Ratings Raised On BBVA's Mortgage Covered Bond Program Following Revised Criteria; Outlook Positive

OVERVIEW On March 1, 2019, our revised structured finance ratings above the sovereign criteria became effective. Following our review of BBVA's mortgage covered bond program under these criteria, we have raised to 'AA' from 'AA-' our ratings on the covered bonds. The positive outlook on the ratings reflects the outlook on our unsolicited long-term rating on Spain. MADRID (S&P Global Ratings) March 19, 2019--S&P Global Ratings today raised its credit ratings on Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A.'s (BBVA) mortgage covered bond program and related issuances ("cédulas hipotecarias"). Upon revising our structured finance ratings above the sovereign criteria in January 2019, we placed our ratings on covered bond programs that could potentially be affected under criteria observation (see "209 European Structured

...OVERVIEW + On March 1, 2019, our revised structured finance ratings above the sovereign criteria became effective. + Following our review of BBVA's mortgage covered bond program under these criteria, we have raised to '##' from '##-' our ratings on the covered bonds. + The positive outlook on the ratings reflects the outlook on our unsolicited long-term rating on Spain. MADRID (S&P Global Ratings) March 19, 2019--S&P Global Ratings today raised its credit ratings on Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A.'s (BBVA) mortgage covered bond program and related issuances ("cTdulas hipotecarias"). Upon revising our structured finance ratings above the sovereign criteria in January 2019, we placed our ratings on covered bond programs that could potentially be affected under criteria observation (see "209 European Structured Finance Ratings Placed Under Criteria Observation Due To Revised Sovereign Risk Criteria," published March 1, 2019, and "Incorporating Sovereign Risk In Rating Structured Finance...

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