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| Regional Awards for Excellence 2013: Latin America | |
| Latin American winners by country Argentina Bolivia Brazil Chile Colombia Ecuador Mexico Paraguay Peru Uruguay Venezuela |
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Best Bank: Banco Santander Río |
| Following Santander Mexico’s IPO in 2012, the Spanish bank’s Argentine subsidiary is the next Latin American asset in line to tap the capital markets. There might be a long wait, however, as Banco Santander Río’s operating environment is far from conducive to the sort of market valuation that Santander will want to get for its excellent bank. Argentina’s GDP growth fell sharply in 2012, reaching an estimated 2.6%, following much stronger growth in 2011 (8.9%) and 2010 (9.2%). The government’s unorthodox economic policy and interventionist approach is having an effect on inflation, growth and the president’s popularity, but no deviation from the established economic approach appears forthcoming. Against this difficult macroeconomic backdrop, Santander Río managed to grow revenues by 20% and increased net profit by 5%. The bank is now the leader in market share in total loans (8.8%, | |