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Colombian banks rise in Latam rankings

Brazilian banks still dominate the top four positions in The Banker's Latin American ranking, but Colombia's lenders have made significant headway, with three of the country's banks moving up the top 20 Latin America ranking, including Banco de Bogotá, which climbed five places to fifth.
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Latin America

Going from strength to strength over the past years, Brazilian banking giants Itaú Unibanco, Banco do Brasil, Bradesco and Caixa Economica Federal continue to dominate Latin America’s banking landscape. The Brazilian lenders occupy the top four positions in The Banker’s ranking of Latin American players, with $38.18bn, $32.33bn, $31.31bn and $11.45bn of Tier 1 capital, respectively.

While Brazil's dominance at the top of the table remains unchallenged, the most noticeable change in the regional ranking comes from Colombia's banks. Much improved Tier 1 capital levels have pushed Banco de Bogotá to fifth position, from 10th in 2011, while Bancolombia gained one place and now occupies sixth position. Another of the country's banks, Banco Davivienda, also climbed up the list and ranks 14th, a four-place jump from its previous 18th position. The lender may continue its upward trend in next year’s ranking thanks to its acquisition of HSBC’s assets in Costa Rica, El Salvador and Honduras earlier in 2012.

Banco de Bogotá acquired Central American credit card leader BAC Credomatic in 2010, and the lender’s latest financial results incorporate the new business. Its 2011 Tier 1 capital jumped to $3.69bn, an improvement of 63.42% from the previous year and the highest Tier 1 capital change in the region. Banco Davivienda recorded the second largest increase in Tier 1 capital, with its $1.97bn of Tier 1 capital representing a 45.08% increase.

The third largest increase in Tier 1 was recorded by Peru’s Interbank, which expanded its Tier 1 capital to $675m, 33.79% higher than the previous year. Peru’s largest bank, Banco de Credito del Peru (BCP), also fared well in this year's regional ranking, moving from 17th to 15th place. BCP has also had a lively expansion strategy recently. It acquired Chile’s investment bank IM Trust earlier this year, and Colombia’s Correval at the end of 2011.

Another name to watch is Chile’s CorpBanca, currently in 18th place. Earlier this year the lender bought the Colombian operations of Spain’s Santander – the assets of which were not included in The Banker's regional ranking because they belong to a group headquartered outside of Latin America.

Mexico’s Inbursa and Banorte continue to be successful franchises in their home market and sit within the Latin American top 10. They have, however, failed to increase their Tier 1 capital and have therefore lost some ground to other banks in the region.

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Silvia Pavoni is editor in chief of The Banker. Silvia also serves as an advisory board member for the Women of the Future Programme and for the European Risk Management Council, and is part of the London council of non-profit WILL, Women in Leadership in Latin America. In 2019, she was awarded an honorary fellowship by City University of London.
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