BBVA Hypocrisy Desecrates Memory of George Floyd

Carlos Torres Vila, Group Chairman of BBVA, declared that “BBVA works to help build a more inclusive and sustainable society.”

Onur Genҫ, Group CEO of BBVA, stated, “BBVA’s values…[are] wrapped under the broader principle of right ethical conduct, being principled in what we do and how we do it. That is a non-negotiable must-have in everything that we all do.”

BBVA USA announced in June of 2020 that the bank would “stand in solidarity” and “side-by-side” with the Black community after the murder of George Floyd.

Were they all hypocritical lies?

In September 2020, renowned Civil Rights leader Ernesto Pichardo dispatched a scathing letter to BBVA for not terminating the alleged racist law firm Balch & Bingham based in Birmingham, Alabama.

“Over two months ago we called on you to immediately terminate alleged racist law firm Balch & Bingham as BBVA’s outside lawyers. You have done nothing.

“Desecrating the memory of George Floyd for public relations purposes, BBVA ought to be ashamed to ‘stand in solidarity’ with a law firm that has been involved in alleged racist misconduct, targeting poor African-American children, allegedly disenfranchising African-American voters, and suppressing African-Americans in North Birmingham, Alabama from having their toxic property tested by the EPA,” Pichardo wrote.

In 1993, Pichardo won a unanimous U.S. Supreme Court decision for religious freedom and Civil Rights after his Afro-Caribbean faith came under attack due to blatant intolerance and discrimination by racists and religious bigots.

Yet BBVA did not terminate Balch & Bingham even though the bank was provided with a detailed 14-page report, including details about a Balch partner who was convicted of money laundering and bribery.

Money laundering and bribery certainly are not right ethical conduct.

Pichardo asks, “Why won’t BBVA truly take a bold stand against racism? Were BBVA’s words… just public relations fluff?”