U.S. Market Issues
Top BBVA executives have commented that they dove into the U.S. retail-banking business at the worst possible time. It bought Compass Bancshares in early 2007 for $9.5 billion, just before the crisis hit. The business's diminished value prompted BBVA to take a roughly $1.3 billion write-down.
In 2005, BBVA Group acquired Laredo National Bank, based in Laredo, Texas. In 2006, it acquired Texas Regional Bancshares of McAllen, Texas, and State National Bancshares to become the fourth biggest bank in Texas after Wells Fargo, Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase.
On February 16, 2007, BBVA announced a definitive agreement to acquire Compass Bancshares Inc. based in Birmingham, Alabama. BBVA plans to create the biggest bank in the Sun Belt by consolidating all those banks to create BBVA Compass. The deal was completed on Friday, September 7, 2007, when Compass Bancshares became a wholly owned subsidiary of BBVA. The transaction gave BBVA a substantial stakehold in the US banking sector by creating the second largest financial institution in the Sun Belt region. BBVA plans to integrate banks previously acquired in the US with the current Compass technology and management platforms.
BBVA Compass is a Southeastern and Southwestern financial holding company with US$65 billion in assets and primarily located in Alabama, Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, New Mexico, and Texas. With headquarters in the Daniel Building in downtown Birmingham, Alabama, BBVA Compass is one of the nation’s 25 largest banks, and was previously a member of the S&P 500 Index and the Dow Jones Select Dividend Index. Birmingham is also the location of all BBVA Compass's administrative and operational functions.
On August 21, 2009, in an FDIC-supervised transaction, BBVA Compass acquired the deposits and other core assets of the failed Guaranty Bank of Austin, Texas. The deal gives BBVA Compass a first-time presence in California and expands an existing presence in Texas.
BBVA sponsors the BBVA Compass Bowl, a post season college football game played in Birmingham, Alabama. The game matches teams from the Big East Conference and Southeastern Conference.
On September 13, 2010 BBVA became an official sponsor of the NBA.
On May 12, 2012 the BBVA Compass Stadium opened in downtown Houston, Texas. It the home of the Houston Dynamo soccer team.
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