Much of the credit lies with Manuel Medina-Mora, the 30-year Banamex veteran who led the bank’s 1991 privatisation and steered it through the 1994-5 Mexican crisis to emerge as the most powerful bank in the country.
“We were able to form a team of the best people, the best practices, the best business models of the two banks – Citi Mexico and Banamex,” Mr Medina-Mora says of the merger. The integration of the two platforms took place in record time: less than three months, he adds. He was duly rewarded: in 2004, after a string of less successful appointments, Citi chose Mr Medina-Mora to be chairman and CEO of Citigroup for all of Latin America, making him not only the most powerful banker in Mexico, but also, arguably, in the entire region.
He now spends his time commuting between Banamex in Mexico City and Miami, where Citi’s Latin America headquarters are based. Results have not disappointed: net income for the region has increased by about 50% in the past three years and now represents 13%-14% of Citigroup’s total group earnings. “It has become a very important region for Citi,” Mr Medina-Mora says.
Challenges ahead include accessing new markets, both in Mexico and regionally, beyond Banamex’s home market. “The growth potential is substantial over the next few years, but at the same time competition has intensified,” Mr Medina-Mora warns.
