBVA share. The total amount paid to shareholders on April 9, 2020, after deducting treasury shares held by the Group’s Companies, amounted to €1,065 million and is recognized under the heading “Total equity- Retained earnings” of the consolidated balance sheet as of December 31, 2020.

In accordance with recommendation ECB/2020/19 issued by the ECB on March 27, 2020 on dividend distributions during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Board of Directors of BBVA resolved to modify for the financial year corresponding to 2020 the dividend policy of the Group, announced on February 1, 2017, determining as new policy for 2020 not to pay any dividend amount corresponding to 2020 until the uncertainties caused by COVID-19 disappear and, in any case, not before the end of such fiscal year. On July 27, 2020, the ECB prolonged this recommendation until January 1, 2021 by adopting recommendation ECB/2020/35.

On December 15, 2020 the ECB issued recommendation ECB/2020/62, repealing recommendation ECB/2020/35 and recommending that significant credit institutions exercise extreme prudence when deciding on or paying out dividends or performing share buy-backs aimed at remunerating shareholders. Recommendation ECB/2020/62 circumscribes prudent distributions to results of 2019 and 2020 but excluding distributions regarding 2021 until September 30, 2021, when the ECB will reevaluate the economic situation. BBVA intends to reinstate its dividend policy of the Group announced on February 1, 2017 once the recommendation ECB/2020/62 is repealed and there are no additional restrictions or limitations.

Proposal on allocation of earnings for 2020

The Board of Directors will submit for the approval of the Ordinary General Shareholders’ Meeting the proposal to apply the result of Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, S.A. for the 2020 financial year amounting to €2,182 million of losses to the prior years’ losses account. Furthermore, the offsetting of the prior years’ losses will likewise be submitted for approval, the amount of which amounts to €2,182 million, after the application of the 2020 financial year results in accordance with the previous paragraph, against the voluntary reserves account under the "Retained earnings" heading.

Other shareholder remuneration

On January 29, 2021, it was announced that a cash distribution in the amount of €0.059 gross per share as shareholder remuneration in relation to the Group’s result in the 2020 financial year was expected to be submitted to the relevant governing bodies of BBVA for consideration (see Note 56).

5. Earnings per share

Basic and diluted earnings per share are calculated in accordance with the criteria established by IAS 33. For more information see Glossary of terms.

The calculation of earnings per share is as follows:

Basic and Diluted Earnings per Share

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As of December 31, 2020, 2019 and 2018, there were no other financial instruments or share option commitments to employees that could potentially affect the calculation of the diluted earnings per share for the years presented. For this reason, basic and diluted earnings per share are the same.

6. Operating segment reporting

Operating segment reporting represents a basic tool in the oversight and management of the BBVA Group’s various activities. The BBVA Group compiles reporting information on disaggregated business activities. These business activities are then aggregated in accordance with the organizational structure determined by the BBVA Group and, ultimately, into the reportable operating segments themselves.

As of December 31, 2020, the structure of the information by operating segments of the BBVA Group remains basically the same as that of the financial year ended 2019, although BBVA reached agreements that, in some cases, could affect its structure. Due to the agreement reached for the sale of the Group's entire stake in BBVA USA Bancshares, Inc., parent company of the Group companies related to the banking business in the United States, the balance sheet items of the companies for sale and the gains and losses generated by them have been classified in accordance with IFRS 5 “Non-current assets held for sale and discontinued operations” (see Notes 2.2.4 and 21). Likewise, in accordance with IFRS 8 “Operating Segments”, information on the United States operating segment including the balances of the companies for sale continues to be provided for the years 2020, 2019 and 2018. The BBVA Group's operating segments and the agreements reached are summarized below:

• Spain

• Includes mainly the banking and insurance business that the Group carries out in Spain, including the results of the new company BBVA Allianz Seguros y Reaseguros, S.A. (see Note 3).

• The United States

• Includes the business activity of BBVA USA, comprising the Group's wholesale business through the New York branch, the stake in Propel Venture Partners and the business developed through its broker dealer BBVA Securities Inc. None of the aforementioned activities has been included in the sale agreement reached with PNC. Regarding this agreement, it includes BBVA USA and other subsidiaries in the United States with activities related to the banking activity (see Notes 1.3, 3 and Note 21).

• Mexico

• Includes banking and insurance businesses in this country as well as the activity of BBVA Mexico in Houston.

• Turkey

• Reports the activity of Garanti BBVA group that is mainly carried out in this country and, to a lesser extent, in Romania and the Netherlands.

• South America

• Primarily includes the Group´s banking and insurance businesses in the region. In relation to the sale of BBVA Paraguay, the closing of the transaction took place in January 2021 (see Note 3).

• Rest of Eurasia

• Includes the banking business activity carried out by the Group in Europe and Asia, excluding Spain.

Lastly, Corporate Center performs centralized Group functions, including: the costs of the head offices with a corporate function; management of structural exchange rate positions; some equity instruments issuances to ensure an adequate management of the Group's global solvency. It also includes portfolios whose management is not linked to customer relationships, such as industrial holdings, certain tax assets and liabilities; funds due to commitments to employees; goodwill and other intangible assets.

The breakdown of the BBVA Group’s total assets by operating segments as of December 31, 2020, 2019 and 2018, is as follows:

Total assets by operating segments (Millions of Euros)

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The following table sets forth certain summarized information relating to results of each operating segment and Corporate Center for the years ended December 31, 2020, 2019 and 2018:

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The accompanying Consolidated Management Report presents the consolidated income statements and the balance sheets by operating segments.

7. Risk management

7.1 Risk factors

BBVA Group has processes in place for identifying risks and analyzing scenarios in order to enable the Group to manage risks in a dynamic and proactive way.

The risk identification processes are forward looking to seek the identification of emerging risks and take into account the concerns of both the business areas, which are close to the reality of the different geographical areas, and the corporate areas and senior management.

Risks are identified and measured consistently using the methodologies deemed appropriate in each case. Their measurement includes the design and application of scenario analyses and stress testing and considers the controls to which the risks are subjected. As part of this process, a forward projection of the risk appetite framework variables in stress scenarios is conducted in order to identify possible deviations from the established thresholds. If any such deviations are detected, appropriate measures are taken to keep the variables within the target risk profile.

In this context, there are a number of emerging risks that could affect the evolution of the Group's business. These risks are included in the following blocks:

• The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic is adversely affecting the world economy and economic activity and conditions in the countries in which the Group operates, leading many of them to economic recession in 2020 and relatively moderate activity growth in 2021, so that probably only from 2022 will the GDP levels observed before the crisis recover. Among other challenges, these countries are experiencing widespread increases in unemployment levels and falls in production, while public debt has increased significantly due to support and spending measures implemented by government authorities. In addition, there is an increase in defaults on debts by both companies and individuals, volatility in financial markets, including exchange rates, and falls in the value of assets and investments, all of which have had a negative impact on the Group's in the year 2020 and is expected to continue to affect in the future.
• Furthermore, the Group may be affected by the measures adopted by regulatory authorities in the banking sector, including but not limited to, the recent reductions in reference interest rates, the relaxation of prudential requirements, the suspension of dividend payments, the adoption of payment deferrals measures for bank clients (such as those included in Royal Decree Law 11/2020 in Spain, as well as in the CECA-AEB agreement to which BBVA has adhered and which, among other things, allows loan debtors to extend maturities and defer interest payments) and facilities to grant credit through a line of guarantees or public guarantees, especially to companies and the self-employed individuals, as well as any changes in the financial asset purchase programs.
• Since the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic, the Group has experienced a decline in its activity. For example, the granting of new loans to individuals has significantly decreased since the beginning of mobility restriction measures approved in certain countries in which the Group operates. In addition, the Group faces several risks, such as a greater risk of impairment of the value of its assets (including financial instruments valued at fair value, which may undergo significant fluctuations) and of the securities held for liquidity reasons, a possible significant increase in non-performing loans and a negative impact on the cost of the Group's financing and its access to financing (especially in an environment where credit ratings are affected).
• Furthermore, in several of the countries in which the Group operates, including Spain, the Group has temporarily closed a significant number of its offices and reduced opening hours to the public, and the teams that provide central services have been working remotely. Although these measures have been gradually reversed due to the continued expansion of the COVID-19 pandemic, it is unclear how long it will take until normal operations can fully resume. On the other hand, the pandemic could adversely affect the business and operations of third parties that provide critical services to the Group and, in particular, the higher demand and / or lower availability of certain resources could in some cases make it more difficult to maintain the service levels. In addition, the generalization of remote work has increased the risks related to cybersecurity, as the use of non-corporate networks has increased.
• As a result of the above, the COVID-19 pandemic has had an adverse effect on the Group's results and capital base. During the first half of the year the main accumulated impacts were:

• an increase in the cost of risk associated with the lending activity, mainly due to the deterioration of the macroeconomic environment, which has had a negative impact of €2,009 million in the Group (including the initial adverse effect of the payment deferral) and provisions for credit risk and contingent commitments for €95 million, (see Notes 7.2, 46 and 47); and
• a deterioration in the goodwill of the Group's subsidiary in the United States, mainly due to the deterioration of the macroeconomic scenario in the United States, which has had a net negative impact of €2,084 million on the Group's attributed profit in this period (although this impact does not affect the tangible book value, nor the solvency or the liquidity of the Group) (see Notes 18.1 and 49).

• From June 30, 2020 on, and as a consequence of the general deterioration of the global macroeconomic scenario, its specific effects cannot be isolated, affecting all of the Group's consolidated Financial Statements.

• Macroeconomic and geopolitical risks

• The Global economy is being severely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Supply, demand and financial factors caused an unprecedented fall in GDP in the first half of 2020. Supported by strong fiscal and monetary policy measures, as well as greater control over the spread of the virus, global growth rebounded more than expected in the third quarter, before slowing down in the fourth, when the number of infections rose again in many regions, mainly in the United States and Europe. As for 2021, the unfavorable evolution of the pandemic is expected to adversely affect activity in the short term, while new fiscal and monetary stimuli, as well as the administering of coronavirus vaccines, are expected to support recovery from mid-year onwards.
• Following the massive fiscal and monetary stimuli to support economic activity and reduce financial tensions, government debt has increased across the board and interest rates have been cut, and are now at historical low levels. Additional countercyclical measures may be required. Similarly, a significant reduction in current stimuli is not expected, at least until the recovery takes hold.
• Tensions in the financial markets have moderated rapidly since the end of March 2020, following the decisive actions taken by the main central banks and the fiscal packages announced in many countries. In recent months, the markets have shown relative stability and, at certain times, risk-taking movements. Likewise, progress related to the development of COVID-19 vaccines and prospects for economic recovery should pave the way for financial volatility to persist at relatively low levels in general going forward.
• BBVA Research estimates that global GDP contracted by around 2.6% in 2020 and will expand by around 5.3% in 2021 and 4.1% in 2022. Activity will recover gradually and heterogeneously among countries. Various epidemiological, financial and geopolitical factors are also contributing to the persistent exceptionally high uncertainty.
• With regard to the banking system, in an environment in which much of the economic activity has been at a stand still for several months, the services provided have played an essential role, basically for two reasons: firstly, the banks have ensured the proper functioning of collections and payments for households and companies, thereby contributing to the maintenance of economic activity; secondly, the granting of new lending or the renewal of existing lending has reduced the impact of the economic slowdown on household and business income. The support provided by the banks over the months of lockdown and public guarantees have been essential in softening the impact of the crisis on companies' liquidity and solvency, meaning that banking has become its main source of funding for most companies.
• In terms of profitability, European and Spanish banking have deteriorated, primarily because many entities recorded high provisions for impairment on financial assets in the first two quarters of 2020 as a result of the worsening macroeconomic environment following the pandemic outbreak. Pre-pandemic profitability levels remained far from the levels prior to the previous financial crisis. This is in addition to the accumulation of capital since the previous crisis and the very low interest rate environment that we have been experiencing for several years. Nevertheless, the banks are facing this situation from a healthy position and with solvency that has been constantly increasing since the 2008 crisis, with reinforced capital and liquidity buffers and, therefore, with a greater lending capacity.
• The BBVA Group has a General Risk Management and Control Model appropriate to its business model, its organization, the countries in which it operates and its corporate governance system, which allows it to carry out its activity within the framework of the risk management and control strategy and policy defined by the corporate bodies. This model deals with management in global form adapting itself to the circumstances of each moment. This Model is applied integrally in the Group.
• In this sense, from the beginning of the crisis, the BBVA Group implemented specific measures for the proper management of these associated risks, establishing different global initiatives that define the risk management strategy during the crisis, with common action protocols that should be implemented and adapted, when needed, to local needs.
• The BBVA Group global risk unit - Global Risk Management (hereinafter, “GRM”) - has increased the frequency and intensity of the evaluation of potential impacts on the different groups and clients, in order to prevent their future evolution, and carried out appropriate adjustments and reclassifications, reinforcing its processes, governance and teams in Holding and countries to act in a coordinated manner, focusing priority on crisis management
• Over the past year, it has been found that the pandemic has a global impact, affecting to a greater extent the sectors in which there is a high level of human interaction (transport, especially air transport, leisure, especially hotel establishments, as well as industries and activities dependent on them), regardless of the regional area in question. For this reason, the Bank's risk management has clearly been intensified by sectorial vectors over other conditioning factors such as geographic.

• Regulatory and reputational risks

• Financial institutions are exposed to a complex and ever-changing regulatory environment defined by governments and regulators. This can affect their ability to grow and the capacity of certain businesses to develop, and result in stricter liquidity and capital requirements with lower profitability ratios. The Group constantly monitors changes in the regulatory framework that allow for anticipation and adaptation to them in a timely manner, adopt industry practices and more efficient and rigorous criteria in its implementation.
• The financial sector is under ever closer scrutiny by regulators, governments and society itself. In the course of activities, situations which might cause relevant reputational damage to the entity could raise and might affect the regular course of business. The attitudes and behaviors of the Group and its members are governed by the principles of integrity, honesty, long-term vision and industry practices through, inter alia, the internal control model, the Code of Conduct, the Corporate Principles in tax matters and Responsible Business Strategy of the Group.

• Business, operational and legal risks

• New technologies and forms of customer relationships: Developments in the digital world and in information technologies pose significant challenges for financial institutions, entailing threats (new competitors, disintermediation, etc.) but also opportunities (new framework of relations with customers, greater ability to adapt to their needs, new products and distribution channels, etc.). Digital transformation is a priority for the Group as it aims to lead digital banking of the future as one of its objectives.
• Technological risks and security breaches: The Group is exposed to new threats such as cyber-attacks, theft of internal and customer databases, fraud in payment systems, etc. that require major investments in security from both the technological and human point of view. The Group gives great importance to the active operational and technological risk management and control.
• The financial sector faces an environment of increasing regulatory and litigious pressure, and thus, the various Group entities are usually party to individual or collective judicial proceedings (including class actions) resulting from their activity and operations, as well as arbitration proceedings. The Group is also party to other government procedures and investigations, such as those carried out by the antitrust authorities in certain countries which, among other things, have in the past and could in the future result into sanctions, as well as lead to claims by customers and others. In addition, the regulatory framework, in the jurisdictions in which the Group operates, is evolving towards a supervisory approach more focused on the opening of sanctioning proceedings while some regulators are focusing their attention on consumer protection and behavioral risk.
• In Spain and in other jurisdictions where the Group operates, legal and regulatory actions and proceedings against financial institutions, prompted in part by certain judgments in favor of consumers handed down by national and supranational courts, have increased significantly in recent years and this trend could continue in the future. The legal and regulatory actions and proceedings faced by other financial institutions in relation to these and other matters, especially if such actions or proceedings result in favorable resolutions for the consumer, could also adversely affect the Group.
• All of the above may result in a significant increase in operating and compliance costs or even a reduction of revenues, and it is possible that an adverse outcome in any proceedings (depending on the amount thereof, the penalties imposed or the procedural or management costs for the Group) could damage the Group's reputation, generate a knock-on effect or otherwise adversely affect the Group.
• It is difficult to predict the outcome of legal and regulatory actions and proceedings, both those to which the Group is currently exposed and those that may arise in the future, including actions and proceedings relating to former Group subsidiaries or in respect of which the Group may have indemnification obligations, but such outcome could be significantly adverse to the Group. In addition, a decision in any matter, whether against the Group or against another credit entity facing similar claims as those faced by the Group, could give rise to other claims against the Group. In addition, these actions and proceedings attract resources from the Group and may occupy a great deal of attention on part of the Group's management and employees.
• As of December 31, 2020, the Group had €612 million in provisions for the proceedings it is facing (included in the line "Provisions for litigation and pending tax cases" in the consolidated balance sheet) (see Note 25), of which €574 million correspond to legal contingencies and €38 million to tax related matters. However, the uncertainty arising from these proceedings (including those for which no provisions have been made, either because it is not possible to estimate them or for other reasons) makes it impossible to guarantee that the possible losses arising from these proceedings will not exceed, where applicable, the amounts that the Group currently has provisioned and, therefore, could affect the Group's consolidated results in a given period.
• As a result of the above, legal and regulatory actions and proceedings currently faced by the Group or to which it may become subject in the future or otherwise affected by, individually or in the aggregate, if resolved in whole or in part adversely to the Group ́s interests, could have a material adverse effect on the Group’s business, financial condition and results of operations.
• Spanish judicial authorities are investigating the activities of Centro Exclusivo de Negocios y Transacciones, S.L. (Cenyt). Such investigation includes the provision of services by Cenyt to the Bank. On 29th July, 2019, the Bank was named as an official suspect (investigado) in a criminal judicial investigation (Preliminary Proceeding No. 96/2017 – Piece No. 9, Central Investigating Court No. 6 of the National High Court) for alleged facts which could be constitutive of bribery, revelation of secrets and corruption. On February 3, 2020, the Bank was notified by the Central Investigating Court No. 6 of the National High Court of the order lifting the secrecy of the proceedings. Certain current and former officers and employees of the Group, as well as former directors have also been named as official suspects in connection with this investigation. The Bank has been and continues to proactively collaborate with the Spanish judicial authorities, including sharing with the courts the relevant information obtained in the internal investigation hired by the entity in 2019 to contribute to the clarification of the facts. As of the date of the approval of the consolidated financial statements, no formal accusation against the Bank has been made.
• This criminal judicial proceeding is at the pre-trial phase. Therefore, it is not possible at this time to predict the scope or duration of such proceeding or any related proceeding or its or their possible outcomes or implications for the Group, including any fines, damages or harm to the Group’s reputation caused thereby.

7.2 Credit risk

Credit risk arises from the probability that one party to a financial instrument will fail to meet its contractual obligations for reasons of insolvency or inability to pay and cause a financial loss for the other party.

The general principles governing credit risk management in the BBVA Group are:

• Risks taken should comply with the general risk policy established by the Board of Directors of BBVA.
• Risks taken should be in line with the level of equity and generation of recurring revenue of the BBVA Group prioritizing risk diversification and avoiding relevant concentrations.
• Risks taken should be identified, measured and assessed and there should be management and monitoring procedures, in addition to sound mitigation and control mechanisms.
• Risks should be managed in a prudent and integrated manner during their life cycle and their treatment should be based on the type of risk. In addition, portfolios should be actively managed on the basis of a common metric (economic capital).
• The main criterion when granting credit risks is the capability of the borrower or obligor to fulfill on a timely basis all financial obligations with its business income or source of income without depending upon guarantors, bondsmen or pledged assets.
• Improve the financial health of our clients, help them in their decision making and in the daily management of their finances based on personalized advice.
• Help our clients in the transition towards a sustainable future, with a focus on climate change and inclusive and sustainable social development.

Credit risk management in the Group has an integrated structure for all its functions, allowing decisions to be taken objectively and independently throughout the life cycle of the risk.

• At Group level: frameworks for action and standard rules of conduct are defined for handling risk, specifically, the channels, procedures, structure and supervision.
• At the business area level: they are responsible for adapting the Group's criteria to the local realities of each geographical area and for direct management of risk according to the decision-making channel:

• Retail risks: in general, the decisions are formalized according to the scoring tools, within the general framework for action of each business area, with regard to risks. The changes in weighting and variables of these tools must be validated by the GRM area.
• Wholesale risks: in general, the decisions are formalized by each business area within its general framework for action with regard to risks, which incorporates the delegation rule and the Group's corporate policies.

The risk function has a decision-making process supported by a structure of committees with a solid governance scheme, which describes their purposes and functioning for a proper performance of their tasks.

Payment deferral

This governance scheme has been fundamental in managing the COVID-19 crisis in all the geographies where the Group operates, where both, assessing the flow of necessary funds for the economies with the rigor in the analysis and monitoring of the credit quality of the exposures.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, the Group has offered payment deferral to its customers (retail, SMEs and wholesale) in all the geographies where it operates. These moratoriums have been both legislative (based on national laws) and non-legislative (based on sectorial or individual schemes), aimed at mitigating the effects of COVID-19. Depending on the cases, the payment of principal and / or interest has been postponed, maintaining the original contract. Generally, these deferrals have been given for a period of less than one year. This measure has been extended to different sectors, being Leisure, Real Estate and Auto the main users. The deadline to qualify for the moratorium has been extended in some geographies in recent months, having already come to an end in Mexico and Argentina. In the others, where this measure is still in force, this period ends in the first quarter of 2021, except Turkey (in May 2021), Colombia (in July 2021) and the USA (in January 2022).

Specifically, the Group's participation in the following moratorium or public guarantee measures by geography stands out:

• In Spain, payment deferral measures have been covered mainly by Royal Decree Law 8/2020 and 11/2020, as well as the agreement promoted by the Spanish Banking Association (hereinafter “AEB”) to which BBVA has adhered.
  
  The moratoriums covered by the Royal Decree Law have been proposed to the especially vulnerable groups indicated in the regulation. These measures consist of payment deferral of three months of principal and interest. In addition, the possibility of customers joining sector agreements for the remaining term until the limit established has been offered that, once said legal moratorium has expired. By type of customer, they are aimed at individuals, individual or self-employed entrepreneurs, and by type of product, mortgage, personal loans or consumer loans.
  
  The moratoriums granted under the sectorial agreement of the AEB are aimed at individuals for up to 12 months of capital deferral in the case of mortgage loans and up to 6 months in personal loans. Said sector agreement has been in force until September 29, 2020, but it has been extended until March 30, 2021, although the new conditions only provide for the payment deferral of capital in mortgages up to 9 months, remaining 6 months on personal loans.
  
  In addition, the Official Credit Institute (ICO) has published several aid programs aimed at the self-employed, SMEs and companies, through which a guarantee of between 60% and 80% is granted for a period of up to 5 years to the new financing granted. The amount of the guarantee and its length depends on the size of the company and the type of product. The ICO has also subsidized individuals the amount of the rent up to 6 months in loans up to 6 years.

• In Mexico, the National Banking Commission of Securities (“CNBV”) published official letters P285/2020 of March 26, 2020 and P293/2020 of April 15, 2020, allowing the granting of capital and interest payment deferral for a period 4 months extendable for additional 2 additional months. These measures were mainly used by individuals and companies, affecting mortgage loans, personal loans and consumer loans, including credit cards.
• In the United States, payment deferral measures have been mainly encouraged by the CARES Act, signed on March 27, 2020, which includes a wide range of supporting measures for companies and individuals, as well as an interagency statement (Office of the Comptroller of the Monetary Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, Office of Consumer Financial Protection and National Administration of Credit Unions) of April 7, 2020.
• In Turkey, in mid March the government announced a program to stimulate the economy (Economic Stability Shield) allowing banks to defer payments for 3 months, with the possibility of extending up to 6 months, which was accompanied by several communications of the Banking Regulation and Supervisory Agency (“BRSA”) in this regard. These supporting measures are granted to both individuals and companies.
  
  Likewise, public support programs have been recognized guaranteeing up to 80% of loans granted to companies for a period of 1 year.
• In Colombia, the binding legislation for payment deferral comes from the Financial Superintendency, specifically from its Circulars 07/2020 and 14/2020, as well as from Resolution No. 385. The payment deferral consists of the deferral of payments of principal and interest until 6 months. The term to avail themselves of them has been extended until July 2021.
• In Peru, measures were approved through various official letters issued by the Superintendency of Banking and Insurance (“SBS”), allowing the deferral of principal and interest payments initially up to 6 months and then extended to 12, mainly to individuals, self-employed and small companies.
  
  Additionally, there have been public support programs such as “Reactiva”, “Crecer” or “FAE” aimed at companies and micro-companies with guaranteed amounts that, depending on the program and the type of company, are in a range of between 60% and 98%.
• In Argentina, payment deferral measures are based on state legislation such as Royal Decree 544/2020 or Decree 319/202, as well as various Central Bank regulations. Aimed at a broad group of customers, they facilitate deferral of capital and interest for up to 3 months.

Certain public support programs offering guarantees of up to 100% to micro-SMEs or individuals and up to 25% to other companies in financing for up to 1 year.

The amount of payment deferrals (existing and completed) and the financing granted with public guarantees given at a Group level, as well as the number of customers of both measures, as of December 31, 2020 are as follows:

Amount of payment deferral and financing with public guarantees as of December 31, 2020 (Millions of Euros)

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The amount of payment deferrals (existing and completed) and financing granted with public guarantees given at a Group level, broken down by segment, as of December 31, 2020 are as follows:

Amount of payment deferral and financing with public guarantees as of December 31, 2020 (Millions of Euros)

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Amount of payment deferral by stages as of December 31, 2020 (Millions of Euros)

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The payment deferral measures for bank customers result in the temporary suspension, total or partial, of the contractual obligations with a deferral for a specific period of time. Considering that the payment deferrals granted in connection with COVID-19 provide temporary relief to debtors and that the economic value of the affected loans has not been significantly impacted, the payment deferral measures granted have not been considered substantial contractual modifications and, therefore, modified loans are accounted for as a continuation of the originals. When a payment deferral does not generate interest collection rights, a temporary loss of value is triggered for the transaction, which is calculated as the difference between the current value of the original and the modified cash flows, both discounted at the effective interest rate of the original transaction. The difference is recognized at the initial time in the income statement under the heading “Impairment or (reversal) of impairment on financial assets not measured at fair value through profit or loss or net gains by modification” in the balance sheet as a reduction of the asset value of the loans. From that point on, said correction accrues as net interest income at the original effective interest rate within the period of the payment deferral. Thus, at the end of the moratorium period, the impact on net attributed profit is basically neutral. As of December 31, 2020, the temporary value loss of the payment deferral included in the consolidated income statements amounted to €304 million, from which €300 million have already been recognized as a higher interest margin as of that date.

Regarding the classification of exposures according to their credit risk, the Group has maintained a rigorous application of IFRS 9 when granting the payment deferrals and has reinforced the procedures for monitoring credit risk both throughout the life of the transactions and at their maturity.

This means that the payment deferrals granting does not imply in itself an automatic trigger for a significant increase in risk and that the transactions subject to the payment deferrals are initially classified in the stage they had previously, unless, based on their risk profile, they should be classified in a worse stage. On the other hand, as evidence of payment has ceased to exist or has been reduced, the Group has introduced additional indicators or segmentations to identify the significant increase in credit risk that may have occurred in some transactions or a set of them and, where appropriate, it has been classified in Stage 2. Furthermore, the indications provided by the European Banking Authority (EBA) have been taken into account to not consider forbearance the payment deferrals that meet a series of requirements. All this without prejudice to maintaining its consideration as a forbearance if it was previously qualified as such or classifying the exposure in the corresponding stage previously stated.

On the other hand, the treatment planned for the payment deferrals that expire and may require additional support will be in accordance with the updated evaluation of the customer's credit quality and the characteristics of the solution granted. If applicable, they will be treated as Refinancing or Restructuring as described in Note 7.2.7 of the Financial Statements.

Regarding public support for the loans’ lending, it does not affect the evaluation of the significant increase in risk since it is valued through the credit quality of the instrument. However, in estimating the expected loss, the existence of the guarantor implies a possible reduction in the level of provisions necessary since, for the hedged part, the loss that would be incurred in the foreclosure of the guarantee is taken into account.

The public guarantees granted in the different geographies in which the Group operates have been considered as an integral part of the terms and conditions of the loans granted under the consideration that the guarantees are granted at the same time that the financing is granted to the client and in a way inseparable from it.

7.2.1 Measurement Expected Credit Loss (ECL)

IFRS 9 requires determining the expected credit loss (ECL) of a financial instrument in a way that reflects an unbiased estimation removing any conservatism or optimism, including the time value of money and a forward-looking perspective (including the economic forecast), all this based on the information that is available at a certain point in time and that is reasonable and bearable with respect to future economic conditions.

Therefore, the recognition and measurement of expected credit losses is highly complex and involves the use of significant analysis and estimation including formulation and incorporation of forward-looking economic conditions into the ECL model.

The modeling of the ECL calculation is subject to a governance system that is common to the entire Group. Within this common framework, each geography makes the necessary adaptations to capture its particularities. The methodology, assumptions and observations used by each geography are reviewed annually, and after a validation and approval process, the outcome of this review is incorporated into the ECL calculations.

Risk parameters by homogeneous groups

Expected losses can be estimated both individually and collectively. Regarding the collective estimate, the instruments are distributed in homogeneous groups (segments) that share similar risk characteristics. Following the guidelines established by the Group for the development of models under IFRS 9, each geography performs the grouping based on the information available, its representativeness or relevance and compliance with the necessary statistical requirements.

Depending on the portfolio or the parameter being estimated, one risk driver or another will apply and different segments will reflect differences in PDs and LGDs. Thus, in each segment, changes in the level of credit risk will respond to the impact of changing conditions on the common range of credit risk drivers. The effect on the group’s credit risk in response to changes in forward-looking information will be considered as well. Macroeconomic modeling for each segment is carried out using some of the shared risk characteristics.

These segments share credit risk characteristics such that changes in credit risk in a part of the portfolio are not concealed by the performance of other parts of the portfolio. In that sense, the methodology developed for ECL estimation indicates the risk drivers that have to be taken into account for PD segmentation purposes, depending on whether the estimation is for retail or wholesale portfolios.

As an example of the variables that can be taken into consideration to determine the final models, the following stand out:

• PD - Retail: Contractual residual maturity, credit risk scoring, type of product, days past due, forbearance, time on books, time to maturity, nationality of the debtor, sale channel, original term, indicator of credit card activity, percentage of initial drawn balance.
• PD - Wholesale: Credit Risk Rating, type of product, watch-list level, forbearance (client), time to maturity, industry sector, updated balance (y/n), written off, grace period.
• LGD – retail: credit Risk Scoring, segment, type of product, secured / unsecured, type of collateral, sales channel, nationality, business area, debtor’s commercial segment, forbearance (account) EAD (this risk driver could be correlated with the time on books or the LTV so, before including it, an assessment should be done in order to avoid a double counting effect), time on default of the account (for defaulted exposures), geographical location.
• LGD - wholesale: credit Risk Rating, geographical location, segment, type of product, secured / Unsecured, type of collateral, business area, forbearance (client), debtor’s commercial segment time on default of the deal (for defaulted exposures).
• CCF: wholesale/retail, percentage of initial drawn balance, debtor’s commercial segment, days past due, forbearance, credit limit activity, time on books.

In the BBVA Group, the expected losses calculated are based on the internal models developed for all the Group's portfolios, unless clients are subject to individualized estimates.

Exposures with other credit institutions, sovereign debt or with public administrations are characterized by a low number of defaults, so the Group's historical bases do not contain sufficiently representative information to build impairment models based on them. However, there are external sources of information that, based on broader observations, are capable of providing the necessary inputs to develop models of expected losses. Therefore, based on the rating assigned to these exposures and taking into account the inputs obtained from these sources, the calculations of expected losses are developed internally, including their projection based on the macroeconomic perspectives.

Individual estimation of expected credit losses

The Group periodically and individually reviews the situation and credit rating of its customers, regardless of their classification, taking into consideration the information deemed necessary to do so. It also has procedures in place within the risk management framework to identify the factors that may lead to increased risk and, consequently, to a greater need for provisions.

The monitoring model established by the Group consists of continuously monitoring the risks to which it is exposed, which guarantees their proper classification in the different categories of IFRS 9. The original analysis of the exposures is reviewed through the procedures for updating the rating tools (rating and scoring), which periodically review the financial situation of clients, influencing the classification by stages of exposures.

Within this credit risk management framework, the Group has procedures that guarantee the review, at least annually, of all its wholesale counterparties through the so-called financial programs, which include the current and proposed positioning of the Group with the customer in terms of credit risk. This review is based on a detailed analysis of the client's up-to-date financial situation, which is complemented by other information available in relation to individual perspectives on business performance, industry trends, macroeconomic prospects or other public data. As a result of this analysis, the preliminary rating of the client is obtained, which, after undergoing the internal procedure, can be revised down if deemed appropriate (for example, general economic environment or evolution of the sector). These factors in addition to the information that the client can provide are used to review the ratings even before the scheduled financial plan reviews are conducted if circumstances warrant.

Additionally, the Group has established procedures to identify wholesale customers in the internal Watch List category, which is defined as that risk in which, derived from an individualized credit analysis, an increase in credit risk is observed, either due to economic or financial difficulties or because they have suffered, or are expected to suffer, adverse situations in their environment, without meeting the criteria for classification as impaired risk. Under this procedure, all a customer's Watch List exposures are considered Stage 2 regardless of when they originated, if as a result of the analysis the customer is considered to have significantly increased risk.

Finally, the Group has so-called Workout Committees, both local and corporate, which analyze not only the situation and evolution of significant clients in Watch List and doubtful situations, but also those significant clients in which, without having still rated on Watch List, they may present some Stage 2 rated exposure for a quantitative reason (PD comparison from origination). This analysis is carried out in order to decide if, derived from this situation, all the client's exposures should be considered in the Watch List category, which would imply the migration of all the client's operations to Stage 2 regardless of the date on which they originated.

With this, the Group ensures an individualized review of the credit quality of its wholesale counterparties, identifying the situations in which a change in the risk profile of these clients may have occurred and proceeding, where appropriate, to estimate individualized credit losses. Along with this review, the Group individually estimates the expected losses of those clients whose total exposure exceeds certain thresholds, including those that part of their operations may be classified in stage 1 and part in stage 2. In setting thresholds, each geography determines the minimum amount of a client's exposure whose expected losses must be estimated individually taking into account the following:

• For clients with exposures in stage 3. The analysis of clients with total risk above this threshold implies analyzing at least 40% of the total risk of the wholesale portfolio in stage 3. Although the calibration of the threshold is done on the wholesale portfolio, clients of other portfolios must be analyzed if they exceed the threshold, staying in Stage 3.
• For all other situations. The analysis of clients with total risk above this threshold implies analyzing at least 20% of the total risk of the Watch List wholesale portfolio. Although the threshold calibration is carried out on the exposure classified as Watch List, wholesale clients or clients belonging to other portfolios that have exposures classified in stage 2 and whose total exposure exceeds the mentioned threshold must be analyzed individually, considering both the exposures classified in stage 1 as in stage 2.

Regarding the methodology for the individual estimation of expected losses, it should be mentioned, firstly, that these are measured as the difference between the asset’s carrying amount and the estimated future cash flows discounted at the financial asset’s effective interest

The estimated recoverable amount should correspond to the amount calculated under the following method:

• The present value of estimated future cash flows discounted at the financial asset’s original effective interest rate; and
• The estimation of the recoverable amount of a collateralized exposure reflects the cash flows that may result from the liquidation of the collateral.

The estimated future cash flows depend on the type of approach applied, which can be:

• Going concern scenario: when the entity has updated and reliable information about the solvency and ability of payment of the holders or guarantors. The operating cash flows of the debtor, or the guarantor, continue and can be used to repay the financial debt to all creditors. In addition, collateral may be exercised to the extent it does not influence operating cash flows. The following aspects should be taken into account:

• Future operating cash flows should be based on the financial statements of the debtor.
• When the projections made on these financial statements assume a growth rate, a constant or decreasing growth rate must be used over a maximum growth period of 3 to 5 years, and subsequently constant cash flows
• The growth rate should be based on the analysis of the evolution of the debtor's financial statements or on a sound and applicable business restructuring plan, taking into account the resulting changes in the structure of the company (for example, due to divestments or the interruption of unprofitable lines of business).
• (Re)-investments that are needed to preserve cash flows should be considered, as well as any foreseeable future cash-flow changes (e.g. if a patent or a long-term loan expires).
• When the recoverability of the exposure relies on the realization of the disposal of some assets by the debtor, the selling price should reflect the estimated future cash flows that may result from the sale of the assets less the estimated costs associated with the disposal.

• Gone concern scenario: when the entity does not have updated and reliable information, it should consider that the estimation of loan receivable flows is of high uncertainty. Estimation should be carried out through the estimation of recoverable amounts from the effective real guarantees received. It will not be admissible as effective guarantees, those whose effectiveness depends substantially on the creditworthiness of the debtor or economic group in which it takes part. Under a gone concern scenario, the collateral is exercised and the operating cash flows of the debtor cease. This could be the case if:

• The exposure has been past due for a long period. There is a rebuttable presumption that the allowance should be estimated under a gone concern criterion when arrears are greater than 18 months.
• Future operating cash flows of the debtor are estimated to be low or negative.
• Exposure is significantly collateralized, and this collateral is central to cash-flow generation
• There is a significant degree of uncertainty surrounding the estimation of the future cash flows. This would be the case if the earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) of the two previous years had been negative, or if the business plans of the previous years had been flawed (due to material discrepancies in the back-testing)
• Insufficient information is available to perform a going concern analysis

Significant increase in credit risk

As indicated in Note 2.2, the criteria for identifying the significant increase in risk are applied consistently throughout the Group, distinguishing between quantitative reasons or by comparison of probabilities of default and qualitative reasons (more than 30 days of default, watch list consideration or non-impaired refinancing).

To manage credit risk, the Group uses all relevant information that is available and that may affect the credit quality of the exposures. This information may come mainly from the internal processes of admission, analysis and monitoring of operations, from the strategy defined by the Group regarding the price of operations or distribution by geographies, products or sectors of activity, from the observance of the macroeconomic environment, from market data such as interest rate curves, or prices of the different financial instruments, or from external sources of credit rating.

This set of information is the basis for determining the rating and scoring (see note 7.1.4 for more information on rating and scoring systems) corresponding to each of the exposures and which are assigned a probability of default (PD) that, as already mentioned, it undergoes an annual review process that assesses its representativeness (backtesting) and is updated with new observations. Furthermore, the projection of these PDs over time has been modeled based on macroeconomic expectations, which allows obtaining the probabilities of default throughout the life of the operations.

Based on this common methodology, and in accordance with the provisions of IFRS 9 and the EBA guidelines on credit risk management practices (EBA / GL / 2017/06), each geography has established absolute and relative thresholds for identifying whether the expected changes in the probabilities of default have increased significantly compared to the initial moment, adapted to the particularities of each one of them in terms of origination levels, product characteristics, distribution by sectors or portfolios, and macroeconomic situation. To establish the aforementioned thresholds, a series of general principles are considered, such as:

• Uniformity: Based on the rating and scoring systems that, in a homogeneous manner, are implemented in the Group's units.
• Stability: The thresholds must be established to identify the significant increase in risk produced in exposures since their initial recognition and not only to identify those situations in which it is already foreseeable that they will reach the level of impairment. For this reason, it is to be expected that of the total exposures there will always be a representative group for which said increased risk is identified.
• Anticipation: The thresholds must consider the identification of the increased risk in advance with respect to the recognition of the exposures as impaired or even before a real default occurs. The calibration of the thresholds should minimize the cases in which the instruments are classified in stage 3 without having previously been recognized as stage 2.
• Indicators or metrics: It is expected that the classification of the exposures in stage 2 will have sufficient permanence to allow them to develop an anticipatory management of them before, where appropriate, they end up migrating to stage 3.
• Symmetry: IFRS 9 provides for a symmetric treatment both to identify the significant increase in risk and to identify that it has disappeared, so the thresholds also work to improve the credit classification of exposures. In this sense, it is expected that the cases in which the exhibitions that improve from stage 3 are directly classified into stage 1 will be minimal.

The identification of the significant increase in risk from the comparison of the probabilities of default should be the main reason why exposures in stage 2 are recognized.

Specifically, a contract will be transferred to stage 2 when the following two conditions are met by comparing the current PD values and the origination PD values:

These absolute and relative thresholds are consistently established for each geography and for each portfolio, taking into account their particularities and based on the principles described. The thresholds set by each geography are included within the annual review process and, generally speaking, are in the range of 30% to 250% for the relative threshold and from 10 to 150 basis points for the absolute threshold.

The establishment of absolute and relative thresholds, as well as their different levels, comply with the provisions of IFRS 9 when it indicates that a certain change, in absolute terms, in the risk of a default will be more significant for a financial instrument with a lower initial risk of default compared to a financial instrument with higher initial risk of default.

For existing contracts before the implementation of IFRS 9, given the limitations in the information available on them, the thresholds are calibrated based on the PDs obtained from the prudential or economic models for calculating capital.

Risk Parameters Adjusted by Macroeconomic Scenarios

Expected Credit Loss must include forward looking information, in accordance with IFRS 9, which states that the comprehensive credit risk information must incorporate not only historical information but also all relevant credit information, including forward-looking macroeconomic information. BBVA Group uses the classical credit risk parameters PD, LGD and EAD in order to calculate the ECL for the credit portfolios.

BBVA Group´s methodological approach in order to incorporate the forward looking information aims to determine the relation between macroeconomic variables and risk parameters following three main steps:

• Step 1: Analysis and transformation of time series data.
• Step 2: For each dependent variable find conditional forecasting models that are economically consistent.
• Step 3: Select the best conditional forecasting model from the set of candidates defined in Step 2, based on their forecasting capacity.

How economic scenarios are reflected in calculation of ECL

The forward looking component is added to the calculation of the ECL through the introduction of macroeconomic scenarios as an input. Inputs highly depend on the particular combination of region and portfolio, so inputs are adapted to available data regarding each of them.

Based on economic theory and analysis, the main indicators most directly relevant for explaining and forecasting the selected risk parameters (PD, LGD and EAD) are:

• The net income of families, corporates or public administrations.
• The outstanding payment amounts on the principal and interest on the financial instruments.
• The value of the collateral assets pledge to the loan.

BBVA Group approximates these variables by using a proxy indicator from the set included in the macroeconomic scenarios provided by the economic research department.

Only a single specific indicator for each of the three categories can be used and only one of the following core macroeconomic indicators should be chosen as first option:

• The real GDP growth for the purpose of conditional forecasting can be seen as the only “factor” required for capturing the influence of all potentially relevant macro-financial scenarios on internal PDs and LGD.
• The most representative short term interest rate (typically the policy rate or the most liquid sovereign yield or interbank rate) or exchange rates expressed in real terms.
• A comprehensive and representative index of the price of real estate properties expressed in real terms in the case of mortgage loans and a representative and real term index of the price of the relevant commodity for corporate loan portfolios concentrated in exporters or producer of such commodity.

Real GDP growth is given priority over any other indicator not only because it is the most comprehensive indicator of income and economic activity but also because it is the central variable in the generation of macroeconomic scenarios.

Multiple scenario approach under IFRS 9

IFRS 9 requires calculating an unbiased probability weighted measurement of expected credit losses (“ECL”) by evaluating a range of possible outcomes, including forecasts of future economic conditions.

The BBVA Research teams within the BBVA Group produce forecasts of the macroeconomic variables under the baseline scenario, which are used in the rest of the related processes of the Group, such as budgeting, ICAAP and risk appetite framework, stress testing, etc.

Additionally, the BBVA Research teams produced alternative scenarios to the baseline scenario so as to meet the requirements under the IFRS 9 standard.

Alternative macroeconomic scenarios

• For each of the macro-financial variables, BBVA Research produces three scenarios.
• BBVA Research tracks, analyzes and forecasts the economic environment to provide a consistent forward looking assessment about the most likely scenario and risks that impact BBVA’s footprint. To build economic scenarios, BBVA Research combines official data, econometric techniques and expert knowledge.
• Each of these scenarios corresponds to the expected value of a different area of the probabilistic distribution of the possible projections of the economic variables.
• The non-linearity overlay is defined as the ratio between the probability-weighted ECL under the alternative scenarios and the baseline scenario, where the scenario’s probability depends on the distance of the alternative scenarios from the base one.
• BBVA Group establishes equally weighted scenarios, being the probability 34% for the baseline scenario, 33% for the worst alternative scenario and 33% for the best alternative scenario.

The approach in BBVA Group consists on using the scenario that is the most likely scenario, which is the baseline scenario, consistent with the rest of internal processes (ICAAP, Budgeting…) and then applying an overlay adjustment that is calculated by taking into account the weighted average of the ECL determined by each of the scenarios. This effect is calculated taking into account the weighted weight of the expected loss determined for each scenario.

It is important to note that in general, it is expected that the effect of the overlay is to increase the ECL. It is possible to obtain an overlay that does not have that effect, whenever the relationship between macro scenarios and losses is linear. However, the overlay is not expected to reduce the ECL On the other hand, the BBVA Group also takes into account the range of possible scenarios when defining its significant increase in credit risk. Thus, the PDs used in the quantitative process to identify the significant increase in credit risk will be those that result from making a weighted average of the PDs calculated under the three scenarios.

Macroeconomic scenarios as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has generated a macroeconomic uncertainty situation with a direct impact on credit risk of the entities, particularly, on the expected credit losses under IFRS 9. Even though the situation is unclear and of an unforeseeable time length, the expectation is that this situation will provoke a severe recession followed by an economic recovery, which will not achieve the pre-crisis GDP levels in the short-term, supported by the measures issued by governments and monetary authorities.

This situation has allowed the accounting authorities and the banking supervisors to adopt measures in order to mitigate the impacts that this crisis could imply on the calculation of expected credit losses under IFRS 9 as well as on solvency, urging:

• the entities to evaluate all the available information, weighing more the long-term forecasts against the short-term economic situation
• the governments to adopt measures to avoid the effects of impairment,
• the entities to develop managerial measures as the design of specific products adapted to the situation which could occur during this crisis.

Almost all accounting and prudential authorities have issued recommendations or measures within the COVID-19 crisis framework regarding the estimation of the expected losses under IFRS 9 in a coordinated manner.

The common denominator of all of these recommendations is that, given the difficulty of establishing reliable macroeconomic forecasts, the transitory term of the economic shock and the need to incorporate the effect of the mitigating measures issued by the governments, a review of the automatic application of the models in order to increase the weight of the long-term macroeconomic forecasts in the calculation of the expected losses is needed. As a result thereof, the expected outcome over the lifetime of the transactions will have more weight than the short-term macroeconomic impact.

In this respect, the BBVA Group has taken into account those recommendations in the calculation of the expected credit losses under IFRS 9, considering that the economic situation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic is transitory and will be followed by a recovery, even if there is uncertainty over the level and the time period of such recovery. As a consequence, different scenarios have been taken into consideration in the calculation of expected losses, resulting in the model management believes suits best the current economic situation and the combined recommendations issued by the authorities. In addition to the outcome of the calculation of the scenarios, individual analysis of exposures which could be most affected by the circumstances caused by the COVID-19, have been taken into account.

The estimate for the next five years of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), of the variation in the unemployment rate and of the House Price Index (HPI), for the most relevant countries where it represents a significant factor, is determined by BBVA Research and it has been used at the time of the calculation of the expected credit loss as of December 31, 2020:

Positive scenario of GDP, unemployment rate and HPI for the main geographies

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Estimate of GDP, unemployment rate and HPI for the main geographies

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Negative scenario of GDP, unemployment rate and HPI for the main geographies

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The estimate for the next five years of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), is determined by BBVA Research and it has been used at the time of the calculation of the expected credit loss as of December 31, 2019:

GPD for the main geographies

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Sensitivity to macroeconomic scenarios

A sensitivity exercise has been carried out on the expected losses due to variations in the key hypotheses as they are the ones that introduce the greatest uncertainty in estimating such losses. As a first step, GDP and House Prices have been identified as the most relevant variables. These variables have been subjected to shocks of +/- 100 bps in their entire projection window. Independent sensitivities have been assessed, under the assumption of assigning a 100% probability to each determined scenario with these independent shocks.

Variation in provisions is determined both by re-staging (that is: in worse scenarios due to the recognition of lifetime credit losses for additional operations that are transferred to stage 2 from stage1 where 12 months of losses are valued: or vice versa in improvement scenarios) as well as variations in the collective risk parameters (PD and LGD) of each financial instrument due to the changes defined in the macroeconomic forecasts of the scenario.

Expected loss variation

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Additional adjustments to expect loss measurement

In addition to what is described on individualized and collective estimates of expected losses and macroeconomic estimates, the Group may supplement the expected losses if it deems it necessary to collect the effects that may not be included, either by considering risk drivers or by the incorporation of sectorial particularities or that may affect a set of operations or borrowers. These adjustments should be temporary, until the reasons that motivated them disappear or materialize.

For this reason, the expected losses have been supplemented with additional amounts that have been considered necessary to collect the particular characteristics of borrowers, sectors or portfolios and that may not be identified in the general process. Of the supplementary amounts recognized throughout the year, at the end of the year 2020, 244 million euros are pending allocation to specific borrowers, of which 223 million euros are located in Spain (mainly 57 million euros based on the volume of arrears pending maturity and whose behavior pattern is still subject to uncertainty, 127 million euros in sectors most affected by the pandemic and 40 million euros as a complement to the individualized analyzes) and 21 million euros in the United States in relation to the uncertainty of the Oil & Gas sector.

7.2.2 Credit Risk Exposure

In accordance with IFRS 7 “Financial instruments: Disclosures”, the BBVA Group’s credit risk exposure by headings in the balance sheets as of December 31, 2020, 2019 and 2018 is provided below. It does not consider the loss allowances and the availability of collateral or other credit enhancements to guarantee compliance with payment obligations. The details are broken down by financial instruments and counterparties:

Maximum credit risk exposure (Millions of Euros)

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Maximum credit risk exposure (Millions of Euros)

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Maximum credit risk exposure (Millions of Euros)

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The maximum credit exposure presented in the table above is determined by type of financial asset as explained below:

• In the case of financial instruments recognized in the consolidated balance sheets, exposure to credit risk is considered equal to its carrying amount (not including loss allowances) with the only exception of trading and hedging derivatives.
• The maximum credit risk exposure on financial commitments and guarantees granted is the maximum that the Group would be liable for if these guarantees were called in, or the higher amount pending to be disposed from the customer in the case of commitments.
• The calculation of risk exposure for derivatives is based on the sum of two factors: the derivatives fair value and their potential risk (or "add-on").

The breakdown by geographical location and Stage of the maximum credit risk exposure, the accumulated allowances recorded and the carrying amount of the loans and advances to customers as of December 31, 2020, 2019 and 2018 is shown below:

December 2020 (Millions of Euros)

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December 2019 (Millions of Euros)

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December 2018 (Millions of Euros)

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The breakdown by counterparty of the maximum credit risk exposure, the accumulated allowances recorded, as well as the carrying amount by stages of loans and advances to customers as of December 31, 2020, 2019 and 2018 is shown below:

December 2020 (Millions of Euros)

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December 2019 (Millions of Euros)

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December 2018 (Millions of Euros)

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The breakdown by counterparty and product of loans and advances, net of loss allowances, as well as the gross carrying amount by type of product, classified in different headings of the assets, as of December 31, 2020, 2019 and 2018 is shown below:

December 2020 (Millions of Euros)

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December 2019 (Millions of Euros)

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December 2018 (Millions of Euros)

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7.2.3 Mitigation of credit risk, collateralized credit risk and other credit enhancements

In most cases, maximum credit risk exposure is reduced by collateral, credit enhancements and other actions which mitigate the Group’s exposure. The BBVA Group applies a credit risk hedging and mitigation policy deriving from a banking approach focused on relationship banking. The existence of guarantees could be a necessary but not sufficient instrument for accepting risks, as the assumption of risks by the Group requires prior evaluation of the debtor’s capacity for repayment, or that the debtor can generate sufficient resources to allow the amortization of the risk incurred under the agreed terms.

The policy of accepting risks is therefore organized into three different levels in the BBVA Group:

• Analysis of the financial risk of the transaction, based on the debtor’s capacity for repayment or generation of funds.
• The constitution of guarantees that are adequate, or at any rate generally accepted, for the risk assumed, in any of the generally accepted forms: monetary, secured, personal or hedge guarantees; and finally.
• Assessment of the repayment risk (asset liquidity) of the guarantees received.

This is carried out through a prudent risk policy that consists of the analysis of the financial risk, based on the capacity for reimbursement or generation of resources of the borrower, the analysis of the guarantee, assessing, among others, the efficiency, the robustness and the risk, the adequacy of the guarantee with the operation and other aspects such as the location, currency, concentration or the existence of limitations. Additionally, the necessary tasks for the constitution of guarantees must be carried out - in any of the generally accepted forms (collaterals, personal guarantees and financial hedge instruments) - appropriate to the risk assumed.

The procedures for the management and valuation of collateral are set out in the corporate general policies (retail and wholesale), which establish the basic principles for credit risk management, including the management of collaterals assigned in transactions with customers. The criteria for the systematic, standardized and effective treatment of collateral in credit transaction procedures in BBVA Group’s wholesale and retail banking are included in the Specific Collateral Rules.

The methods used to value the collateral are in line with the best market practices and imply the use of appraisal of real-estate collateral, the market price in market securities, the trading price of shares in mutual funds, etc. All the collaterals received must be correctly assigned and entered in the corresponding register. They must also have the approval of the Group’s legal units.

The valuation of the collateral is taken into account in the calculation of the expected losses. The Group has developed internal models to estimate the realization value of the collaterals received, the time that elapses until then, the costs for their acquisition, maintenance and subsequent sale, from real observations based on its own experience. This modeling is part of the LGD estimation processes that are applied to the different segments, and is included within the annual review and validation procedures.

The following is a description of the main types of collateral for each financial instrument class:

• Debt instruments held for trading: The guarantees or credit enhancements obtained directly from the issuer or counterparty are implicit in the clauses of the instrument (mainly guarantees of the issuer).
• Derivatives and hedging derivatives: In derivatives, credit risk is minimized through contractual netting agreements, where positive- and negative-value derivatives with the same counterparty are offset for their net balance. There may likewise be other kinds of guarantees and collaterals, depending on counterparty solvency and the nature of the transaction (mainly collaterals).

• The summary of the offsetting effect (via netting and collateral) for derivatives and securities operations as of December 31, 2020 is presented in Note 7.3.2.

• Other financial assets designated at fair value through profit or loss and financial assets at fair value through other comprehensive income: The guarantees or credit enhancements obtained directly from the issuer or counterparty are inherent to the structure of the instrument (mainly personal guarantees).
  
  As of December 31, 2020, 2019 and 2018, BBVA Group had no credit risk exposure of impaired financial assets at fair value through other comprehensive income (see Note 7.2.2).

• Financial assets at amortized cost:

• Loans and advances to credit institutions: These usually have the counterparty’s personal guarantee or pledged securities in the case of repos.
• Loans and advances to customers: Most of these loans and advances are backed by personal guarantees extended by the customer. There may also be collateral to secure loans and advances to customers (such as mortgages, cash collaterals, pledged securities and other collateral), or to obtain other credit enhancements (bonds or insurances).
• Debt securities: The guarantees or credit enhancements obtained directly from the issuer or counterparty are inherent to the structure of the instrument.

• Financial guarantees, other contingent risks and drawable by third parties: these have the counterparty’s personal guarantee or other types of collaterals.

The disclosure of impaired loans and advances at amortized cost covered by collateral (see Note 7.2.6), by type of collateral, as of December 31, 2020, 2019 and 2018, is the following:

December 2020 (Millions of Euros)

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December 2019 (Millions of Euros)

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December 2018 (Millions of Euros)

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The value of guarantees received as of December 31, 2020, 2019 and 2018, is the following:

Guarantees received (Millions of Euros)

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The maximum credit risk exposure of impaired financial guarantees and other commitments at December 31, 2020, 2019 and 2018 amounts to €1,032, €1,001 and €987 million, respectively (see Note 7.2.2).

7.2.4 Credit quality of financial assets that are neither past due nor impaired

The BBVA Group has tools that enable it to rank the credit quality of its transactions and customers based on an assessment and its correspondence with the probability of default (“PD”) scales. To analyze the performance of PD, the Group has a series of tracking tools and historical databases that collect the pertinent internally generated information. These tools can be grouped together into scoring and rating models.

Scoring

Scoring is a decision-making model that contributes to both the arrangement and management of retail loans: consumer loans, mortgages, credit cards for individuals, etc. Scoring is the tool used to decide to originate a loan, what amount should be originated and what strategies can help establish the price, because it is an algorithm that sorts transactions by their credit quality. This algorithm enables the BBVA Group to assign a score to each transaction requested by a customer, on the basis of a series of objective characteristics that have statistically been shown to discriminate between the quality and risk of this type of transactions. The advantage of scoring lies in its simplicity and homogeneity: all that is needed is a series of objective data for each customer, and this data is analyzed automatically using an algorithm.

There are three types of scoring, based on the information used and on its purpose:

• Reactive scoring: measures the risk of a transaction requested by an individual using variables relating to the requested transaction and to the customer’s socio-economic data available at the time of the request. The new transaction is approved or rejected depending on the score.
• Behavioral scoring: scores transactions for a given product in an outstanding risk portfolio of the entity, enabling the credit rating to be tracked and the customer’s needs to be anticipated. It uses transaction and customer variables available internally. Specifically, variables that refer to the behavior of both the product and the customer.
• Proactive scoring: gives a score at customer level using variables related to the individual’s general behavior with the entity, and to his/her payment behavior in all the contracted products. The purpose is to track the customer’s credit quality and it is used to pre-approve new transactions.

Rating

Rating tools, as opposed to scoring tools, do not assess transactions but focus on the rating of customers instead: companies, corporations, SMEs, general governments, etc. A rating tool is an instrument that, based on a detailed financial study, helps determine a customer’s ability to meet his/her financial obligations. The final rating is usually a combination of various factors: on one hand, quantitative factors, and on the other hand, qualitative factors. It is a middle road between an individual analysis and a statistical analysis.

The main difference between ratings and scorings is that the latter are used to assess retail products, while ratings use a wholesale banking customer approach. Moreover, scorings only include objective variables, while ratings add qualitative information. And although both are based on statistical studies, adding a business view, rating tools give more weight to the business criterion compared to scoring tools.

For portfolios where the number of defaults is low (sovereign risk, corporates, financial entities, etc.) the internal information is supplemented by “benchmarking” of the external rating agencies (Moody’s, Standard & Poor’s and Fitch). To this end, each year the PDs compiled by the rating agencies at each level of risk rating are compared, and the measurements compiled by the various agencies are mapped against those of the BBVA master rating scale.

Once the probability of default of a transaction or customer has been calculated, a "business cycle adjustment" is carried out. This is a means of establishing a measure of risk that goes beyond the time of its calculation. The aim is to capture representative information of the behavior of portfolios over a complete economic cycle. This probability is linked to the Master Rating Scale prepared by the BBVA Group to enable uniform classification of the Group’s various asset risk portfolios.

The table below shows the abridged scale used to classify the BBVA Group’s outstanding risk as of December 31, 2020:

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These different levels and their probability of default were calculated by using as a reference the rating scales and default rates provided by the external agencies Standard & Poor’s and Moody’s. These calculations establish the levels of probability of default for the BBVA Group’s Master Rating Scale. Although this scale is common to the entire Group, the calibrations (mapping scores to PD sections/Master Rating Scale levels) are carried out at tool level for each country in which the Group has tools available.

The table below outlines the distribution by probability of default within 12 months and stages of the gross carrying amount of loans and advances to customers in percentage terms of the BBVA Group as of December 31, 2020, 2019 and 2018:

Probability of default (basis points)

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7.2.5 Impaired secured loan risks

The breakdown of loans and advances, within financial assets at amortized cost, non-performing and accumulated impairment, as well as the gross carrying amount, by counterparties as of December 31, 2020, 2019 and 2018 is as follows:

December 2020 (Millions of Euros)

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December 2019 (Millions of Euros)

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December 2018 (Millions of Euros)

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The changes during the years 2020, 2019 and 2018 of impaired financial assets and contingent risks are as follow:

Changes in impaired financial assets and contingent risks (Millions of Euros)

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The changes during the years 2020, 2019 and 2018 in financial assets derecognized from the accompanying consolidated balance sheet as their recovery is considered unlikely ("write-offs"), is shown below:

Changes in impaired financial assets written-off from the balance sheet (Millions of Euros)

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As indicated in Note 2.2.1, although they have been derecognized from the consolidated balance sheet, the BBVA Group continues to attempt to collect on these written-off financial assets, until the rights to receive them are fully extinguished, either because it is a time-barred financial asset, the financial asset is forgiven, or other reason.

7.2.6 Loss allowances

Movements in gross accounting balances and accumulated allowances for loan losses during 2020 and 2019 are recorded on the accompanying consolidated balance sheet as of December 31, 2020 and 2019, in order to cover the estimated loss allowances in loans and advances and debt securities measured at amortized cost.

Changes in gross accounting balances of loans and advances at amortized cost. 2020 (Millions of Euros)

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Changes in allowances of loans and advances at amortized cost. 2020 (Millions of Euros)

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Changes in gross accounting balances of loans and advances at amortized cost. 2019 (Millions of Euros)

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Changes in allowances of loans and advances at amortized cost. 2019 (Millions of Euros)

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The following are the movements produced during 2018 in the value adjustments recorded in the accompanying balance sheets to cover the impairment or reversal of the estimated impairment of financial assets at amortized cost:

Financial assets at amortized cost. 2018 (Millions of Euros)

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7.2.7 Refinancing and restructuring transactions

Group policies and principles with respect to refinancing and restructuring transactions

Refinancing and restructuring transactions (see definition in the Glossary) are carried out with customers who have requested such a transaction in order to meet their current loan payments if they are expected, or may be expected, to experience financial difficulty in making the payments in the future.

The basic aim of a refinancing and restructuring transaction is to provide the customer with a situation of financial viability over time by adapting repayment of the loan incurred with the Group to the customer’s new situation of fund generation. The use of refinancing and restructuring for other purposes, such as to delay loss recognition, is contrary to BBVA Group policies.

The BBVA Group’s refinancing and restructuring policies are based on the following general principles:

• Refinancing and restructuring is authorized according to the capacity of customers to pay the new installments. This is done by first identifying the origin of the payment difficulties and then carrying out an analysis of the customers’ viability, including an updated analysis of their economic and financial situation and capacity to pay and generate funds. If the customer is a company, the analysis also covers the situation of the industry in which it operates.
• With the aim of increasing the solvency of the transaction, new guarantees and/or guarantors of demonstrable solvency are obtained where possible. An essential part of this process is an analysis of the effectiveness of both the new and original guarantees.
• This analysis is carried out from the overall customer or group perspective.
• Refinancing and restructuring transactions do not in general increase the amount of the customer’s loan, except for the expense inherent to the transaction itself.
• The capacity to refinance and restructure a loan is not delegated to the branches, but decided on by the risk units.
• The decisions made are reviewed from time to time with the aim of evaluating full compliance with refinancing and restructuring policies.

These general principles are adapted in each case according to the conditions and circumstances of each geographical area in which the Group operates, and to the different types of customers involved.

In the case of retail customers (private individuals), the main aim of the BBVA Group’s policy on refinancing and restructuring a loan is to avoid default arising from a customer’s temporary liquidity problems by implementing structural solutions that do not increase the balance of the customer’s loan. The solution required is adapted to each case and the loan repayment is made easier, in accordance with the following principles:

• Analysis of the viability of transactions based on the customer’s willingness and ability to pay, which may be reduced, but should nevertheless be present. The customer must therefore repay at least the interest on the transaction in all cases. No arrangements may be concluded that involve a grace period for both principal and interest.
• Refinancing and restructuring of transactions is only allowed on those loans in which the BBVA Group originally entered into.
• Customers subject to refinancing and restructuring transactions are excluded from marketing campaigns of any kind.

In the case of non-retail customers (mainly companies, enterprises and corporates), refinancing/restructuring is authorized according to an economic and financial viability plan based on:

• Forecasted future income, margins and cash flows to allow entities to implement cost adjustment measures (industrial restructuring) and a business development plan that can help reduce the level of leverage to sustainable levels (capacity to access the financial markets).
• Where appropriate, the existence of a divestment plan for assets and/or operating segments that can generate cash to assist the deleveraging process.
• The capacity of shareholders to contribute capital and/or guarantees that can support the viability of the plan.

In accordance with the Group’s policy, the conclusion of a loan refinancing and restructuring transaction does not mean the loan is reclassified from "impaired" or "significant increase in credit risk" to normal risk. The reclassification to "significant increase in credit risk" or normal risk categories must be based on the analysis mentioned earlier of the viability, upon completion of the probationary periods described below.

The Group maintains the policy of including risks related to refinanced and restructured loans as either:

• "Impaired assets", as although the customer is up to date with payments, they are classified as unlikely to pay when there are significant doubts that the terms of their refinancing may not be met; or
• "Significant increase in credit risk" until the conditions established for their consideration as normal risk are met.

The assets classified as "Impaired assets" should comply with the following conditions in order to be reclassified to "Significant increase in credit risk":

• The customer has to have paid a significant part of the pending exposure.
• At least one year must have elapsed since its classification as "Impaired asset".
• The customer does not have past due payments and objective criteria, demonstrating the borrower´s ability to pay, have been verified.

The conditions established for assets classified as “Significant increase in credit risk” to be reclassified out of this category are as follows:

• The customer must have paid past-due amounts (principal and interest) since the date of the renegotiation or restructuring of the loan or other objective criteria, demonstrating the borrower´s ability to pay, have been verified; none of its exposures is more than 30 days past-due.
• At least two years must have elapsed since completion of the renegotiation or restructuring of the loan and regular payments must have been made during at least half of this probation period; and
• It is unlikely that the customer will have financial difficulties and, therefore, it is expected that the customer will be able to meet its loan payment obligations (principal and interest) in a timely manner.

The economic impact caused by the Covid-19 pandemic has required the adaptation of the repayment schedule of a large volume of loans in all geographies and portfolios. In general, this support has been conducted through the concession of deferrals that comply with the principles established by the EBA, which has allowed for the application of a differential accounting and prudential treatment.

Renewals and renegotiations will be classified as normal risk, provided that there is no significant increase in risk. This classification is applicable at the initial moment, and in the event of any deterioration, the criteria established in the existing governance are followed. In this sense, the aforementioned conditions are considered, including, among others, no facility with more than 30 days delinquency and not being identified as 'unlikely to pay'.

The BBVA Group’s refinancing and restructuring policy provides for the possibility of two modifications in a 24 month period for loans that are not in compliance with the payment schedule.

The internal models used to determine allowances for loan losses consider the restructuring and renegotiation of a loan, as well as re-defaults on such a loan, by assigning a lower internal rating to restructured and renegotiated loans than the average internal rating assigned to non-restructured/renegotiated loans. This downgrade results in an increase in the probability of default (PD) assigned to restructured/renegotiated loans (with the resulting PD being higher than the average PD of the non- renegotiated loans in the same portfolios).

For quantitative information on refinancing and restructuring transactions see Appendix XI.

7.2.8 Risk concentration

Policies for preventing excessive risk concentration

In order to prevent the build-up of excessive risk concentrations at the individual, sector, portfolio and geography levels, BBVA Group maintains updated maximum permitted risk concentration indices which are tied to the various observable variables related to concentration risk.

Together with the limits for individual concentration, the Group uses the Herfindahl index to measure the concentration of the Group's portfolio and the banking group's subsidiaries. At the BBVA Group level, the index reached implies a "very low" degree of concentration.

The limit on the Group’s exposure or financial commitment to a specific customer therefore depends on the customer’s credit rating, the nature of the risks involved, and the Group’s presence in a given market, based on the following guidelines:

• The aim is, as much as possible, to reconcile the customer's credit needs (commercial/financial, short-term/long-term, etc.) with the interests of the Group.
• Any legal limits that may exist concerning risk concentration are taken into account (relationship between risks with a customer and the capital of the shareholder´s entity that assumes them), the markets, the macroeconomic situation, etc.

Risk concentrations by geography

The breakdown of the main figures in the most significant foreign currencies in the accompanying consolidated balance sheets is set forth in Appendix XII.

Sovereign risk concentration

Sovereign risk management

The risk associated with the transactions involving sovereign risk is identified, measured, controlled and tracked by a centralized unit integrated in the BBVA Group’s Risk Area. Its basic functions involve the preparation of reports in the countries where sovereign risk exists (called “financial programs”), tracking such risks, assigning ratings to these countries and, in general, supporting the Group in terms of reporting requirements for any transactions involving sovereign risk. The risk policies established in the financial programs are approved by the relevant risk committees.

The country risk unit tracks the evolution of the risks associated with the various countries to which the Group are exposed (including sovereign risk) on an ongoing basis in order to adapt its risk and mitigation policies to any macroeconomic and political changes that may occur. Moreover, it regularly updates its internal ratings and forecasts for these countries. The methodology is based on the assessment of quantitative and qualitative parameters which are in line with those used by certain multilateral organizations such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank, rating agencies and export credit organizations.

For additional information on sovereign risk in Europe see Appendix XII.

Risk related to the developer and Real-Estate sector in Spain

The relative weight of the investment in Real Estate developments has dramatically decreased during the last years, especially since 2014 and during 2018, when doubtful assets exited the balance sheet and recovery of the sector concluded. A corporate sales policy has been rolled out to eliminate those real estate assets from the balance sheet which have been most difficult to commercialize. The sales of 80% of the Group’s share in Divarian and of other performing and NPL wholesale portfolios to Funds and specialized investors have been some of the most relevant transactions (see Note 3).

Policies and strategies established by the Group to deal with risks related to the developer and real-estate sector

BBVA Group has teams specializing in the management of the Real Estate Sector risk, given its economic importance and specific technical component. This specialization is not only in risk teams, but throughout the handling, commercial, problem risks and legal, etc. It also includes the research department of the BBVA Group (BBVA Research), which helps determine the medium/long-term vision needed to manage this portfolio.

The policies established to address the risks related to the developer and real-estate sector, aim to accomplish, among others, the following objectives: to avoid concentration in terms of customers, products and regions; to estimate the risk profile for the portfolio; and to anticipate possible worsening of the portfolio within a sector is highly cyclical.

Specific policies for analysis and granting of new developer risk transactions

In the analysis of new transactions, the assessment of the commercial operation in terms of the economic and financial viability of the project has been one of the constant. The monitoring of the work, sales prospects and the legal situation of the project are essential aspects for the admission and follow-up of new real estate transactions. With regard the participation of the Risk Acceptance teams, they have a direct link and participate in the committees of areas such as Valuation, Legal, Research and Recoveries. This guarantees coordination and exchange of information in all the processes.

In this context, and within the current Real Estate cycle, the strategy with clients is subject to an Asset Allocation limit and to an action framework that allows defining a target portfolio, both in volume and in credit quality.

Risk monitoring policies

The base information for analyzing the real estate portfolios is updated monthly. There is a systematic monitoring of developments under close monitoring with the evolution of works and sales. Since 2013, there are no threats of new defaults in the portfolio.

Policies applied in the management of real estate assets in Spain

The internal Rules on Real Estate Financing, which establish recommendations for financing a new housing development business, are reviewed and updated annually.

The recommendations represent guidelines about how to manage the credit admission activity of BBVA Group entities based on best practices of markets in which this activity is performed. It is expected that a high percentage of the current transactions will be in compliance with the latter.

For quantitative information about the risk related to the developer and Real-Estate sector in Spain see Appendix XII.

7.3 Market risk

Market risk originates from the possibility of experiencing losses in the value of positions held as a result of movements in market variables that affect the valuation of financial assets and liabilities. Market risk in the Group's trading portfolios stems mainly from the portfolios originated by Global Markets valued at fair value and held for the purpose of trading and generating short-term results. Market risk in the field of banking book is clearly and distinctly addressed and can be broken down into structural risks relating to interest rate, exchange rate and equity (see Note 7.4).

7.3.1 Market risk in trading portfolios

The main risks in the trading portfolios can be classified as follows:

• Interest-rate risk: This arises as a result of exposure to movements in the different interest-rate curves involved in trading. Although the typical products that generate sensitivity to the movements in interest rates are money-market products (deposits, interest-rate futures, call money swaps, etc.) and traditional interest-rate derivatives (swaps and interest-rate options such as caps, floors, swaptions, etc.), practically all the financial products are exposed to interest-rate movements due to the effect that such movements have on the valuation of the financial discount.
• Equity risk: This arises as a result of movements in share prices. This risk is generated in spot positions in shares or any derivative products whose underlying asset is a share or an equity index. Dividend risk is a sub-risk of equity risk, arising as an input for any equity option. Its variation may affect the valuation of positions and it is therefore a factor that generates risk on the books.
• Exchange-rate risk: This is caused by movements in the exchange rates of the different currencies in which a position is held. As in the case of equity risk, this risk is generated in spot currency positions, and in any derivative product whose underlying asset is an exchange rate. In addition, the quanto effect (operations where the underlying asset and the instrument itself are denominated in different currencies) means that in certain transactions in which the underlying asset is not a currency, an exchange-rate risk is generated that has to be measured and monitored.
• Credit-spread risk: Credit spread is an indicator of an issuer's credit quality. Spread risk occurs due to variations in the levels of spread of both corporate and government issues, and affects positions in bonds and credit derivatives.
• Volatility risk: This occurs as a result of changes in the levels of implied price volatility of the different market instruments on which derivatives are traded. This risk, unlike the others, is exclusively a component of trading in derivatives and is defined as a first-order convexity risk that is generated in all possible underlying assets in which there are products with options that require a volatility input for their valuation.

The metrics developed to control and monitor market risk in the BBVA Group are aligned with market practices and are implemented consistently across all the local market risk units.

Measurement procedures are established in terms of the possible impact of negative market conditions on the trading portfolio of the Group's Global Markets units, both under ordinary circumstances and in situations of heightened risk factors.

The standard metric used to measure market risk is Value at Risk (“VaR”), which indicates the maximum loss that may occur in the portfolios at a given confidence level (99%) and time horizon (one day). This statistic value is widely used in the market and has the advantage of summing up in a single metric the risks inherent to trading activity, taking into account how they are related and providing a prediction of the loss that the trading book could sustain as a result of fluctuations in equity prices, interest rates, foreign exchange rates and credit spreads. The market risk analysis considers various risks, such as credit spread risk, basis risk, as well as volatility and correlation risk.

With respect to the risk measurement models used by the BBVA Group, the Bank of Spain has authorized the use of the internal market risk model to determine bank capital requirements deriving from risk positions on the BBVA S.A. and BBVA Mexico trading book, which jointly accounted for around 72%, 72% and 76% of the Group’s trading-book market risk as of December 31, 2020, 2019 and 2018. For the rest of the geographical areas where the Group operates (applicable mainly to the Group´s South America subsidiaries, Garanti BBVA and BBVA USA), bank capital for the risk positions in the trading book is calculated using the Standardized Approach defined by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (which is referred to herein as the "standard model”).

The current management structure includes the monitoring of market-risk limits, consisting of a scheme of limits based on VaR, economic capital (based on VaR measurements) and VaR sub-limits, as well as stop-loss limits for each of the Group’s business units.

The model used estimates VaR in accordance with the historical simulation methodology, which involves estimating losses and gains that would have taken place in the current portfolio if the changes in market conditions that took place over a specific period of time in the past were repeated. Based on this information, it predicts the maximum expected loss of the current portfolio within a given confidence level. This model has the advantage of reflecting precisely the historical distribution of the market variables and not assuming any specific distribution of probability. The historical period used in this model is two years.

VaR figures are estimated with the following methodologies:

• VaR without smoothing, which awards equal weight to the daily information for the previous two years. This is currently the official methodology for measuring market risks for the purpose of monitoring compliance with risk limits.
• VaR with smoothing, which gives a greater weight to more recent market information. This metric supplements the previous one.

The use of VaR by historical simulation methodology as a risk metric has many advantages, but also certain limitations, among which it is worth highlighting:

• The estimate of the maximum daily loss of the Global Markets portfolio positions (with a confidence level of 99%) depends on the market movements of the last two years, not picking up the impact of large market events if they have not occurred within that historical window.
• The use of the 99% confidence level does not consider potential losses that can occur beyond this level. To mitigate this limitation, different stress exercises are also performed, as described later.

At the same time, and following the guidelines established by the Spanish and European authorities, BBVA incorporates metrics in addition to VaR with the aim of meeting the Bank of Spain's regulatory requirements with respect to the calculation of bank capital for the trading book. Specifically, the measures incorporated in the Group since December 2011 (stipulated by Basel 2.5) are:

• VaR: In regulatory terms, the VaR charge incorporates the stressed VaR charge, and the sum of the two (VaR and stressed VaR) is calculated. This quantifies the losses associated with the movements of the risk factors inherent to market operations (including interest-rate risk, exchange-rate risk, equity risk and credit risk, among others). Both VaR and stressed VaR are rescaled by a regulatory multiplier set at three and by the square root of ten to calculate the capital charge.
• Specific Risk - Incremental Risk Capital (“IRC”) Quantification of the risks of default and downgrading of the credit ratings of the bond and credit derivative positions in the portfolio. The IRC charge is exclusively applied in entities in respect of which the internal market risk model is used (i.e. BBVA, S.A. and BBVA Mexico). The IRC charge is determined based on the associated losses (calculated at 99.9% confidence level over a one year horizon under the hypothesis of constant risk) due to a rating change and/or default of the issuer with respect to an asset. In addition, the price risk is included in sovereign positions for the specified items.
• Specific Risk - Securitization and correlation portfolios. Capital charges for securitizations and correlation portfolios are assessed based on the potential losses associated with the rating level of a specific credit structure. They are calculated by the standard model. The scope of the correlation portfolios refers to the First To Default (FTD)-type market operation and/or tranches of market CDOs and only for positions with an active market and hedging capacity.

Validity tests are performed regularly on the risk measurement models used by the Group. They estimate the maximum loss that could have been incurred in the assessed positions with a certain level of probability (backtesting), as well as measurements of the impact of extreme market events on risk positions (stress testing). As an additional control measure, backtesting is conducted at a trading desk level in order to enable more specific monitoring of the validity of the measurement models.

Market risk in 2020

The Group’s market risk related to its trading portfolio remained at low levels compared to other risks managed by BBVA, particularly credit risk. This is due to the nature of the business. In 2020 the average VaR was €27 million, above the figure of 2019, with a maximum level in the year reached on the day May 14, 2020 of €39 million. The evolution in the BBVA Group’s market risk during 2020, measured as VaR without smoothing (see Glossary) with a 99% confidence level and a 1-day horizon (shown in millions of Euros) is as follows:

By type of market risk assumed by the Group's trading portfolio, the main risk factor for the Group continued to be that linked to interest rates, with a weight of 56% of the total at December 31, 2020 (this figure includes the spread risk). The relative weight of this risk has increased compared with the close of 2019 (58%). Exchange-rate risk accounted for 22% of the total risk, increasing its weight with respect to December 2019 (13%), while equity, volatility and correlation risk has decreased, with a weight of 22% at the close of 2020 (vs. 29% at the close of 2019).

As of December 31, 2020, 2019 and 2018 the VaR was €32 million, €20 million and €17 million, respectively. The total VaR figures for 2020, 2019 and 2018 can be broken down as follows:

VaR by Risk Factor (Millions of Euros)

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Validation of the internal market risk model

The internal market risk model is validated on a regular basis by backtesting in both, BBVA, S.A. and Global Markets Mexico (in BBVA Mexico). The aim of backtesting is to validate the quality and precision of the internal market risk model used by BBVA Group to estimate the maximum daily loss of a portfolio, at a 99% level of confidence and a 250-day time horizon, by comparing the Group's results and the risk measurements generated by the internal market risk model. These tests showed that the internal market risk model of both, BBVA, S.A. and Global Markets Mexico is adequate and precise.

Two types of backtesting have been carried out in 2020, 2019 and 2018:

• "Hypothetical" backtesting: the daily VaR is compared with the results obtained, not taking into account the intraday results or the changes in the portfolio positions. This validates the appropriateness of the market risk metrics for the end-of-day position.
• "Real" backtesting: the daily VaR is compared with the total results, including intraday transactions, but discounting the possible minimum charges or fees involved. This type of backtesting includes the intraday risk in portfolios.

In addition, each of these two types of backtesting was carried out at a risk factor or business type level, thus making a deeper comparison of the results with respect to risk measurements.

For the period between the year ended December 31, 2019 and the year ended December 31, 2020, the backtesting of the internal VaR calculation model was carried out, comparing the daily results obtained to the risk level estimated by the internal VaR calculation model. In that period, there were no negative exceptions in BBVA S.A., while in BBVA Mexico there were a total of 3 exceptions. The COVID-19 epidemic together with the fall in the oil price resulted in a sharp depreciation of the local currency, a considerable spike in stock market volatility, a breakdown of the correlation between different curves and an abrupt movement in local interest rate curves.

At the end of the year the comparison showed the internal VaR calculation model was working correctly, within the "green" zone (0-4 exceptions), thus validating the internal VaR calculation model, as has been the case each year since the internal market risk model was approved for the Group.

Stress testing

A number of stress tests are carried out on the BBVA Group's trading portfolios. First, global and local historical scenarios are used that replicate the behavior of an extreme past event, such as for example the collapse of Lehman Brothers or the "Tequilazo" crisis. These stress tests are complemented with simulated scenarios, where the aim is to generate scenarios that have a significant impact on the different portfolios, but without being anchored to any specific historical scenario. Finally, for some portfolios or positions, fixed stress tests are also carried out that have a significant impact on the market variables affecting these positions.

Historical scenarios

The historical benchmark stress scenario for the BBVA Group is Lehman Brothers, whose sudden collapse in September 2008 led to a significant impact on the behavior of financial markets at a global level. The following are the most relevant effects of this historical scenario:

• Credit shock: reflected mainly in the increase of credit spreads and downgrades in credit ratings.
• Increased volatility in most of the financial markets (giving rise to a great deal of variation in the prices of different assets (currency, equity, debt).
• Liquidity shock in the financial systems, reflected by a major movement in interbank curves, particularly in the shortest sections of the euro and dollar curves.

Simulated scenarios

Unlike the historical scenarios, which are fixed and therefore not suited to the composition of the risk portfolio at all times, the scenario used for the exercises of economic stress is based on resampling methodology. This methodology is based on the use of dynamic scenarios that are recalculated periodically depending on the main risks affecting the trading portfolios. On a data window wide enough to collect different periods of stress (data are taken from January 1, 2008 until the date of the assessment), a simulation is performed by resampling of historic observations, generating a distribution of losses and gains that serve to analyze the most extreme of births in the selected historical window. The advantage of this methodology is that the period of stress is not predetermined, but depends on the portfolio maintained at each time, and making a large number of simulations (10,000 simulations) allows a greater richness of information for the analysis of expected shortfall than what is available in the scenarios included in the calculation of VaR.

The main features of this approach are: a) the generated simulations respect the correlation structure of the data, b) there is flexibility in the inclusion of new risk factors and c) it allows the introduction of a lot of variability in the simulations (desirable for considering extreme events).

The impact of the stress test under multivariable simulation of the risk factors of the portfolio based on the expected shortfall (expected shortfall calculated at a 95% confidence level, 20 days) as of December 31, 2020 is as follows:

Impact of the stress test (Millions of Euros)

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7.3.2 Financial Instruments offset

Financial assets and liabilities may be netted in certain cases. In particular, they are presented for a net amount on the consolidated balance sheet only when the Group's entities satisfy the provisions of IAS 32-Paragraph 42, so they have both the legal right to net recognized amounts, and the intention of settling the net amount or of realizing the asset and simultaneously paying the liability.

In addition, the Group has presented as gross amounts assets and liabilities on the consolidated balance sheet for which there are master netting arrangements in place, but for which there is no intention of settling the net amount. The most common types of events that trigger the netting of reciprocal obligations are bankruptcy of the entity, surpassing certain level of indebtedness threshold, failure to pay, restructuring and dissolution of the entity.

In the current market context, derivatives are contracted under different framework contracts being the most widespread the ones developed by the International Swaps and Derivatives Association (“ISDA”) and, for the Spanish market, the Framework Agreement on Financial Transactions (“CMOF”). Almost all portfolio derivative transactions have been concluded under these framework contracts, including in them the netting clauses mentioned in the preceding paragraph as "Master Netting Agreement", greatly reducing the credit exposure on these instruments. Additionally, in contracts signed with counterparties, the collateral agreement annexes called Credit Support Annex (“CSA”) are included, thereby minimizing exposure to a potential default of the counterparty.

Moreover, many of the transactions involving assets purchased or sold under a repurchase agreement are transacted through clearing houses that articulate mechanisms to reduce counterparty risk, as well as through the signing of various master agreements for bilateral transactions, the most widely used being the Global Master Repurchase Agreement (GMRA), published by the International Capital Market Association (“ICMA”), to which the clauses related to the collateral exchange are usually added within the text of the master agreement itself.

A summary of the effect of offsetting (via netting and collateral) for derivatives and securities operations is presented below as of December 31, 2020, 2019 and 2018:

December 2020 (Millions of Euros)

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December 2019 (Millions of Euros)

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December 2018 (Millions of Euros)

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The amount of recognized financial instruments within derivatives includes the effect in case of compensation with counterparties with which the Group holds netting agreements, while, for repos, it reflects the market value of the collateral associated with the transaction.

7.4 Structural risk

The structural risks are defined, in general terms, as the possibility of sustaining losses due to adverse movements in market risk factors as a result of mismatches in the financial structure of an entity´s balance sheet.

In the Group, the following types of structural risks are defined, according to the nature and the following market factors: interest rate, exchange rate and equity.

The scope of structural risks in the Group is limited to the banking book, excluding market risks in the trading book that are clearly delimited and separated and make up the Market Risks.

The Assets and Liabilities Committee (ALCO) is the main responsible body for the management of structural risks regarding liquidity/ funding interest rate, currency, equity and solvency. Every month, with the participation of the CEO and representatives from the areas of Finance, Risks and Business Areas; this committee monitors the structural risks and is presented with proposals with regard to action plans related with its management for its approval. These management proposals are made by the Finance area with a forward-looking focus, maintaining the alignment with the risk appetite framework, trying to guarantee the recurrence of results and financial stability, as well as to preserve the solvency of the entity. All balance management units have a local ALCO, which is permanently attended by members of the corporate center, and there is a corporate ALCO where management strategies are monitored and presented in the Group's subsidiaries.

GRM area acts as an independent unit, ensuring adequate separation between the management and risk control functions, and is responsible for ensuring that the structural risks in the Group are managed according to the strategy approved by the Board of Directors.

Consequently, GRM deals with the identification, measurement, monitoring and control of those risks and their reporting to the corresponding corporate bodies. Through the Global Risk Management Committee (GRMC), it performs the function of control and risk assessment and is responsible for developing the strategies, policies, procedures and infrastructure necessary to identify, evaluate, measure and manage the significant risks that the BBVA Group faces. To this end, GRM, through the corporate unit of Structural Risks, proposes a scheme of limits and alerts that defines the risk appetite set for each of the relevant structural risk types, both at Group level and by management units, which will be reviewed annually, reporting the situation periodically to the Group's corporate bodies as well as to the GRMC.

Within the three lines of defense scheme in which BBVA's internal control model is established according to the most advanced standards in terms of internal control, the first line of defense is composed by the Finance area, which is responsible for managing the structural risk.

While GRM, as a second line of defense, is in charge of identifying risks, and establishing policies and control models, periodically evaluating their effectiveness.

In the second line of defense, there are also the Internal Risk Control units, which independently review the Structural Risk control, and Internal Financial Control, which carry out a review on the design and effectiveness of the operational controls over structural risk management.

The third line of defense is represented by the Internal Audit area, which, with total independence, is responsible for reviewing specific controls and processes.

7.4.1 Structural interest rate risk

The structural interest-rate risk (“IRRBB”) is related to the potential impact that variations in market interest rates have on an entity's net interest income and equity. In order to properly measure IRRBB, BBVA takes into account the main sources that generate this risk: repricing risk, yield curve risk, option risk and basis risk, which are analyzed with an integral vision, combining two complementary points of view: net interest income (short term) and economic value (long term).

The exposure of a financial entity to adverse interest rates movements is a risk inherent to the development of the banking business, which is also, in turn, an opportunity to create economic value. Therefore, interest rate risk must be effectively managed so that it is limited in accordance with the entity’s equity and in line with the expected economic result.

This function falls to the Global ALM (Asset & Liability Management) unit, within the Finance area, who, through ALCO, aims to guarantee the recurrence of results and preserve the solvency of the entity, always adhering to the risk profile defined by the management bodies of the BBVA Group. The interest rate risk management of the balance sheet aims to promote the stability of the net interest income and book value with respect to changes in market interest rates, types of markets in the different balance-sheets, while respecting solvency and internal limits, as well as complying with current and future regulatory requirements. Likewise, a specific monitoring of the banking book instruments registered at market value (fair value) is developed, which due to their accounting treatment have an impact on results and / or equity.

In this regard, the BBVA Group maintains an exposure to fluctuations on interest rates according to its objective strategy and risk profile, being carried out in a decentralized and independent manner in each of the banking entities that compose its structural balance-sheet.

The management is carried out in accordance with the guidelines established by the European Banking Authority (EBA), with a monitoring of interest rate risk metrics, with the aim of analyzing the potential impact that could be derived from the range of scenarios in the different balance-sheets of the Group.

Nature of Interest Rate Risk

Repricing risk arises due to the difference between the repricing or maturity terms of the assets and liabilities, and represents the most frequent interest rate risk faced by financial entities. However, other sources of risk as changes in the slope and shape of the yield curve, the reference to different indexes and the optionality risk embedded in certain banking transactions, are also taken into account by the risk control system.

BBVA's structural interest-rate risk management process is formed from a set of metrics and tools that enables the capture of additional sources to properly monitor the risk profile of the Group, backed-up by an assumptions set that aims to characterize the behavior of the balance sheet items with the maximum accuracy.

The IRRBB measurement is carried out on a monthly basis, and includes probabilistic measures based on methods of scenario simulation, which enables to capture additional sources of risk to the parallel shifts, as the changes in slope shape and the basis of yield curves. Additionally, sensitivity analysis to multiple parallel shocks of different magnitude are also assessed on a regular basis. The process is run separately for each currency to which the Group is exposed, considering, at a later stage, the diversification effect among currencies and business units.

The risk measurement model is complemented by the assessment of ad-hoc scenarios and stress tests. As stress testing has become more relevant during the recent years, the evaluation of extreme scenarios of rupture of historical interest rates levels, correlations and volatility has continued to be enhanced, while assessing, also, BBVA Research market scenarios, and incorporating the set of scenarios defined according to EBA guidelines.

During 2020, the Group worked to improve the control and management model in accordance with the guidelines established by the EBA on the management of interest rate risk in the banking book. It is worth highlighting, among other aspects, the reinforcement of the stress analysis, including the evaluation of the impacts on the main balance sheet accounts of the Group that could derive from the range of interest rate scenarios defined according to the EBA guidelines mentioned above.

Key assumptions of the model

In order to measure structural interest rate risk, the setting of assumptions on the evolution and behavior of certain balance sheet items is particularly relevant, especially those related to products without an explicit or contractual maturity.

The assumptions that characterize these balance sheet items must be understandable for the areas and bodies involved in risk management and control and remain duly justified and documented. The modeling of these assumptions must be conceptually reasonable and consistent with the evidence based on historical experience, reviewed at least once a year.

In view of the heterogeneity of the financial markets and the availability of historical data, each one of the entities of the Group is responsible for determining the behavior assumptions to be applied to the balance sheet items, always under the guidelines and the applicability of the corporate models existing in the Group.

Among the balance sheet assumptions stand out those established for the treatment of items without contractual maturity, mainly for demand customer deposits, and those related to the expectations on the exercise of interest rate options, especially those relating to loans and deposits subject to prepayment risk.

For the modeling of demand deposits, a segmentation of the accounts in several categories is previously carried out depending on the characteristics of the customer (retail / wholesale) and the product (type of account / transactionality / remuneration), in order to outline the specific behavior of each segment.

In order to establish the remuneration of each segment, the relationship between the evolution of market interest rates and the interest rates of managed accounts is analyzed, with the aim of determining the translation dynamic (percentages and lags) of interest rates variations to the remuneration of the accounts.

The behavior assigned to each category of accounts is determined by an analysis of the historical evolution of the balances and the probability of cancellation of the accounts. For this, the volatile part of the balance assigned to a short-term maturity is isolated, thus avoiding fluctuations in the level of risk caused by specific variations in the balances and promoting stability in the management of the balance. Once the stable part is identified, a medium / long term maturity model is applied through a decay distribution based on the average term of the accounts and the conditional cancellation probabilities throughout the life of the product.

Additionally, the relationship of the evolution of the balance of deposits with the levels of market interest rates is taken into account, where appropriate, including the potential migration between the different types of deposits (on demand / time deposits) in the different interest rate scenarios.

Equally relevant is the treatment of early cancelation options embedded in credit loans, mortgage portfolios and customer deposits. The evolution of market interest rates may condition, along with other variables, the incentive that customers have to prepay loans or deposits, modifying the future behavior of the balance amounts with respect to the forecasted contractual maturity schedule.

The detailed analysis of the historical information related to prepayment data, both partial and total prepayment, combined with other variables such as interest rates, allows estimating future amortizations and, where appropriate, their behavior linked to the evolution of such variables.

The approval and updating of the risk behavior models of structural interest rate risk are subject to corporate governance under the scope of GRM-Analytics. In this way, the models must be properly inventoried and cataloged and comply with the requirements established in the internal procedures for their development, updating and management of the changes. The models are also subject to the corresponding internal validations based on their relevance and the established monitoring requirements.

The table below shows the profile of average interest rate risk in terms of sensitivities of the main currencies in the BBVA Group in 2020:

Sensitivity to interest-rate analysis - December 2020

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During 2020, central banks and governments have carried out monetary stimulus measures to mitigate the economic impact caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, which has significantly affected the global economy, spreading to most countries. In Europe, the monetary stimulus measures of the European Central Bank have continued, and the Euribor have fallen, reaching historical low records. In the United States, the reference rates (Libor) have maintained a downward trend, in line with the cuts made by the Federal Reserve in the first quarter of the year. Also in Mexico, the monetary policy rate has fallen significantly during the year. In Turkey, although it initially showed a downward trend in interest rates, aggressive increases have been registered since August, reversing the declines of previous quarters, ending the year with an increase of 500 basis points above December's level of 2019.

In South America, monetary policy has been expansionary, with a reduction in reference rates in the economies of Colombia and Peru, reaching historical low records, affected by the contraction in activity. On the other hand, in Argentina there is a strongly restrictive monetary policy, with a high increase in interest rates in the second half of the year, due to the strong volatility of the markets, affected by the devaluation of the exchange rate.

The BBVA Group, at an aggregate level, continues to maintain a moderate risk profile, in accordance with the established objective, showing a favorable position to a rise in interest rates on net interest income. Effective management of the balance sheet structural risk has mitigated the negative impact of the downward trend in interest rates and the volatility experienced as a result of the effects of COVID-19, and is reflected in the strength and recurrence of the margin of interests:

• In Europe and the United States, the downward trend in interest rates remains limited by current levels, preventing extremely adverse scenarios from occurring. Both balance sheets are characterized by a loan portfolio with a high proportion referenced to a variable interest rate (mainly mortgages in Spain and loans to companies in both countries) and a liability composed mainly of customer deposits. The COAP portfolios act as hedging of the bank balance, mitigating its sensitivity to interest rate movements. This profile has remained stable during 2020 on both balance sheets. In Spain, the sensitivity of the interest margin has increased in the year due to the maintenance of higher balances of sensitive liquid assets as a result of the generation of liquidity on the balance sheet and the additional financing of TLTRO III (see Note 22), and due to maturity of a part of the coverage of the mortgage portfolio. In the United States, the sensitivity has been reduced due to the balance sheet hedges carried out in late 2019 and early 2020.
• In Mexico, a balance has been maintained between balances referenced to fixed and variable interest rates. Among the assets most sensitive to interest rate movements, the wholesale portfolio stands out, while consumer and mortgages are mostly at a fixed rate. The COAP portfolio is used to balance the longer term of customer deposits. The sensitivity of the interest margin remains limited and stable during 2020, considering the new interest rate scenario that emerged in March, with a downward trend in rates benchmark throughout 2020.
• In Turkey, the interest rate risk on the balance sheet increased during 2020, as a result of regulatory requirements (such as the Asset Ratio, applied by the Banking Regulation Supervision Agency (BRSA) and the Good Bank, established by the Central Bank of Turkey (CBRT)) that encourage loan growth. As a result of the establishment of these Regulations, the growth of loans, mostly at a fixed rate, together with the increase in the COAP portfolio, negatively affected sensitivity, being offset by inflation-linked bonds and floating bonds, as well as due to the increase in deposits in the liability side.
• In South America, the risk profile on interest rates continues to be low, as most of the countries in the area have a composition of fixed / variable and very similar maturities between assets and liabilities, showing a sensitivity of the margin interest rate limited and with slight variations throughout 2020. Likewise, in countries with balances in several currencies, interest rate risk is also managed for each of the currencies, showing a very low level of risk. The measures promoted by central banks and governments have contributed to raising deposits and excess liquidity in Colombia and Peru, as well as their positions in monetary assets, generating a slight positive variation in margin sensitivity.

7.4.2 Structural exchange-rate risk

Structural exchange rate risk, inherent to the business of international banking groups that develop their activities in different geographies and currencies, is defined as the possibility of impacts on solvency, equity value and results driven by fluctuations in the exchange rates due to exposures in foreign currencies.

In the BBVA Group, structural exchange-rate risk arises from the consolidation of holdings in subsidiaries with functional currencies other than the euro. Its management is centralized in order to optimize the joint management of permanent foreign currency exposures, taking diversification into account.

The corporate Global ALM unit, through ALCO, designs and executes hedging strategies with the main purpose of preserving the stability of consolidated capital ratios and income flows generated in a currency other than the euro in the BBVA Group, keeping a value generation perspective to preserve the Group’s equity in the long term. To this end, a dynamic management strategy is carried out, considering hedge transactions according to market expectations and their costs.

The risk monitoring metrics included in the framework of limits, in line with the Risk Appetite Framework, are integrated into management and supplemented with additional assessment indicators. At the corporate level they are based on probabilistic metrics that measure the maximum deviation in the Group’s Capital, CET1 (“Common Equity Tier 1”) ratio, and net attributable profit. The probabilistic metrics make it possible to estimate the joint impact of exposure to different currencies taking into account the different variability in exchange rates and their correlations.

The suitability of these risk assessment metrics is reviewed on a regular basis through back-testing exercises. The final element of structural exchange-rate risk control is the stress and scenario analysis aimed to assess the vulnerabilities of foreign currency structural exposure not contemplated by the risk metrics and to serve as an additional tool when making management decisions. The scenarios are based both on historical situations simulated by the risk model and on the risk scenarios provided by BBVA Research.

As of December 31, 2020, the main currencies of the geographies where the Group operates have depreciated against the euro during the year: Mexican peso (-13.1%), US Dollar (-8.5%), Turkish lira (-26.7%), Colombian peso (-12.6%), Peruvian sol (-16.3%) and Argentine peso (-34.8%).

The Group's structural exchange-rate risk exposure level has in some cases increased due to the restrictions related to dividend payments from the subsidiaries which have offset the reduction in risk due to the depreciation of the currencies. The hedging policy intends to keep low levels of sensitivity to movements in the exchange rates of emerging markets currencies against the euro. The risk mitigation level in the capital ratio due to the book value of the BBVA Group's holdings in foreign emerging markets currencies stood at around 65% and, as of the end of 2020, CET1 ratio sensitivity to the depreciation of 10% in the euro exchange rate for each currency is estimated: USD +9 bps; Mexican peso -5 bps; Turkish lira -2 bps; other currencies -1 bp (excluding hyperinflation economies). On the other hand, hedging of emerging markets currency denominated earnings in 2020 reached 65%, concentrated in Mexican peso, Turkish lira and the main Latin American currencies.

For the years 2020, 2019 and 2018, the estimated sensitivities of the result attributable to the parent company are shown below, taking into account the coverage against depreciations and appreciations of 1% of the average rate in the main currencies. To the extent that hedging positions are periodically modulated, the sensitivity estimate attempts to reflect an average (or effective) sensitivity in the year:

Sensitivity to 1% (Millions of Euros)

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7.4.3 Structural equity risk

Structural equity risk refers to the possibility of suffering losses in the value of positions in shares and other equity instruments held in the banking book with long or medium term investment horizons due to fluctuations in the value of equity indexes or shares.

BBVA Group's exposure to structural equity risk arises largely from minority shareholdings held on industrial and financial companies. This exposure is modulated in some portfolios with positions held on derivative instruments on the same underlying assets, in order to adjust the portfolio sensitivity to potential changes in equity prices.

The management of structural equity portfolios is a responsibility of Global ALM and other Group's units specialized in this area. Their activity is subject to the risk management corporate policy on structural equity risk management, complying with the defined management principles and Risk Appetite Framework.

The structural equity risk metrics, designed by GRM according to the corporate model, contribute to the effective monitoring of the risk by estimating the sensitivity and the capital necessary to cover the possible unexpected losses due to changes in the value of the shareholdings in the Group's investment portfolio, with a level of confidence that corresponds to the objective rating of the entity, taking into account the liquidity of the positions and the statistical behavior of the assets to be considered

In order to analyze the risk profile in depth, stress tests and scenario analysis of sensitivity to different simulated scenarios are carried out. They are based on both past crisis situations and forecasts made by BBVA Research. These analyses are carried out regularly to assess the vulnerabilities of structural equity exposure not contemplated by the risk metrics and to serve as an additional tool when making management decisions.

Backtesting is carried out on a regular basis on the risk measurement model used.

Global Equity markets have been severely affected by the outbreak of the coronavirus in the first quarter. The extraordinary fiscal and monetary response fostered their recovery although this has been uneven across different geographies and sectors. In this sense, the Spanish equity market has shown one of the worst performances as it fell 15% during 2020.

Structural equity risk, measured in terms of economic capital, has remained fairly stable in the period. The aggregate sensitivity of the BBVA Group’s consolidated equity to a 1% fall in the price of shares of the companies making up the equity portfolio decreased to -€20 million as of December 31, 2020, compared to -€26 million as of December 31, 2019. This estimation takes into account the exposure in shares valued at market prices, or if not applicable, at fair value (excluding the positions in the Treasury Area portfolios) and the net delta-equivalent positions in derivatives on the same underlyings

7.5 Liquidity and funding risk

Liquidity and funding risk is defined as the incapacity of a bank in meeting its payment commitments due to lack of funds or that, to face those commitments, should have to make use of funding under burdensome terms.

7.5.1 Liquidity and Funding Strategy and Planning

The BBVA Group is a multinational financial institution whose business is focused mainly on retail and commercial banking activities. In addition to the retail business model, which forms its core business, the Group engages in corporate and investment banking, through the global CIB (Corporate & Investment Banking) division.

Liquidity and funding risk management aims to maintain a solid balance sheet structure which allows a sustainable business model. The Group’s liquidity and funding strategy is based on the following pillars:

• The principle of the funding self-sufficiency of its subsidiaries, meaning that each of the Liquidity Management Units (LMUs) must cover its funding needs independently on the markets where it operates. This avoids possible contagion due to a crisis affecting one or more of the Group’s LMUs.
• Stable customer deposits as the main source of funding in all the LMUs, in accordance with the Group’s business model.
• Diversification of the sources of wholesale funding, in terms of maturity, market, instruments, counterparties and currencies, with recurring access to the markets.
• Compliance with regulatory requirements, ensuring the availability of ample liquidity buffers, of high quality, as well as sufficient instruments as required by regulations with the capacity to absorb losses.
• Compliance with the internal Liquidity Risk and Funding metrics, while adhering to the Risk Appetite level established for each LMU at any time.

Liquidity and Financing Risk Management aims, in the short term, to prevent an entity from having difficulties in meeting its payment commitments in due time and form or that, to meet them, it has to resort to obtaining funds in burdensome conditions that deteriorate the image or reputation of the entity.

In the medium term, its objective is to ensure the suitability of the Group's financial structure and its evolution, within the framework of the economic situation, the markets and regulatory changes

This management of structural and liquidity funding is based on the principle of financial self-sufficiency of the entities that comprise it. This approach helps prevent and limit liquidity risk by reducing the Group’s vulnerability during periods of high risk. This decentralized management prevents possible contagion from a crisis affecting only one or a few Group entities, which must act independently to meet their liquidity requirements in the markets where they operate.

Within this strategy, the BBVA Group is organized into eleven LMUs compose of the parent company and the bank subsidiaries in each geography, plus the branches that depend on them.

In addition, the policy for managing liquidity and funding risk is also based on the model’s robustness and on the planning and integration of risk management into the budgeting process of each LMU, according to the financing risk appetite that it decides to assume in its business.

Liquidity and funding planning is part of the strategic processes for the Group’s budgetary and business planning. This objective is to allow a recurrent growth of the banking business with suitable maturities and costs within the established risk tolerance levels by using a wide range of instruments which allow the diversification of the funding sources and the maintenance of a high volume of available liquid assets.

7.5.2 Governance and monitoring

The responsibility for liquidity and funding management in the development of normal business activity lies with the Finance area as a first line of defense in managing the risks inherent to this activity, in accordance with the principles established by the European Banking Authority (EBA) and in line with the most demanding standards, policies, procedures and controls in the framework established by the governing bodies. Finance, through the Balance-Sheet Management area, plans and executes the funding of the structural long-term gap of each LMU and proposes to the Assets and Liabilities Committee (ALCO) the actions to be taken on this matter, in accordance with the policies established by the Risk Committee in line with the metrics of the Risk Appetite Framework approved by the Board of Directors.

Finance is also responsible for preparing the regulatory reporting of liquidity, coordinating with the responsible areas in each LGU the necessary processes to cover the requirements at corporate and regulatory level, ensuring the integrity of the information provided.

GRM is responsible for ensuring that the liquidity and financing risk in the Group is managed in accordance with the framework established by governing bodies. It also deals with the identification, measurement, monitoring and control of such risks and their communication to the relevant corporate bodies. In order to carry out this task properly, the risk function in the Group has been configured as a single, global function, independent of the management areas

Additionally, the Group has, in its second line of defense, an Internal Risk Control unit, which performs an independent review of the control of Liquidity and Financing Risk, and a Financial Internal Control Unit that reviews the design and effectiveness of the controls operations on liquidity management and reporting.

As the third line of defense of the Group's internal control model, Internal Audit is in charge of reviewing specific controls and processes in accordance with a work plan that is drawn up annually.

The Group’s fundamental objectives regarding the liquidity and funding risk are determined through the Liquidity Coverage Ratio (LCR) and through the Loan-to-Stable Customer Deposits (LtSCD) ratio.

The LCR ratio is a regulatory metric that aims to guarantee the resilience of entities in a scenario of liquidity tension within a time horizon of 30 days. Within its risk appetite framework and system of limits and alerts, BBVA has established a required LCR compliance level for the entire Group and for each individual LMU. The internal levels required are aimed at efficiently meeting the regulatory requirement, at a widely level above 100%.

The LtSCD ratio measures the relationship between net lending and stable customer funds. The aim is to preserve a stable funding structure in the medium term for each of the LMUs which make up the BBVA Group, taking into account that maintaining an adequate volume of stable customer funds is key to achieving a sound liquidity profile. In geographical areas with dual-currency balances, the indicator is also controlled by currency to manage the mismatches that might occur.

Stable customer funds are considered to be the financing obtained and managed from the LMUs among their target customers. Those funds are characterized by their low sensitivity to market changes and by their less volatile behavior at aggregated level per operation due to the loyalty of the customer to the entity. The stable resources are calculated by applying to each identified customer segment a haircut determined by the analysis of the stability if the balances by which different aspects are evaluated (concentration, stability, level of loyalty). The main source of stable resources arises from wholesale funding and retail customer funds.

In order to establish the target (maximum) levels of LtSCD in each LMU and provide an optimal funding structure reference in terms of risk appetite, the corporate Structural Risks unit of GRM identifies and assesses the economic and financial variables that condition the funding structures in the different geographical areas.

Additionally, liquidity and funding risk management aims to achieve a proper diversification of the funding structure, avoiding excessive dependence on short-term funding by establishing a maximum level for the short-term funds raised, including both wholesale financing and the least stable proportion of customer funds In relation to long-term financing, the maturity profile does not present significant concentrations, which makes it possible to adapt the schedule of the planned issuance plan to the best financial conditions in the markets. Lastly, concentration risk is monitored at LMU level, with the aim of ensuring a correct diversification of both the counterparty and type of instrument.

One of the fundamental metrics within the general management framework of the liquidity and funding risk is the maintenance of a liquidity buffer consisting of high quality assets free of charges which can be sold or offered as collateral to obtain funding, either under normal market conditions or in stress situations.

The Finance is responsible for the collateral management and determining the liquidity buffer within the BBVA Group. According to the principle of auto-sufficiency of the Group's subsidiaries, each LMU is responsible for maintaining a buffer of liquid assets which complies with the regulatory requirements applicable under each jurisdiction. In addition, the liquidity buffer of each LMU must be aligned with the liquidity and funding risk tolerance as well as the management limits set and approved for each case.

In this context, the short-term resistance of the liquidity risk profile is promoted, ensuring that each LMU has sufficient collateral to deal with the risk of the closure of wholesale markets. Basic capacity is the internal metric for the management and control of short-term liquidity risk, which is defined as the relationship between the explicit assets available and the maturities of wholesale liabilities and volatile resources, at different time periods up to the year, with special relevance at 30 and 90 days, with the objective of preserving the survival period above 3 months with the available buffer, without considering the balance inflows.

As a fundamental element of the liquidity and financing risk monitoring scheme, stress tests are carried out. They enable to anticipate deviations from the liquidity targets and the limits set in the appetite, and to establish tolerance ranges in the different management areas. They also play a major role in the design of the Liquidity Contingency Plan and the definition of specific measures to be adopted to rectify the risk profile if necessary.

For each scenario, it is checked whether BBVA has a sufficient stock of liquid assets to guarantee its capacity to meet the liquidity commitments/outflows in the different periods analyzed. The analysis considers four scenarios: one central and three crisis-related (systemic crisis; unexpected internal crisis with a considerable rating downgrade and/or affecting the ability to issue in wholesale markets and the perception of business risk by the banking intermediaries and the entity’s clients; and a mixed scenario, as a combination of the two aforementioned scenarios). Each scenario considers the following factors: existing market liquidity, customer behavior and sources of funding, the impact of rating downgrades, market values of liquid assets and collateral, and the interaction between liquidity requirements and the development of BBVA's credit quality.

The stress tests conducted on a regular basis by GRM reveal that BBVA maintains a sufficient buffer of liquid assets to deal with the estimated liquidity outflows in a scenario resulting from the combination of a systemic crisis and an unexpected internal crisis, during a period of longer than 3 months in general for the different LMUs (with the exception of Turkey where despite closing the year above 3 months, the regulatory requirements have led to non-compliance during certain periods), including in the scenario of a significant downgrade of the Bank’s rating by up to three notches.

Together with the results of the stress tests and the risk metrics, the early warning indicators play an important role within the corporate model and the Liquidity Contingency Plan. They are mainly indicators of the funding structure, in relation to asset encumbrance, counterparty concentration, flights of customer deposits, unexpected use of credit facilities, and of the market, which help anticipate possible risks and capture market expectations.

Finance is the area responsible for the elaboration, monitoring, execution and update of the liquidity and funding plan and of the market access strategy to guarantee and improve the stability and diversification of the wholesale funding sources.

In order to implement and establish management in an anticipated manner, limits are set on an annual basis for the main management metrics that form part of the budgeting process for the liquidity and funding plan. This framework of limits contributes to the planning of the joint future performance of:

• The loan book, considering the types of assets and their degree of liquidity, as well as their validity as collateral in collateralized funding.
• Stable customer funds, based on the application of a methodology for establishing which segments and customer balances are considered to be stable or volatile funds based on the principle of sustainability and recurrence of these funds.
• Projection of the credit gap, in order to require a degree of self-funding that is defined in terms of the difference between the loan-book and stable customer funds.
• Incorporating the planning of securities portfolios into the banking book, which include both fixed-interest and equity securities, and are classified as financial assets at fair value through other comprehensive income and at amortized cost, and additionally on trading portfolios.
• The structural gap projection, as a result of assessing the funding needs generated both from the credit gap and by the securities portfolio in the banking book, together with the rest of on-balance-sheet wholesale funding needs, excluding trading portfolios. This gap therefore needs to be funded with customer funds that are not considered stable or on wholesale markets.

As a result of these funding needs, the BBVA Group plans the target wholesale funding structure according to the tolerance set in each LMU target.

Thus, once the structural gap has been identified and after resorting to wholesale markets, the amount and composition of wholesale structural funding is established in subsequent years, in order to maintain a diversified funding mix and guarantee that there is not a high reliance on short-term funding (short-term wholesale funding plus volatile customer funds).

In practice, the execution of the principles of planning and self-funding at the different LMUs results in the Group’s main source of funding being customer deposits, which consist mainly of demand deposits, savings deposits and time deposits.

As sources of funding, customer deposits are complemented by access to the interbank market and the domestic and international capital markets in order to address additional liquidity requirements, implementing domestic and international programs for the issuance of commercial paper and medium and long-term debt.

The process of analysis and assessment of the liquidity and funding situation and of the inherent risks is a process carried out on an ongoing basis in the BBVA Group, with the participation of all the Group areas involved in liquidity and funding risk management. This process is carried out at both local and corporate level. It is incorporated into the decision- making process for liquidity and funding management, with integration between the risk appetite strategy and establishment and the planning process, the funding plan and the limits scheme.

7.5.3 Liquidity and funding performance

During 2020, the BBVA Group has maintained a robust and dynamic funding structure with a predominantly retail nature, where customer resources represent the main source of funding.

During 2020, liquidity conditions have remained comfortable in all the countries where the BBVA Group operates. Since the beginning of March, the global crisis caused by COVID-19 has had a significant impact on financial markets. The effects of this crisis on the Group's balance sheets materialized fundamentally at first, through greater provision of credit lines by wholesale clients in view of the worsening financing conditions in the markets, with no significant effect on the retail world. These provisions were largely paid off over the following quarters. Dealing with this situation of initial uncertainty, the different central banks provided a joint response through specific measures and programs to facilitate the financing of the real economy and the provision of liquidity in financial markets, increasing liquidity buffers in almost all areas with BBVA presence

Thus, the performance of the indicators show that the robustness of the funding structure remained steady during 2020, 2019 and 2018, in the sense that all LMUs held self-funding levels with stable customer resources above the requirements.

LtSCD by LMU

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With respect to LCR, the Group has maintained a liquidity buffer at both a consolidated and individual level in 2020. As a result, the ratio has remained comfortably above 100%, with the consolidated ratio as of December 31, 2020 standing at 149%.

Although this requirement is only established at a Group level, for banks in the Eurozone, the minimum level required is comfortably exceeded in all subsidiaries. It should be noted that the calculation of the Consolidated LCR does not allow the transfer of liquidity between subsidiaries, so no excess liquidity may be transferred from these entities for the purpose of calculating the consolidated ratio. If the impact of these highly liquid assets was considered, the LCR would be 185%, or +36 basis points above the required level.

LCR main LMU

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Each entity maintains an individual liquidity buffer, both BBVA, S.A. and each of its subsidiaries, including BBVA USA, BBVA Mexico, Garanti BBVA and the Latin American subsidiaries.

The table below shows the liquidity available by instrument as of December 31, 2020, 2019 and 2018 for the most significant entities based on prudential supervisor’s information (Commission Implementing Regulations (EU) 2017/2114 of November 9, 2017):

December 2020 (Millions of Euros)

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December 2019 (Millions of Euros)

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December 2018 (Millions of Euros)

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The Net Stable Funding Ratio (NSFR), defined as the ratio between the amount of stable funding available and the amount of stable funding required, is one of the Basel Committee's essential reforms, and requires banks to maintain a stable funding profile in relation to the composition of their assets and off-balance-sheet activities. This ratio should be at least 100% at all times.

The NSFR of BBVA Group and its main LMUs at December 31, 2020 and 2019, calculated based on the Basel requirements, was the following:

NSFR main LMU

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Below is a matrix of residual maturities by contractual periods based on supervisory prudential reporting as of December 31, 2020, 2019 and 2018:

December 2020. Contractual Maturities (Millions of Euros)

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December 2020. Contractual maturities (Millions of Euros)

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December 2019. Contractual maturities (Millions of Euros)

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December 2019. Contractual maturities (Millions of Euros)

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December 2018. Contractual maturities (Millions of Euros)

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December 2018. Contractual Maturities (Millions of Euros)

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With regard to the financing structure, the loan portfolio is mostly financed by retail deposits. The “demand” maturity bucket mainly contains the retail customer sight accounts whose behavior historically showed a high level of stability and little concentration. According to a behavior analysis which is done every year in every entity, this type of account is considered to be stable and for liquidity risk purposes receive a better treatment.

The liquidity situation of the Group's main management units is detailed below:

In the Euro Liquidity Management Unit (UGL), the liquidity and financing situation remains solid and comfortable with a large high-quality liquidity buffer that has been increased during the year as a result of the growth in customer deposits and the actions taken by the European Central Bank, which have meant an injection of liquidity in the system. As a result of the COVID-19 crisis, there was initially a greater demand for credit through the increase in the use of credit lines by the Corporate & Investment Banking wholesale business, which was also accompanied by a growth in customer deposits. Subsequently, there were partial refunds of those lines while deposits have continued to grow. In addition, it is important to note the measures implemented by the ECB to deal with this crisis, which have included different actions such as: the expansion of asset purchase programs, especially through the PEPP (Pandemic Emergency Purchase Program) for 750,000 million of euros in a first tranche announced in March and expanded with a second tranche for an additional 600,000 million euros until June 2021 or until the ECB considers that the crisis has ended, the coordinated action of central banks for the provision of US dollars, a temporary package of measures to make flexible the collateral eligible for financing operations, the relaxation and improvement of the conditions of the TLTRO III program and the creation of the new program of long-term refinancing operations without specific emergency objective (PELTRO). In this regard, BBVA attended the TLTRO III program windows in March and June (with an amount drawn down at the end of December of 35,032 million euros) due to its favorable conditions in terms of cost and term, amortizing the corresponding part of the TLTRO II program (see Note 22).

In the United States there is a comfortable liquidity situation with significant growth in deposits during the year, driven mainly by stimulus measures from the American government and the Federal Reserve. This has led to an increase in the liquidity buffer and the liquidity and financing indicators are comfortable. As in the euro zone, during the end of the first quarter of 2020 there was an increase in loans stemmed mainly from an increase in the use of credit lines by wholesale clients and the stimulus program of the American government aimed at SMEs and freelances (Paycheck Protection Program). Subsequently, there were repayments that bring the percentage of use of credit lines to levels prior to the pandemic.

In Mexico, the liquidity position has remained solid during the year due to the increase in deposits driven by the success of the commercial actions carried out by the entity, especially in the second semester, as well as by the stimulus measures implemented by Banxico throughout the year to provide liquidity to the financial system, which made it possible to offset the increase in the use of credit lines as a result of the COVID-19 crisis. This good performance in deposits, together with the normalization in credit growth, has reduced the credit gap, resulting in the entity being in a comfortable situation in liquidity and financing ratios.

At Garanti BBVA, the liquidity situation remained comfortable during 2020, with a contraction of loans and a growth of deposits in foreign currency, as well as a higher growth in loans than deposits in local currency. As a result of the COVID-19 crisis, the Turkish regulator established the so-called asset ratio to mainly increase loans and discourage the accumulation of deposits, causing an increase in the credit gap, which was covered with the excess liquidity that the entity had. Subsequently, the asset ratio requirement was reduced in the third quarter (from 100% to 90%) and was eliminated in December. All in all, Garanti BBVA has shown a solid liquidity buffer.

In South America, an adequate liquidity situation is maintained throughout the region, favored by the support of the different central banks and governments that, with the aim of mitigating the impact of the COVID-19 crisis, have implemented measures for stimulating economic activity and providing greater liquidity to financial systems. In Argentina, the outflow of deposits in US dollars in the banking system slowed down during 2020, and even showed some growth in the fourth quarter. BBVA Argentina continues to maintain a solid liquidity position BBVA Colombia, after the actions carried out to adjusting excess liquidity by reducing wholesale deposits, continues to show a comfortable liquidity position. BBVA Peru has seen its comfortable liquidity situation strengthened as a result of the continuous increase in the volume of deposits during the second semester, as well as the funds from the Central Bank's support programs.

The wholesale financing markets in which the Group operates, after the first two months of 2020 of great stability were followed by a strong correction derived from the COVID-19 crisis and limited access to the primary market. This situation has been stabilizing due to the evolution of the pandemic, the development of vaccines, various geopolitical events and the actions of the Central Banks. Secondary market volumes ended the year reaching the levels of January 2020, while primary market volumes have been reactivated, lowering the issue premiums.

The main transactions carried out by the companies that form part of the BBVA Group in 2020 were:

• During the first quarter of 2020 BBVA, S.A. made 2 senior non-preferred securities issues for a total of 1,400 million euros and another Tier 2 for 1,000 million euros (for further information, see “Solvency” section of the Consolidated Management Report). In the second quarter of 2020, an issuance of senior preferred securities for 1,000 million euros was executed as a social-COVID-19 bond, the first of its kind for a private financial entity in Europe (for further information, see “Solvency” and “Responsible Banking” sections of the Consolidated Management Report). In the third quarter, three public issues were made: the first is the first green convertible bond of a financial institution world-wide for an amount of 1,000 million euros; the second is a Tier 2 subordinated securities issue denominated in pound sterling, for an amount of 300 million pounds; and the third is an issuance of preferred securities registered with the US SEC (Securities Exchange Commission) in two tranches with maturities of three and five years, for a total of 2,000 million dollars. On the other hand, in February 2020, BBVA exercised the call option of a convertible bond of 1,500 million euros, and in January 2021, the entity has early amortized three preferred issuances (for more information on these transactions see the section “Solvency” of this report).
• In 2020, BBVA México successfully carried out a local senior issuance of 15,000 million Mexican pesos (614 million euros) in three tranches (two tranches in Mexican pesos at 3 and 5 years and another tranche in US dollars at 3 years), in order to advance the refinancing of maturities in the year taking advantage of the good market moment. It also carried out an international issue of senior unsecured securities for an amount of 500 million US dollars of 5 years with a rate of 1.875%, which represents the lowest in history for a financial institution in Mexico and for any private financial institutions in Latin America. Furthermore, within the measures adopted by Banxico throughout the year, BBVA Mexico has participated in auctions of US dollars with credit institutions (swap line with the Fed) initially for an amount of 1,250 million US dollars, partially renewing that position from June to September, for an amount of US $ 700 million. Likewise, it has participated in the so-called Banxico facilities 7 and 8 (measures to transfer funds to micro, small and medium-sized companies, as well as to individuals affected by the pandemic).
• In Turkey, Garanti BBVA carried out a Tier 2 issuance for TRY 750 million in the first quarter of 2020. In the second quarter of 2020, Garanti BBVA renewed a syndicated loan by issuing the first green syndicated loan indexed to sustainability criteria, and in whose renovation the EBRD -European Bank for Reconstruction and Development- and the IFC -International Finance Corporation- have participated. And in the fourth quarter, Garanti BBVA partially renewed a syndicated loan for an amount of $636 million.

The liquidity position of the rest of subsidiaries has continued to be sound, maintaining a solid liquidity position in all the jurisdictions in which the Group operates.

In this context, BBVA has maintained its objective of strengthening the funding structure of the different Group entities based on growing their self-funding from stable customer funds, while guaranteeing a sufficient buffer of fully available liquid assets, diversifying the various sources of funding available, and optimizing the generation of collateral available for dealing with stress situations in the markets.

7.5.4 Asset encumbrance

As of December 31, 2020, 2019 and 2018, the encumbered (those provided as collateral for certain liabilities) and unencumbered assets are broken down as follows:

December 2020 (Millions of Euros)

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December 2019 (Millions of Euros)

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December 2018 (Millions of Euros)

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The committed value of "Loans and Advances and other assets" corresponds mainly to loans linked to the issue of covered bonds, territorial bonds or long-term securitized bonds (see Note 22.4) as well as those used as a guarantee to access certain funding transactions with central banks. Debt securities and equity instruments correspond to underlying that are delivered in repos with different types of counterparties, mainly clearing houses or credit institutions, and to a lesser extent central banks. Collateral provided to guarantee derivative transactions is also included as committed assets.