Capping remarkable drive, BBVA Compass gets perfect score in 2018 Corporate Equality Index

HOUSTON, Nov. 9, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- BBVA Compass received a perfect score of 100 percent on the 2018 Corporate Equality Index, a measure of workplace equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer employees that serves as a benchmark for some of the country's largest and most influential workplaces.

The achievement — announced Thursday by the Human Rights Campaign Foundation, which administers the CEI — caps a remarkable drive by BBVA Compass to build a workforce that fully reflects the clients and businesses it serves. In the 2012 CEI, the bank received a score of 55. Since then it has steadily improved its culture and benefits to be more inclusive, adding domestic partner benefits and various workplace protections along the way. In last year's CEI, it scored a 90 — the highest of any company headquartered in Alabama.*

"I could not be more proud," said BBVA Compass Chief Talent & Culture Executive Rosilyn Houston. "We recognized we could do better and worked hard, year after year, to steer BBVA Compass in a direction that's more inclusive and would help it attract the best talent. We're not just checking a box and we're most certainly not finished, however. We will continue to do what we need to do to make BBVA Compass a best place to work no matter the measuring stick."

This is not the first time BBVA Compass has been recognized for its workplace diversity and inclusion efforts. It landed on DiversityInc's Top 50 Companies for Diversity list for the first time earlier this year. In awarding BBVA Compass a spot, DiversityInc pointed in part to the makeup of the bank's senior leadership ranks and also its strong commitment to supplier diversity. The percentage of minorities in the bank's senior leadership is higher than the average among the Top 50 companies by 88.4 percent, or nearly double the average on the DiversityInc list.

The 2018 CEI rated 947 businesses in the report, which evaluates LGBTQ-related policies and practices, including non-discrimination workplace protections, domestic partner benefits, transgender-inclusive health care benefits, competency programs and public engagement with the LGBTQ community. BBVA Compass' efforts in satisfying all of the CEI's criteria and earning a 100 percent ranking also earned it the designation as a Best Place to Work for LGBTQ Equality.

"This is such a meaningful designation for us," said BBVA Compass Director of Corporate Responsibility and Reputation Reymundo Ocañas, whose team helps steer the bank's overall diversity and inclusion efforts in partnership with the Talent & Culture and Procurement areas. "I hope it serves as a strong signal to people already working at the bank and those considering doing so that we value their happiness. It sounds so simple, but we understand that for LGBTQ individuals it's sometimes anything but, especially for those who feel they can't be their authentic selves at work."

For more information on the 2018 Corporate Equality Index, or to download a free copy of the report, visit www.hrc.org/cei. The Human Rights Campaign Foundation is the educational arm of America's largest civil rights organization working to achieve equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual transgender and queer people. HRC envisions a world where LGBTQ people are embraced as full members of society at home, at work and in every community.

* BBVA Compass' headquarters is in Birmingham, Ala.; its holding company, BBVA Compass Bancshares Inc., is based in Houston.

To learn more about BBVA Compass, visit: www.bbvacompass.com

For more news visit: www.bbva.com and newsroom.bbvacompass.com

About BBVA Group
BBVA (NYSE: BBVA) is a customer-centric global financial services group founded in 1857. The Group has a strong leadership position in the Spanish market, is the largest financial institution in Mexico, and has leading franchises in South America and the Sunbelt Region of the United States; it is also the leading shareholder in Garanti, Turkey's biggest bank for market capitalization. Its diversified business is focused on high-growth markets and it relies on technology as a key sustainable competitive advantage. Corporate responsibility is at the core of its business model. BBVA fosters financial education and inclusion, and supports scientific research and culture. It operates with the highest integrity, a long-term vision and applies the best practices. More information about BBVA Group can be found at bbva.com.

About BBVA Compass
BBVA Compass is a Sunbelt-based financial institution that operates 649 branches, including 336 in Texas, 89 in Alabama, 63 in Arizona, 61 in California, 45 in Florida, 37 in Colorado and 18 in New Mexico. BBVA Compass ranks among the top 25 largest U.S. commercial banks based on deposit market share and ranks among the largest banks in Alabama (2nd), Texas (4th) and Arizona (5th). BBVA Compass has been recognized as one of the leading small business lenders by the Small Business Administration (SBA) and ranked 5th nationally in the total number of SBA loans originated in fiscal year 2016. Additional information about BBVA Compass can be found at www.bbvacompass.com. For more BBVA Compass news, follow @BBVACompassNews on Twitter or visit newsroom.bbvacompass.com.

SOURCE BBVA Compass

Related Links

http://www.bbvacompass.com