BBVA Research

Digital transformation has opened the financial services market to new kinds of providers with great disruptive potential, including big technology companies. This article explores how the scope of that integration is conditioned by regulation, data access rules and competition policy.

China’s economy focuses world attention, both because of the size it has attained in the past few decades of rapid growth and in view of the unique combination of (ever less) centrally planned and (ever more) market-based economy that has succeeded in lifting hundreds of millions of people out of poverty.

Despite lower affordability, demographic trends will continue to support housing demand. Home price appreciation will decline but remain above inflation in the short- to mid-term. Tighter financial conditions will balance some of the regional disparities built up over the last decade.

Positive tone in financial markets during the second week of 2019. Last Friday strong US jobs data, and the three-day US-China trade talks helped risk assets to recover from the sharp fall in the final part of 2018. Furthermore, the release of the ECB and FOMC minutes along with plenty of Central Bank officers’ speeches were in focus.

Highlights: EBA issues its assessment on consistency of internal models. ECB issues recommendation on dividend policy. ESAs issue a report on sandboxes. EBA issues a report on crypto-assets and its risk dashboard. EC issues communication on STS under CMU. ESMA issues RTS on supervisory cooperation for securitization. FRB consults on company run stress testing requirements.

Between 2011 and 2017, the economy has grown on average 3.8% annually, while the LAC average is 1.7%

Calm in financial markets after US-China trade talks ended yesterday without further details on key issues, but with China’s commitment to import more products from the US. Today’s lower-than-expected inflation figures in China added more doubts about the economic growth. The release of minutes from the ECB and the FOMC’s December meetings kept investors’ attention

The objectives of the proposals are: a) to deepen both the banking sector and the stock market, b) to have more efficient payment metods for the population and, c) in general, to make more efficient the task of capturing and promoting savings, as well as channeling it to productive investment.

Between 2011 and 2017, the economy has grown on average 4.8% annually, while the LAC average is 1.7%

The positive tone in financial markets continued on the back of optimism regarding the US-China trade talks which ended today with positive remarks by both parties. Apart from this, all eyes are on the release of the December FOMC meeting minutes later today, as more Fed members added their voices to the more dovish stance.

Between 2011 and 2017, the economy has grown on average 2.6% annually, while the LAC average is 1.7%

U.S. President Trump announced that Washington would pull all of its troops out of Syria. In Europe, 'Yellow vests' protests movement sharply rose in France and spilled over into other European countries, increasing concerns on social stability. The trade truce between China and the U.S. and positive developments in the Korean Peninsula created a calm environment in Asia.

Markets started the week in a positive mood as fresh news at the end of last week still weighed this week. The sharp rebound in risk asset prices last Friday was backed by hopes of easing trade frictions between China and the US (which have extended today), strong US jobs data, actions from China’s central bank, and especially due to patience showed in Powell’s remarks.

Digital transformation has opened the financial services market to new kinds of providers with great disruptive potential, including big technology companies. This article explores how the scope of that integration is conditioned by regulation, data access rules and competition policy.

A few years ago, Reinhart and Rogoff, two renowned academics, wrote about how in every crisis economists, politicians and the rest of the world seek to convince us that this time the imbalances that end up leading to crisis are not really imbalances as such.

The Spanish economy will have grown between 0.4% and 0.5% less in 2018 than in 2017 (+3%), with indications that the slowdown will continue in 2019, in a context of increased uncertainty.

Markets started 2019 on the wrong foot, but the market mood improved as the week went by. Doubts about the global slowdown were fed by the release of worsening confidence data in China and in the US. However, today’s fresh news about the trade tensions and the release of job figures in the US totally offset the sluggish data in the EZ, and improved the situation.

Risk aversion mood persisted today as fears of a global slowdown increased. Apple’s reduced revenue outlook, which it attributed largely to China’s slowdown, as well as trade tensions added to yesterday’s release of disappointing Chinese confidence data. Furthermore, US manufacturing confidence data, at its lowest in two years, also point in this direction

Between 2011 and 2017, the economy has grown on average 1.2% annually, while the LAC average is 1.7%

Consumer prices fell by -0.4% in December, leading the annual figure to further ease to 20.3% from 21.6% in November. Considering the recent price regulations, risks are balanced on our year-end inflation expectation of 16%. Though, the path for output gap, oil prices and currency volatility will be the determinant factors on inflation.