Panama's banks hold their lead as the biggest banks by Tier 1 capital in Central America.
HSBC remains the leader of The Banker’s Central American rankings with a Tier 1 capital up by 8.38% to $1.23bn in 2011, the last available financial year. However, its lead is reducing as the bank sold operations in Costa Rica, El Salvador and Honduras to Colombia’s Banco Davivienda in 2012 and, this February, its much larger business in Panama to Bancolombia, marking the international lender’s exit from Central America.
Second place in the ranking is Panama’s Banco General, with $1.12bn in Tier 1 capital. All top five lenders, in fact, have retained their positions from the previous ranking, and all are based in Panama. With an estimated gross domestic product growth of 10% last year, according to the government, the highest in the whole of Latin America, it is no wonder that Panama’s banks remain the undisputed leaders in this ranking.
To see the ratio tables in the Central American banks ranking, see the full story Top 100 Central American banks: Panama maintains its lead.
