Banamex – Citi’s Latin American super-model

During the 2008 crisis, when Citigroup was accepting its bailout from the US government there were rumours circulating around Latin America that the bank would be forced, for either regulatory or capital-raising reasons, to sell Banamex. Itaú Unibanco was one of the banks most often put forward as lining up to take Citi’s Mexican franchise off its hands.

That crisis passed and Banamex remains part of Citi. “There were all sorts of rumours during the crisis,” says Javier Arringunaga, chief executive of Banamex and Citi’s chief administrative officer for Latin America, refusing to confirm or deny any specific speculation. “But Citi always made it absolutely clear that it had no intentions of selling Banamex. Ten years ago Banamex contributed approximately 5% of Citi’s net income, whereas today it’s more than 10%.”

Banamex reported a net income of Ps5 billion ($401.5

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