The Banker sought to measure the trend of cross-border expansion into Latin America and has looked at the total assets of banks’ foreign subsidiaries in Latin America – irrespective of where the bank is headquartered, be it North America, Europe, Asia or Latin America.
As can be seen in chart one, Spanish banks have the strongest presence across Latin America. Currently, the 16 Spanish-owned subsidiaries in the region have aggregate assets of $494.5bn. Spain-based Santander is by far the largest foreign bank present in the region, with total assets of $329.6bn in Latin America.
Of the top 10 banking groups by foreign subsidiary assets, only three are Latin American, two of which are based in Colombia and one in Brazil. Colombia's Banco de Bogotá and Bancolombia have $16.7bn and $11bn of foreign subsidiary assets in Latin America, respectively. This gives them the eighth and 10th largest foreign-owned subsidiary networks in Latin America, respectively. Brazil-based Itaú Unibanco Holding has the ninth largest foreign-owned subsidiary presence in the region, with $14.7bn of assets.
Colombian banks have the sixth strongest presence in Latin America, with aggregate assets of $31.6bn. Brazil is eighth on the list, with its banks owning nine foreign subsidiaries in Latin America, with aggregate assets of $19.7bn.
