The frenzy of activity in the central American banking sector between 2005 and 2007 - when the area's main economies of El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama experienced high economic growth - seems like a distant memory. Banks' attitudes towards the region are now much more subdued.
An example of this pared down thinking is Scotiabank, which owns the largest private bank in Costa Rica, formerly Banco Interfin, and now rebranded. The acquisition in 2006 established Scotiabank as the fourth biggest banking group in central America by assets, but the bank's Canadian owners have already faced two hurdles in the central American country, says Luis Liberman, CEO of Scotiabank Costa Rica.
