Speaking at a news conference to mark the opening of the Taipei branch Wednesday, BBVA Chairman Francisco Gonzalez said the Madrid-listed bank intends to maintain its holdings in Citic Bank despite the 19% drop in Citic's share price since the start of this year due to escalating worries about Europe and a slowdown in growth in China.

He added the bank intends to sell its pension management operations in Latin America as it focuses on its core banking operations, but doesn't plan to raise more funds as it has enough capital to "weather the storm" of Europe's economic troubles.

"All of our franchises in the world are doing well. We are expanding our market share, business and profit everywhere," he said.

He also expressed optimism about Europe's future fiscal health, saying making the European Central Bank the main supervisor of the euro zone's banking sector would help improve the situation there.