HSBC’s $1.77 billion purchase of Banistmo, central America’s leading banking group, has cast a bright light on a region that for decades was considered a financial backwater. A free-trade agreement with the US, almost $10 billion in annual remittance flows and a move away from coffee towards more sophisticated exports means central America is now one of the richest pickings in Latin America for banking acquisitions.
That has also been underscored by Scotiabank’s move into El Salvador and Costa Rica this year.
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