LatAm will be a leading beneficiary of asset reallocation once the post-crisis dust settles, according to Jerome Booth, head of research at UK-based Ashmore Investment Management, which controls $32 billion in assets. He was speaking mid-October, after Ashmore announced that it had lost 14.7% of assets under management in the third quarter.
Category: 2008
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Best Bank − Argentina: Banco Santander
Positioned to Survive
Santander Río, Argentina’s leading bank in terms of number of clients after the two public ones, is one of the most profitable financial institutions in the country. All banks in Argentina had their reputations tarnished during the 2001 economic crisis but Santander Río has one of the best images locally.
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Best Multilateral: Inter-American Development Bank
Forward Lateral
Long before it was making $6 billion available to boost regional liquidity, providing $400 million to the Panama Canal, or preparing $150 million to prop up Mexican RMBS, the IDB had gone from lender of last resort to innovator of first choice. The institution’s funding was as crucial to keeping tiny businesses afloat as it was to pushing through gigantic projects. The leadership, ingenuity and raw sums of money it put in outshine other multilaterals in a banner year for the sector.
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PEOPLE: RBS, Itaú Poach from Deutsche
Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), which acquired the US-based LatAm business of ABN AMRO, has made three recent Deutsche Bank hires to build up a sales and trading effort in Brazil.
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Best Bank − Bolivia: Banco Mercantil Santa Cruz
BMSC Wrestles Conflict
Banco Mercantil Santa Cruz (BMSC), Bolivia’s biggest bank, says the recent social unrest has not yet impacted on the economy or the banking system. However, the bank, which has 235,000 clients and 57 branches throughout Bolivia, believes that could change.
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ROUNDTABLE: Braced for Impact
The clearing and settlement business is preparing for diminished flow and profitability amid lower valuations and compressed margins. Innovation is a key to survival.
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DEBT: The Waiting Game
The deep freeze in capital markets continues, with locals joining the holding pattern as the global system teeters. Issuers and investors await signs of a bottom, as well as for the end of the parade of Mexican and Brazilian corporates announcing destroyed derivatives positions and suffering downgrades.
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Best Bank − Colombia: Banco de Bogotá
Mighty Challenger
The executive suite of Banco de Bogotá’s headquarters has one of the best views of Colombia’s capital. Alejandro Figueroa Jaramillo, the bank’s president, has just delivered first half performance figures to the board, which includes members of Grupo Aval, the majority owner of the bank and Colombia’s largest financial conglomerate. As he sits down for a rare interview – his aides say Figueroa does not speak to local press – he is interrupted by an urgent note from his assistant.
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EQUITY: Mayhem Bewilders
The punishing selloff that pushed LatAm main indices 20% lower between mid-September and mid-October has no clear end in sight.
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Best Bank − Chile: Banco Santander
Outstripping the Population
Chile’s Santander, the country’s biggest deposit-taking bank, has seen its client base jump to three million people, an increase of 40% during the past three years. It has a network of 2,016 ATMs and 468 branches, the biggest reach in the country, according to the bank. Its total deposits amounted to $22.3 billion at the end of June.