José Fernández de Bilbao

José Fernández de Bilbao has worked for more than 20 years in investment banking. Prior to starting his academic career, he was Managing Director and Head of Financial Institutions and Public Sector for Spain and Portugal at HSBC and Executive Director at the Financial Institutions and M&A divisions of ABN AMRO. He also worked at the Financial Institutions Group of JP Morgan and the Corporate Finance Department of Goldman Sachs in London. At these positions, José worked in bank and corporate valuations, M&A and debt and equity offerings in Spain, Portugal, Mexico, the UK, France and Greece.

Since 2018, José has been an Adjunct Professor at the Master of Finance at IE Business School. He also collaborates with Impulsa Capital, a financial advisory firm specializing in capital raising and M&A.

José holds a PhD from Universidad Pontificia Comillas - ICADE (Madrid, Spain) and an MBA from IESE (Barcelona, Spain). While completing his MBA, he was an exchange student at Columbia Business School, NY. He also holds a Post- graduate Degree in European Economics and a Law Degree with a Diploma in Business from the University of Deusto (Bilbao, Spain).

During his period of service with the Spanish Marine Corps José was awarded the Navy Cross, 4th Class with white ribbon.

Corporate Experience

• Managing Director, Impulsa Capital, Spain, 2017 – YTD.
• Managing Director, Head of Financial Institutions and Public Sector for Spain and Portugal, HSBC, Spain, 2008 – 2016
• Executive Director, Financial Institutions and Public Sector and M&A, ABN AMRO Bank NV, Spain, 2001 – 2008.
• Analyst, Associate and Vice-president, Financial Institutions Group, JP Morgan, United Kingdom, 1996 – 2001. 
• Analyst, Corporate Finance, Goldman Sachs, United Kingdom, 1994 – 1996. 

Academic Experience

• Adjunct Professor, IE Business School, Spain, 2018 – YTD.

Academic Background

• PhD in Business and Territorial Competitiveness, Innovation and Sustainability, Universidad Pontificia de Comillas - ICADE, Spain, 2017 – 2025.
• MBA, IESE, Spain, 1992 – 1994. Exchange student at Columbia Business School, USA, 1993. 
• Post- graduate Degree in European Studies (Economics), University of Deusto, Spain, 1990 – 1991.
• Degree in Law & Diploma in Business, University of Deusto, Spain, 1985 – 1990.

Research papers: Jose Fernandez de Bilbao, Isabel Catalina Figuerola-Ferretti, Ioannis Paraskevopoulos, Álvaro Santos. “Accounting for wrongdoing. The financial consequences of bank misconduct”, Journal of Accounting and Public Policy, Volume 51, 2025, 107317, ISSN 0278-4254, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaccpubpol.2025.107317.