BBVA Banco Francés

BBVA Banco Francés S.A.
Sociedad Anónima
Traded as BCBA: FRAN
NYSE: BFR
BMAD: XBRF
Industry Financial Services
Founded 1886 (1886)
Headquarters Buenos Aires, Argentina
Key people
Jorge Carlos Bledel (CEO)
Products Banking, Insurance
Revenue Increase US$1.3 billion (2013) [1]
Increase US$586 million (2013)[1]
Total assets Increase US$9.1 billion (12/2013)[1]
Number of employees
5,200
Parent Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria
Website bbvafrances.com.ar

BBVA Banco Francés is a financial institution in Argentina.

History

Headquarters in Buenos Aires (1926).

Founded on October 14, 1886, in Buenos Aires as Banco Francés del Río de la Plata (English: French Bank of the River Plate), it is the oldest private bank in Argentina. Its Beaux-Arts headquarters, designed by Jorge Bunge, were inaugurated in 1926.

Morgan Guaranty Trust acquired a 50% share in the bank in 1968, though the New York-based bank sold most of these to Alpargatas, a leading local industrial firm, a decade later.[2]

Despite the nation's economic woes during the 1980s, the Banco Francés expanded from 15 branches to 62 during the decade, and entered into a joint venture with Bankers Trust Company in 1986. Alpargatas sold its stake to local developer Eduardo Constantini in 1991, and entered into a second joint venture with Merrill Lynch in 1992.

In December 1996, Spain's Banco Bilbao Vizcaya, (now Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria) at the expense of the Argentine customers, acquired the 99.9% of the common shares of Otar S.R.L., which was a major shareholder of Sud América Inversiones S.A., and holder of over 30% of the capital of Banco Francés, hence the BBVA in its name.[2]

As of December 2013 BBVA was the fifth-largest bank in Argentina and the third-largest private one, with deposits of US$6.7 billion and a lending portfolio of US$5.4 billion a(a roughly 6% domestic share in both areas). It maintained 245 branches and almost 1,400 ATMs in Argentina, and employed around 5,200 staff.[3] The bank announced in 2013 it would relocate its headquarters to the Consultatio Tower, in the Catalinas Norte office park, upon the Tower's completion in 2015.[4]

References

  1. 1 2 3 "BBVA BANCO FRANCES SA-ADR (BFR:New York): Financial Statements". Businessweek. Retrieved 2014-11-15.
  2. 1 2 "Banco Francés: historia }" (PDF) (in Spanish). Retrieved 2012-07-07.
  3. "ABA Ranking" (xls). ABA Argentina.com. December 2013.
  4. "El BBVA Francés pagó $ 1.200 millones y se quedó con la nueva torre de Costantini". Cronista. 12 July 2013.

External links

Coordinates: 34°36′21″S 58°22′19.5″W / 34.60583°S 58.372083°W / -34.60583; -58.372083

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