NEWCOMERS STAND OUT IN RANKING
OF FOREIGN BANKS IN LATIN AMERICA

The 1998 Report on Foreign Investment in Latin America and the Caribbean, recently published by ECLAC, shows that large investments by banks which have arrived in the region in recent years are affecting the standing of foreign banks already established there. By mid-1997, the top 20 banks in the region controlled assets worth over US$171,000 million. By consolidating those asset figures across the region, and ranking the banks accordingly, the report offers a clear picture of the relative importance of these institutions.

THE 20 BIGGEST FOREIGN BANKS IN LATIN AMERICA,
BY CONSOLIDATED SALES, 1997 a/
(millions of dollars)

Source: ECLAC, Investment and Corporate Strategies Unit, based on information received from the research department of América Economía, as well as Latin Trade, 1998, and the Annual reports of Banks, such as Banco Santander, 1998; Banco Bilbao Vizcaya, 1998, y Banco Central Hispano, 1998.
a/ Assets for end-June 1997. These data were consolidated across countries of the region weighing assets according to the level of ownership in the local bank.
b/ Including data for Bolivia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Uruguay y Costa Rica.
c/ During 1998, BBV purchased assets in Banco Exxel-Económico (Brazil) and Banco Hipotecario de Fomento (Chile), which will considerably increase the value of its assets in Latin America.

European banks have been the most aggressive in setting up operations in the region. Of those listed, thirteen are from Europe, while only five are from the United States, two from Canada and none from Japan. Newcomers from Spain in particular, but also from the United Kingdom and Canada, made large-scale purchases of local banks during 1995-1997. Of the US$9,793 million invested in mergers and acquisitions of banks in the region, five newcomers account for the lion's share: the Banco Santander (28.9%), BBV (22.8%), HSBC (20.2%), BCH (5.2%) and the Bank of Nova Scotia (4.4%). In the process, these institutions are also moving up the ranking of biggest banks measured by assets, displacing others (Sudameris, Lloyds, ANB, Chase Manhattan, J.P. Morgan, Dresdner and Bank of America) which have been operating in the region for years.

Another indicator of the rapid progress of the newcomers is that the three Spanish banks (Banco Santander, BBV and BCH) can already be included in the group of those with a widespread presence in the region (in four or more countries, along with Citibank, Bank of Boston, Sudameris, Lloyds, ABN, Chase Manhattan, J.P. Morgan, ING, Dresdner and Bank of America). Others, such as CCF, Creditstalt Bankverein, the Bank of Montreal and BNL, operate in one or two countries.

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