Bárbara Carmona, director of CaixaBank's Representative Office in Toronto, receives the Officer's Cross of the Order of Civil Merit for driving the Spain brand (Marca España) in Canada

• This recognition distinguishes citizens that provide, or have provided, relevant services to the State, with extraordinary work, beneficial initiatives or exemplary perseverance in the course of their duties.
• CaixaBank has been present in Canada since 2018, when it opened its Representative Office in Toronto and became the only Spanish bank with physical presence in the country.
• The medal ceremony took place in the Spanish Embassy in Canada, and it was attended by its ambassador, His Excellency Mr Alfredo Martínez Serrano.

Bárbara Carmona, director of the CaixaBank's Representative Office in Canada, located in Toronto, has been awarded the Officer's Cross of the Order of Civil Merit by the Spanish Government in recognition for building and positioning the Spain brand in the North American country. The medal ceremony for the Officer's Cross awarded to Carmona took place in Ottawa and was led by His Excellency Mr Alfredo Martínez Serrano, ambassador of Spain in Canada.

The Order of Civil Merit is, together with the Order of Isabella the Catholic, one of the two orders currently under the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Officer's Cross is the order's fifth grade, and it is awarded to citizens that have provided relevant services to the State, with extraordinary work, beneficial initiatives or exemplary perseverance in the course of their duties.

Carmona has been honoured with this recognition for her exceptional work and commitment in relation to the establishment, consolidation, and operation of the new Chamber of Commerce of Spain in Canada, as well as her commercial efforts carried out as a representative of CaixaBank in the country. Her professional and human qualities were also acknowledged, which enabled her to provide support and help in terms of willingness and know-how to the Spanish entities, companies and citizens in Toronto.

Bárbara Carmona graduated in Business Administration from Universitat Rovira y Virgili and joined CaixaBank 21 years ago. Since then, she has held several senior positions in Corporate Banking, beginning her career in the International Banking network where she held the position of Managing Director of the Representative Office in London (2012-2015) and Head of Commercial in the same office once it became a CaixaBank branch (2015-2018). Since November of 2018, she holds the lead position in the Representative Office in Canada.

In addition, Carmona is director of the Canadian Council for Public-Private Partnerships and an advisor, vice-president and founder of the Chamber of Commerce of Spain in Canada.

CaixaBank in Canada

CaixaBank has been present in Canada since 2018, when it opened its Representative Office in Toronto and became the only Spanish bank with a physical presence in the country. From the office located on Bay Street, at the heart of the city's financial centre, CaixaBank offers support and advisory services in the fields of foreign trade, company banking and corporate banking to Spanish companies with interests and operations in Canada, as well as to Canadian multinationals and companies that operate in Spain. It has also consolidated itself as the benchmark bank for companies that operate in both countries.

In its five years in the country, CaixaBank's Representative Office in Canada has advised in relevant operations within the Infrastructure sector, such as Broadway Subway (BC), Patullo Bridge (BC), Ontario Line South (ON), Île Aux Tourtes Bridge (QC) or Vaudreuil-Soulanges Hospital (QC), as well as the renewable energies sector, in wind farms in the Niagara Region, South Kent, Le Plateau, Henvey Inlet and Armow.

CaixaBank's international presence

CaixaBank channels its international presence through its International Banking network of branches and representative offices worldwide and through cooperation agreements with first-rate international banks. CaixaBank also owns Portugal's Banco BPI, the fourth largest financial institution operating in Portugal in terms of assets.   

CaixaBank's international network offers support to the bank's business customers that operate abroad, as well as to local corporates, thanks to its global outreach with over 200 professionals, close to 30 international service points and agreements with more than 1,700 correspondent banks. This network provides coverage in 72 countries, which account for 82% of global GDP and 94% of Spain's international trade. 

CaixaBank's International Banking network currently has branches in Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Italy, Poland and Morocco, as well as 17 representative offices on all five continents: Istanbul (Turkey), Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong (China), Singapore, Dubai (United Arab Emirates), New Delhi (India), Cairo (Egypt), Algiers (Algeria), Johannesburg (South Africa), New York (the USA), Santiago de Chile (Chile), Bogotá (Colombia), Sao Paulo (Brazil), Lima (Peru), Sidney (Australia) and Toronto (Canada). 

It also has two Spanish Desk teams in Austria's Erste Bank (Vienna) and Mexico's Inbursa (Mexico City), to serve CaixaBank business customers in these markets. 

CaixaBank's International Banking network is the only AENOR-certified international banking network in Spain.