Group Executive Chairman of BBVA since January 2000.Graduated in Economic and Business Sciences from the Complutense University in Madrid, he began his professional career in 1964 as programmer in an IT company. His ambition to transform 21st-century banking with the support of new technology dates back to this time.Prior to the merger between Banco Bilbao Vizcaya and Argentaria, he was Chairman of Argentaria from 1996 to 1999, where he led the integration, transformation and privatisation of a very diverse group of State-owned banks. Francisco González is a Member of the Board of Directors of The Institute of International Finance (IIF) and of The TransAtlantic Business Dialogue (TABD). He is also a Member of the European Financial Services Round Table (EFR), the Institut International D’Études Bancaires (IIEB), the International Monetary Conference (IMC), the International Advisory Committee of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, and Vice-Chairman of The Conference Board (TCB), among other international fora.