One of the general principles of BBVA's remuneration policy is that fixed remuneration should constitute a relevant amount of total remuneration.
As regards the Identified Staff, and as set out in article 34.g) of Act 10/2014, its remuneration policy establishes that the variable remuneration for these professionals be limited to the amount of their total fixed remuneration, unless the General Meeting decides to increase this limit to twice the total fixed remuneration, as the aforementioned Act envisages.
The General Meeting held in March 2014 approved that the variable component of the annual remuneration for executive directors, senior executives and certain employees who carry out professional activities that may have a material impact on the Bank's risk profile, or who are responsible for the control functions, may reach up to 200% of the fixed component of total remuneration, in accordance with the Recommendations Report issued by the Board of Directors of BBVA on January 30, 2014. This resolution was approved by the General Meeting with 97.81% of the votes cast.
Moreover, and as a result of BBVA's application of the new criteria set out in the European regulation for the identification of the members of the Identified Staff (Regulation 604/2014), which has led to an increase in the number of identified employees in the Group, a new agreement was submitted to the 2015 General Meeting for increasing the group of employees who carry out professional activities that may have a material impact on the Group's risk profile, or who are responsible for the control functions and to whom the highest level of remuneration applies, so that the maximum variable component of the remuneration for a year may reach up to 200% of the fixed component of the total remuneration of those professionals, in accordance with the Recommendations Report issued for this purpose by the Board of Directors on February 3, 2015 and made available to the shareholders from the date of calling the General Meeting.