Crystal Ball.Brazil will be the battleground for big banks.EVEN A CURSORY cur·so·ry adj. Performed with haste and scant attention to detail: a cursory glance at the headlines. [Late Latin curs EXAMINATION OF THE NUMBERS LEAVES NO doubt that the future of Latin American banking growth is in Brazil. Six of LATIN TRADE'S top ten banks by assets are in the economic behemoth behemoth (bē`hĭmŏth, bĭhē`–) [Heb.,=plural of beast], large, fanciful primeval monster, like Leviathan, evoking the hippopotamus mentioned in the Book of Job. . Yet the footprint The amount of geographic space covered by an object. A computer footprint is the desk or floor surface it occupies. A satellite's footprint is the earth area covered by its downlink. See form factor. 1. by market share of foreign powerhouses is barely visible in Brazil, where the domestic market is split among a half-dozen pretenders. Spain's Banco Santander Central Hispano (BSCH BSCh abbr. Bachelor of Science in Chemistry ) and Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria (BBVA BBVA Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria (First Bank of Spain) ) are slugging For the baseball statistic, see Slugging average. Slugging is the practice of forming ad-hoc, informal carpools for purposes of commuting, essentially a variation of ride-share commuting and hitchhiking. it out across the region, but their presence in Brazil remains comparatively small. Citibank which recently joined the battle to be the region's biggest, kicked off with a US$12.5 billion Banamex buy in Mexico, where it's tied for the lead in terms of market share with BBVA. This is no accident. While all three institutions are bent on Adj. 1. bent on - fixed in your purpose; "bent on going to the theater"; "dead set against intervening"; "out to win every event" bent, dead set, out to building region--wide superbanks, Brazil will require huge sums of money. The lag in Brazil gives the local team time to prepare for the onslaught. Citibank is talking to Noun 1. talking to - a lengthy rebuke; "a good lecture was my father's idea of discipline"; "the teacher gave him a talking to" lecture, speech rebuke, reprehension, reprimand, reproof, reproval - an act or expression of criticism and censure; "he had to Banco Mercantil de Sao Paulo, after Santander landed Banespa for $3.5 billion. BBVA has started collecting comparatively small institutions. Make no mistake, though. Nobody is done buying yet. Having acquired positions in most other countries, the battle is shaping up in Brazil, where the top four banks--Banco do Brasil, Caixa Economica Federal, Bradesco and Itau--command nearly $220 billion in combined assets, 62% of which is concentrated in the top two, state-owned Banco do Brazil and Caixa Economica Federal. How the big private banks--Bradesco, Banco Itau and Unibanco--respond to competition will shape the year ahead, and probably result in a few more headline deals before the smoke finally clears. Being big doesn't make you bulletproof Refers to extremely stable hardware and/or software that cannot be brought down no matter what unusual conditions arise. See industrial strength. bulletproof - Used of an algorithm or implementation considered extremely robust; lossage-resistant; capable of correctly , however. Banca Serfin slipped in assets 32% in 2000, while its loan portfolio slid 42% in the same period. J.P. Morgan posted the strongest asset growth in Mexico, but took a hit on loans in its Chile operations. The big winner, however, has been ABN-Amro Bank in Brazil, hopping from 38th to 14th rank on the LATIN TRADE Latin Trade is a monthly magazine covering global business in Latin America and the Caribbean. Similar to Forbes and Fortune Magazine in coverage, the magazine was founded in 1993 and now publishes 87,000 copies 1 each month in Spanish, Portuguese, and English. list on the strength of a 370% deposit surge that enabled the financial institution to push up both loan and assets by similarly impressive amounts. What's in the crystal ball? Mergers among smaller banks in big economies, or a feeding frenzy feed·ing frenzy n. 1. A period of intense or excited feeding, as by sharks. 2. Excited activity by a group, especially around a focal point: among the multinationals in Brazil as they look for the right grip on Brazil's enormous and technology-happy consumer market and lucrative business clients. WINNERS & LOSERS Latin America's top performing banks ASSETS (% CHANGE 99/00) J.P. Morgan, Mexico 240.8 ABN - Amro Bank, Brazil 153.3 Citibank, Brazil 118.0 Banco Sudameris Argentina 85.6 Primer Banco del Istmo, Panama 70.9 Banco Boavista International, -19.9 Brazil Banco Sud Americano, Chile -22.3 American Express Bank, Chile -28.3 Banca Serfin, Mexico -31.6 Banco Bandeirantes, Brazil -53.6 Note: Table made from bar graph LOANS (% CHANGE 99/00) Bank of America, Chile 500.0 ABN - Amro Bank, Brazil 463.2 Chase Manhattan Bank, Brazil 197.9 Citibank, Brazil 121.4 Lioyds TSB Bank, Brazil 104.5 Banco Santander Bozano, Brazil -35.4 Banco Boavista International, -39.2 Brazil Banca Serfin, Mexico -41.9 J.P. Morgan, Chile -44.6 Bancafe, Colombia -47.3 Note: Table made from bar graph DEPOSITS (% CHANGE 99/00) ABN - Amro Bank, Brazil 369.9 Banco Sudameris Argentina 93.8 BBVA Bancomer, Mexico 58.4 Primer Banco del Istmo, Panama 58.3 Banco Mercantil, Venezuela 57.2 Banco Santander Bozano, Brazil -39.6 HSBC Bank Brasil -50.9 J.P. Morgan, Chile -53.6 Banco Boavista International, -64.7 Brazil Bank Boston, Brazil -93.9 Note: Table made from bar graph |
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