It has not been on many people's radar screens but in the past five years the contribution of HSBC's banks in Latin America to the world's third biggest banking group's pre-tax profits has soared from 2.3% of the total in 2004 to "an annual average of 10% today", says Emilson Alonso, group managing director and head of HSBC Latin America since June 2008.
When viewed over a longer period, HSBC's expansion in Latin America is, if anything, even more striking. Starting with fewer than 10 offices a little over a decade ago, the UK-based bank now has a presence in 14 countries with 2500 branches (or 4000 distribution points if offices, sub-branches and other sales points are included), and 55,000 employees.
