Outlook On Spain-Based BBVA And Santander Consumer Finance Revised To Positive Following Action On Sovereign

OVERVIEW On March 31, 2017 we revised our outlook on our long-term sovereign credit rating on Spain to positive from stable. If we raised the sovereign rating, Spain's creditworthiness would no longer prevent a potential improvement in Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. (BBVA) and Santander Consumer Finance S.A.'s (SCF) creditworthiness, translating into higher long-term ratings. We are therefore revising our outlooks on our long-term ratings on BBVA and its core subsidiary BBVA Global Markets B.V. and SCF and its core subsidiary Santander Consumer Bank AG to positive from stable. The positive outlook on BBVA reflects the possibility of an upgrade in the next 12-24 months, if Spain's economic and operating environment becomes more supportive, provided that emerging risks in other

...OVERVIEW + On March 31, 2017 we revised our outlook on our long-term sovereign credit rating on Spain to positive from stable. + If we raised the sovereign rating, Spain's creditworthiness would no longer prevent a potential improvement in Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. (BBVA) and Santander Consumer Finance S.A.'s (SCF) creditworthiness, translating into higher long-term ratings. + We are therefore revising our outlooks on our long-term ratings on BBVA and its core subsidiary BBVA Global Markets B.V. and SCF and its core subsidiary Santander Consumer Bank AG to positive from stable. + The positive outlook on BBVA reflects the possibility of an upgrade in the next 12-24 months, if Spain's economic and operating environment becomes more supportive, provided that emerging risks in other markets of operation--namely Turkey and Mexico--remain under control, and Spain is upgraded. + The positive outlook on SCF reflects the possibility of an upgrade in the next 12-24 months if we raised...

Ratings Action