BBVA - Press Room

• BBVA completes in just three hours the longest-dated (seven year) issue carried out by a Spanish financial institution in 18 months
• The placement, which was oversubscribed by €3bn, owes its success to BBVA's strength and credit quality

BBVA has opened the long-term debt market with a €2bn issue of mortgage bonds (cédulas hipotecarias) at a price of 55bp above the 7Y mid swap rate, making it the first European entity to make a large debt issue in 2010. BBVA completed the largest issue made by a Spanish financial entity in the last 18 months in record time.  More than 135 institutional investors took part in the operation, who all rated BBVA's strength and credit quality positively.

BBVA has started the year with the first large debt issue made by a financial entity in Europe, similar to the 5Y issue carried out in January 2009, which was also heavily oversubscribed. BBVA completed a €2bn mortgage bond issue at a competitive price of 55bp over the 7Y mid swap rate.

The issue owes its success to BBVA's strength and recognized credit quality. BBVA has one of the best ratings in Europe, having been awarded Aa2/AA/AA- by Moody's, S&P and Fitch, respectively.

This is longest-dated issue placed among institutional investors in the last 18 months, once again demonstrating the market's support for BBVA.

The placement was completed in record time, closing after barely three hours.  The order book recorded a grand total of €3bn and attracted 135 investors from across Europe, mainly investment funds, pension funds and insurers. The significant international demand, accounting for more than 85% of orders, reflects the backing shown by foreign investors to sound loans such as those issued by BBVA.