Itaú BBA’s expansion has happened at a steady clip over the past four years, and the shop poses an increasing threat to global powerhouses hoping to grab a slice of the Brazilian investment bank fee pool.
Author Archives: LatinFinance Awards
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Best Bank Costa Rica: Sweet Insulation
Costa Rica’s government backed banks have played an important role in supporting the country’s economy, and continue to dominate at a time when private financial institutions and foreign operations may find it difficult to enter or increase share.
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Best Bank Mexico: Capitalizing on Crisis
Since the collapse of Lehman, Mexican authorities have come out repeatedly to defend their nation’s banking system as competitive, profitable and well capitalized.
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Best Bank Dominican Republic: Popularity Uncontested
Banco Popular Dominicano, the second largest bank in the Dominican Republic after state-owned Banco de Reservas, with a 25% market share based on assets, is known for a conservative risk culture and adequate asset quality, according to Fitch, which assigns a AA- local rating.
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Best Bank Colombia: Extending Reach
Despite Colombia’s generally sturdy fundamentals during the financial crisis, its financial institutions have had to swallow their share of bitter cocktails, including isolated corporate derivative losses, toxic Lehman notes, Stanford fallout, and slowing exports to the US. An uptick in unemployment and slower economic growth also boosted defaults at the retail and corporate levels for all banks.
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Best Bank Ecuador: Double the Trouble
The impact of the credit crisis is a theme for all LatAm banking systems, and in Ecuador there is the added question of political volatility.
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Best Local Investment Bank Colombia: Taking on the Big Boys
Bancolombia looms large in some of Colombia’s most important markets, including DCM and project finance advisory.
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Best Bank Guatemala: Caution Prevails
Despite the economic downturn, Guatemala’s GyT Continental could see profits jump by 25% by the end of this year compared to 2008, CEO Flavio Montenegro tells LatinFinance.
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Best Local Investment Bank
In a year where most markets were still thawing out following the crisis, little was done to shake up the local investment banking landscape. It is still dominated by several large internationally-backed players, each tending to specialize in most but not all of the business areas. Citi’s Banamex defends its crown as the investment bank best equipped to offer Mexican clients a full range of services.
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Best Bank Jamaica: Safe Deposits Haven
Jamaica may have been hard hit by the global recession, but that probably ended up benefitting Scotia’s operations on the tropical island.