Ron Smith Appointed BBVA Compass Western Regional Executive for Commercial Banking

BIRMINGHAM, Ala., March 25 /PRNewswire/ -- BBVA Compass announced that Ron Smith has been appointed Western Regional Executive for the bank's Commercial Banking unit. The position of Western Regional Executive was recently held by Rafael Bustillo, who was appointed Head of Commercial Banking.

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20100325/DA76954)

In his role, Smith will oversee Commercial Banking activities in New Mexico, Colorado, Arizona, California and El Paso, Texas. Smith will act as a resource for the Commercial Banking executives in those areas in order to ensure that the banks objectives and maximum growth potential in each market is achieved.

"Ron has been the City President in Albuquerque for the past seven years and in that time he has successfully grown our commercial business in New Mexico," said Rafael Bustillo, Executive Vice President and Head of Commercial Banking. "His business acumen and leadership will certainly be called upon as we seek to expand our footprint across the Western Region. I am pleased to congratulate Ron on this new position and even more pleased to collaborate more closely with him."

Prior to his position at BBVA Compass as Albuquerque City President, Smith held numerous positions with Albuquerque banking organizations, including Market President, Business Banking Manager, Corporate Banking Manager and Regional Executive.

A New Mexico native, Smith graduated from the University of New Mexico. Active in both civic and community pursuits, Smith is currently on the boards of Albuquerque Economic Development, Sandoval County Economic Development Foundation, Rio Rancho Community Foundation and UNM Anderson School of Management Foundation. He is also a member of the Albuquerque Economic Forum and a loan committee member of Accion New Mexico.

Smith and his wife, Jolene, are parents to three children and grandparents to three grandchildren.

ABOUT BBVA COMPASS

BBVA Compass is a Sunbelt-based financial institution that operates 724 branches including 387 in Texas, 92 in Alabama, 65 in California, 77 in Arizona, 45 in Florida, 36 in Colorado and 22 in New Mexico. BBVA Compass is the 15th largest U.S. commercial bank based on deposit market share and ranks among the largest banks in Texas (4th), Alabama (3rd) and Arizona (5th). Additional information concerning BBVA Compass can be found on our website www.bbvacompass.com.

BBVA Compass is a subsidiary of Compass Bancshares, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of BBVA (NYSE: BBVA) (MAD: BBVA). BBVA is a financial services group with more than $785 billion in total assets, 48 million clients, 7,600 branches and approximately 104,000 employees in more than 30 countries. BBVA ranks among the top 20 largest financial institutions in the world based on market capitalization and 20th in Global Finance magazine's list of the "World's 50 Safest Banks" for 2009. BBVA provides its customers around the world with a full range of financial services, including commercial and wholesale banking, retail banking services, consumer loans, mortgages, credit cards, securities brokerage, wealth management, pension plan management and insurance. The BBVA Group maintains a leadership position in Spain, Mexico, Latin America and the Sunbelt Region of the United States as well as operations in China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Italy, Japan, Singapore, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.