Spain's second-largest bank, Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria SA, is interested in buying a medium-size bank in the U.S. in 2010, the Spanish daily El Economista reported in its Wednesday Internet edition.
Citing unidentified financial sources, the newspaper said that the Spanish bank will consider the purchase of a financial entity, the size of which won't exceed half of its own market capitalization.
BBVA's market capitalization currently hovers at over EUR32.5 billion.
The U.S. is a key market for BBVA, which already has invested some $12.6 billion since 2004 to purchase financial entities in Texas and Alabama.
