BBVA has given the green light to a profound reorganization of its executive leadership in which the change at the head of its subsidiary in Mexico, its most relevant market, stands out, as well as the departure of Luisa Gómez Bravo as the group's financial director.
In detail, José Luis Elechiguerra, until now the global head of Risk Management (GRM, for its acronym in English), will take over from Eduardo Osuna as 'country manager' of BBVA in the Aztec country. Osuna will become the chairman of the Board of Directors of BBVA Mexico, as the entity has notified the National Securities Market Commission (CNMV).
As a result of this change, Pablo Pastor, who was in charge of Risks for South America and Turkey, will assume the global leadership of GRM in place of Elechiguerra.
At the same time, BBVA will integrate into this unit the functions of 'Compliance' and Non-Financial Risks, which were previously framed in 'Regulation & Internal Control', a division that will disappear with the new organizational chart.
Both responsibilities will fall under the leadership of Rocío Pérez, global head of Compliance & Internal Control, with the aim of configuring a unique risk management function and simplifying communication with the bank's senior management. Both GRM and Compliance & Internal Control will continue to report directly to the Board of Directors.
On the other hand, Mario Pardo, until now 'country manager' of BBVA in Colombia, will head the new global area of 'Institutional Engagement', created to coordinate the group's relationship with institutions, supervisors, and public policy makers, in addition to being responsible for BBVA's institutional representation. This new division will group the areas of Regulation, Relationship with Supervisors, Institutional Relations, and BBVA Research.
As a consequence, the management of BBVA in Colombia will fall to Gloria Couceiro, who currently leads Financial Planning and Cost and Investment Management at a global level.
The remodeling also introduces changes in the supervision scheme of the countries in South America. Thus, Argentina, Colombia, and Peru will come to depend directly on the CEO, Onur Genç, while the rest of the markets in the region will report to the areas of Commercial Client Solutions (Uruguay and Venezuela) or Retail Client Solutions (Forum Chile). With this redesign, the 'Country Monitoring' area disappears.
Change in financial management and other key changes
Among the most relevant modifications is also the departure of Luisa Gómez Bravo as Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of the group. Her position will be occupied by Gonzalo Rodríguez, until now responsible for Retail Banking at BBVA in Spain.
Gómez Bravo, who has remained in the position for nearly 2 years and ten months, will continue linked to the Basque-origin bank, although for the moment she has not been assigned a new internal responsibility, as confirmed by Europa Press.
Likewise, Victoria del Castillo, until now at the head of Strategy & M&A, will lead the global direction of Talent & Culture in place of Paul Tobin, while Roberto Albaladejo will take over from Del Castillo at the head of Strategy & M&A.
In the legal field, Jacobo de Nicolás, who directed the Legal Services of BBVA in Mexico, will be the new global head of the Legal area, replacing María Jesús Arribas.
Finally, Rosario Mirat, until now head of the Presidency Cabinet, will assume the General Secretariat and the Board of Directors of BBVA instead of Domingo Armengol.
In general terms, the entity expects that most of these changes will take effect on September 1.
"We build the transformation together among all of us who are part of BBVA. In a context of accelerated change, this renewed leadership places us in the best position to drive a new cycle of growth and continue our success story. This organization enhances our ability to help our clients go further, create more opportunities for our employees, generate sustainable growth for our shareholders, and contribute to the progress of society," emphasized the president of BBVA, Carlos Torres.
In this regard, Torres and Genç have expressed their "greatest recognition and gratitude" to Domingo Armengol, María Jesús Arribas, Juan Asúa, Ana Fernández Manrique, Luisa Gómez Bravo, Eduardo Osuna, Jorge Sáenz de Azcúnaga, and Paul Tobin, who conclude their executive stage at BBVA: "Their leadership, commitment, and generosity have been fundamental in building the bank we are today," they concluded.