Adolfo Fraguas (BBVA): “We must be able to identify risks before they can be considered as such”
From constant training to the integration of artificial intelligence, BBVA’s legal department is positioned as a key element to face the challenges of a constantly changing regulatory and financial environment
by julia gil
After almost a decade at the helm of Legal Services at BBVA Spain, Adolfo Fraguas reflects on the challenges facing his team at one of the country’s largest banking institutions. With more than 300 professionals, this department is a key part of what Fraguas defines as a “well-oiled machine”, playing a strategic role in the bank’s adaptation to the constant regulatory and technological changes in the financial sector. In an environment where “what is commonplace today may be subject to questioning tomorrow,” BBVA’s legal area not only responds to regulatory challenges, but also seeks to anticipate risks and offer solutions that enable the rest of the organization to operate successfully. In this interview, the director, who has been with the bank since 1996 and has held key positions along the way, shares his views on the role of law in modern banking, the challenges of sustainability, cybersecurity and the impact of artificial intelligence on the group’s digital transformation.
How would you define the role of legal services within a bank as large and regulated as BBVA?
Large companies like BBVA are well-meshed machines. All departments play a fundamental role and cannot function without each other. Therefore, the legal services department is as important as any other, but it requires a great deal of specialization and training to always offer the service the bank needs. Regulation is constantly changing, and supervision is increasing. Regulations emerge in line with the changes affecting society, such as sustainability, and it is essential to be aware of any new developments in detail. In this sense, legal services play a fundamental role, providing the rest of the areas with a framework in which to develop their work and working very closely to properly guide the way in which services are provided to offer a better customer experience.
How has the legal department grown in terms of team in recent years?
The legal department grows according to needs, but what is most relevant is the continuous updating of the team, both in relation to regulatory developments and in the adoption of new working techniques and technologies. Like the rest of BBVA’s units, legal services learned to work under the Agile methodology (e.note: each project is ‘chunked’ into small parts that have to be completed and delivered in a few weeks) and many improvements have been implemented as a result of this experience, especially in terms of knowledge sharing and teamwork; additionally, we are analysing how to take advantage of the opportunities offered by AI.
