Carlos Torres Vila

Carlos Torres Vila
Born	Template:Birth year and age
Nationality	Spanish
Occupation	Banker, business executive
Title	Executive Chairman
Employer	BBVA
Known for	Executive Chairman of BBVA

Carlos Torres Vila (born 1966) is a Spanish banker and business executive who serves as the executive chairman of Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria (BBVA), one of the largest financial institutions in Spain and a major global banking group. Torres Vila has led BBVA through a period of significant strategic transformation, with a particular emphasis on digital innovation, sustainability financing, and international expansion. His tenure as chairman has been defined in substantial part by the bank's protracted and high-profile effort to acquire rival Spanish lender Banco Sabadell in what became one of the largest hostile takeover bids in European banking history, valued at approximately $16 billion. Under his leadership, BBVA has pursued an aggressive strategy centered on technological adoption, including the integration of artificial intelligence into customer service operations, and has positioned itself as a financier of the global energy transition.

Career

Rise at BBVA

Carlos Torres Vila built his career within BBVA, ascending through the organization's senior leadership ranks before ultimately assuming the role of executive chairman. In this capacity, he has served as the principal strategic leader of the banking group, overseeing operations across multiple international markets. Torres Vila has articulated a vision for BBVA that combines global scale with localized operations, arguing that the bank's multinational footprint provides competitive advantages while maintaining close relationships with customers in individual markets.

At BBVA's Annual General Meeting held in Bilbao in March 2025, Torres Vila presented a review of the bank's performance, characterizing the preceding year as an excellent one for the institution. Torres Vila has consistently emphasized the bank's financial strength, stating that BBVA would have €49 billion in top-quality capital in its new strategic cycle, a figure he cited as evidence of the institution's capacity to pursue growth and absorb potential risks. He noted that 2025 was marked by strong performance across all markets in which BBVA operates, despite a complex macroeconomic environment.

Digital transformation and artificial intelligence

A defining feature of Torres Vila's leadership at BBVA has been the bank's investment in digital technologies and, more recently, artificial intelligence. Torres Vila has positioned BBVA as a leader among European banks in adopting AI-driven solutions for customer engagement and operational efficiency.

In October 2025, Torres Vila participated in the closing ceremony of the BBVA Spark Summit 2025, held in Barcelona. At the event, he presented the bank's projects aimed at driving excellence in customer relations through cutting-edge AI applications. The summit, organized under BBVA's Spark brand—its platform for entrepreneurial and innovative businesses—served as a venue for Torres Vila to outline the bank's technological roadmap and its plans to integrate AI across various dimensions of its operations.

BBVA's digital strategy under Torres Vila has encompassed not only internal process improvements but also customer-facing innovations designed to enhance the quality and personalization of banking services. The bank's investment in technology has been a recurring theme in Torres Vila's public communications, reflecting his belief that digital capabilities are central to competitive positioning in the modern financial services industry.

Energy and sustainability strategy

Torres Vila has also been a prominent voice on the intersection of banking and the global energy transition. At CERAWeek in March 2025, he addressed the expected sharp rise in energy demand worldwide, with particular emphasis on electricity consumption, and underscored the enormous investment needed to meet that demand.

In his CERAWeek remarks, Torres Vila argued that banks need greater scale in order to finance the growing energy needs of the global economy. This argument served as both a statement of BBVA's sustainability ambitions and a justification for the bank's pursuit of acquisitions to build a larger capital base. Torres Vila framed BBVA's potential growth—including through the proposed merger with Banco Sabadell—as necessary to fulfill the banking sector's role in financing the energy transition, positioning the institution as a key intermediary in channeling capital toward renewable energy and infrastructure projects.

Banco Sabadell takeover bid

The most prominent and consequential strategic initiative of Torres Vila's chairmanship has been BBVA's bid to acquire Banco Sabadell, a major Spanish bank headquartered in Alicante with a significant presence in Spain and the United Kingdom through its subsidiary TSB Banking Group. The proposed acquisition became one of the most closely watched corporate transactions in European banking during 2024 and 2025.

The bid, which was structured as a hostile takeover offer after Banco Sabadell's board rejected BBVA's initial approach, was valued at approximately $16 billion (around €16 billion at prevailing exchange rates). Torres Vila pursued the transaction despite resistance from Sabadell's management and board, as well as conditions imposed by the Spanish government.

As of mid-2025, Torres Vila continued to press forward with the offer despite what Reuters described as "tough government conditions." The situation was further complicated by the fact that Sabadell's shares were trading approximately 7% above BBVA's offer price, suggesting that the market expected either an improved bid or that the acquisition premium was insufficient to compel Sabadell shareholders to tender their shares.

Torres Vila repeatedly expressed confidence that the bid would succeed. In a September 2025 interview with the Spanish news agency EFE, he stated that BBVA would "surpass 50 percent" acceptance because the offer was "exceptional." He also addressed the possibility of a second takeover bid, stating that such a scenario was uncertain and that BBVA "would never proceed unless the price remained the same."

At the March 2025 Annual General Meeting, Torres Vila made his case directly to BBVA shareholders, telling them that both BBVA and Banco Sabadell shareholders would become owners of a bank "better prepared for the future" if the merger proceeded. Speaking in Barcelona later that month, he elaborated on the strategic rationale, arguing that the potential integration of BBVA and Banco Sabadell would allow the combined entity to benefit from BBVA's global scale while maintaining local roots and proximity to customers in the Spanish market.

The capital implications of the deal were significant. Torres Vila cited the figure of €49 billion in top-quality capital that BBVA would command in its new strategic cycle, framing this as a foundation for the combined bank's capacity to compete on a global stage, finance large-scale energy and infrastructure projects, and invest in technology.

Outcome and aftermath

Despite Torres Vila's sustained campaign, the bid ultimately did not secure sufficient shareholder support. In October 2025, it was reported that BBVA had failed to convince enough Banco Sabadell shareholders to accept the offer. The failure of the bid raised immediate questions about Torres Vila's position as chairman. On October 17, 2025, Reuters reported that Torres Vila stated he would not resign despite the setback, declining calls that had emerged for him to step down in the wake of the unsuccessful acquisition attempt.

Torres Vila's decision to remain in his role reflected his view that the bid had been strategically sound even if it had not achieved the desired result. The episode represented one of the most significant failed hostile takeover attempts in the Spanish banking sector in recent years and generated extensive coverage and commentary across European financial media.

Public Engagement and Speaking

Torres Vila has maintained an active public profile through participation in major international conferences, industry summits, and media engagements. His speaking engagements have covered a range of subjects, including the future of banking, digital innovation, energy finance, and corporate strategy.

At CERAWeek 2025, one of the world's leading energy conferences, Torres Vila addressed the topic of energy demand growth and the role of financial institutions in funding the transition to cleaner energy sources. He has argued that the scale of investment required to meet rising global energy needs—particularly in electricity generation—necessitates that banks grow larger and more capable of underwriting major projects.

At the BBVA Spark Summit 2025 in Barcelona, Torres Vila spoke about the bank's AI initiatives and their potential impact on customer service and business operations. The Spark Summit, oriented toward innovation and entrepreneurship, provided a platform for Torres Vila to showcase BBVA's technology investments and engage with the startup and fintech ecosystem.

Torres Vila has also used BBVA's annual general meetings as occasions for detailed strategic communication. At the 2025 AGM in Bilbao, he delivered a comprehensive assessment of the bank's financial performance and outlined his vision for the institution's future direction, including the proposed Sabadell integration.

Recognition

Torres Vila's leadership of BBVA has drawn attention from financial analysts, media commentators, and industry observers. His aggressive pursuit of the Banco Sabadell acquisition attracted coverage from Reuters, the Financial Times, and other major business publications, placing him among the most visible banking executives in Europe during 2024 and 2025.

His emphasis on digital transformation and AI adoption at BBVA has also been noted in coverage of the European banking sector's technological evolution. The BBVA Spark Summit 2025, at which Torres Vila delivered the closing address, reflected the bank's efforts to establish itself as a hub for innovation and entrepreneurship under his chairmanship.

Torres Vila's statements on energy finance and the role of banks in the energy transition have contributed to broader discussions within the financial industry about the relationship between banking scale and the capacity to fund large-scale infrastructure and sustainability projects.

Legacy

As executive chairman, Torres Vila has shaped BBVA's strategic direction during a period of rapid change in the global banking industry. His tenure has been characterized by three principal themes: the pursuit of digital and AI-driven transformation, the articulation of a role for large banks in financing the energy transition, and the attempt to consolidate the Spanish banking market through the acquisition of Banco Sabadell.

The Sabadell bid, though ultimately unsuccessful, represented one of the most ambitious hostile takeover attempts in European banking in the 2020s. Torres Vila's willingness to pursue the deal in the face of government resistance, market skepticism, and opposition from the target's board drew both admiration and criticism from observers of the financial sector.

His decision to remain as chairman following the failure of the Sabadell bid signaled his intention to continue pursuing BBVA's strategic agenda through alternative means. With €49 billion in projected top-quality capital for the new strategic cycle, Torres Vila has argued that BBVA remains well-positioned to compete globally and to pursue growth opportunities as they arise.

Torres Vila's emphasis on the intersection of technology, sustainability, and banking scale reflects broader trends in the European financial industry, where institutions have increasingly sought to differentiate themselves through digital capabilities and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) commitments. Whether BBVA's strategic direction under his leadership will prove successful over the longer term remains a subject of ongoing observation and analysis within the banking sector.