Spanish retail and commercial bank Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria SA (BBVA) will invest 25 billion pesos, equivalent to USD 13.3 million, into starting a Colombian leasing operation this year and plans to open the country’s first microcredit bank during Q3.
BBVA Colombia chairman Oscar Cabrera made the announcement of a 282 billion peso (USD 149.6 million) investment for 2008 to expand the bank’s physical presence in the country. This essentially doubles the bank’s Colombia investments from last year. The plan includes opening 18 new branches and increasing the number of ATMs.
The microcredit operation will be launched in conjunction with BBVA’s nonprofit microfinance arm, Fundación BBVA para las Microfinanzas. The foundation began operations last year with a 200 million euro (USD 259.9 million) endowment, as previously reported by MicroCapital.
MicroCapital also reported that BBVA started a microfinance hedge fund, BBVA Codespa Microfinanzas, last year.
The BBVA Group is the second-largest bank in Spain and Latin America, having last reported assets of 502.2 billion euros (p. 4), equivalent to USD 739.7 billion. It was founded in 1999 with the merger of two Spanish banks.
By Stephen Son
Additional Resources:
Oanda: FX Converter
BBVA: Financial Information
Business News Americas: “BBVA unit to invest US$148mn this year – Colombia”
Bloomberg: “BBVA to Double Colombia Investment, Enter Leasing, Cabrera Says”
International Herald-Tribune: “The Spanish bank BBVA seeks to persuade investors it is on the right track”
MicroCapital.org article, February 27, 2007: “Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria SA (BBVA) Invests USD 259.94 mn in Latin American Microfinance Institutions Caja Nor, Caja Sur, Corporacion Mundial de la Mujer and Medellin”
MicroCapital.org article, January 10, 2007: “BBVA Launches a Microfinance Hedge Fund Advised by Blue Orchard and Fundacion Codespa”
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