Mixed messages from Argentina

Does Banco Galicia’s acquisition of HSBC Argentina validate president Javier Milei or weaken him?

In mid March, when the market rumours that Banco Galicia was planning to buy HSBC Argentina became deafening, I called some senior bankers in Buenos Aires. They focused on the swift revival of Argentine banks’ M&A appetite under new president Javier Milei. The locals told me they thought that Galicia’s strategy made sense – adding scale to one of the country’s biggest banks – but that it was the timing that was the interesting variable: the swiftness of this risk-on signal was validation of a renewed confidence in the new administration.

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