Corficolombiana
Encyclopedia
FINANCIAL
FINANCIAL is the weekly English-language newspaper with offices in Tbilisi, Georgia and Kiev, Ukraine. Published by Intelligence Group LLC, FINANCIAL is focused on opinion leaders and top business decision-makers; It's about world’s largest companies, investing, careers, and small business. It is...
solutions, with its customers being some of the largest corporations in Colombia
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
. Its primary mission is to provide the necessary capital
Capital (economics)
In economics, capital, capital goods, or real capital refers to already-produced durable goods used in production of goods or services. The capital goods are not significantly consumed, though they may depreciate in the production process...
to promote the creation, growth, reorganisation, merger and expansion of any type of business.
History of Corficolombiana
Headquartered in BogotáBogotá
Bogotá, Distrito Capital , from 1991 to 2000 called Santa Fé de Bogotá, is the capital, and largest city, of Colombia. It is also designated by the national constitution as the capital of the department of Cundinamarca, even though the city of Bogotá now comprises an independent Capital district...
, Corficolombiana was the first Colombia
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
n financial institution. Founded in 1959, it has continued to grow and now offers a wide range of financial services. It has nine offices in Bogotá, and five regional offices located in Cali
Calì
Calì, also written in English as Cali, is an Italian surname, widespread mainly in the Ionian side of Sicily.For the surname Calì is assumed the origin of the Greek word kalos , or from its Sanskrit root kali, "time."The surname refers to:...
, Medellín
Medellín
Medellín , officially the Municipio de Medellín or Municipality of Medellín, is the second largest city in Colombia. It is in the Aburrá Valley, one of the more northerly of the Andes in South America. It has a population of 2.3 million...
, Bucaramanga
Bucaramanga
Bucaramanga is a Colombian city, and capital city of the department of Santander, Colombia. Bucaramanga has the fifth largest city economy and sixth largest population in Colombia, with 1,212,656 people in its metropolitan area...
, Barranquilla
Barranquilla
Barranquilla is an industrial port city and municipality located in northern Colombia, near the Caribbean Sea. The capital of the Atlántico Department, it is the largest industrial city and port in the Colombian Caribbean region with a population of 1,148,506 as of 2005, which makes it Colombia's...
and Santa Fe de Bogotá.
Corficolombiana offers three specialized services: credit
Credit (finance)
Credit is the trust which allows one party to provide resources to another party where that second party does not reimburse the first party immediately , but instead arranges either to repay or return those resources at a later date. The resources provided may be financial Credit is the trust...
, investments and financial intermediation, offering its clients a consultant's office, financing, investment, security and yield optimization.
In 1999, Corficolombiana merged with three other financial corporations, La Corporación Financiera de los Andes (Financial Corporation of the Andes), La Corporación Financiera Santander (Santander Financial Corporation) and Indufinanciera. The purpose of the merger was to pool resources and to create an efficient financial infrastructure.
Between 1999 and 2000, Corficolombiana received capitalization
Capitalization
Capitalization is writing a word with its first letter as a majuscule and the remaining letters in minuscules . This of course only applies to those writing systems which have a case distinction...
of more than 130 billion pesos
Colombian peso
The peso is the currency of Colombia. Its ISO 4217 code is COP and it is also informally abbreviated as COL$. However, the official peso symbol is $. As 20 July 2011, the exchange rate of the Colombian peso is 1750 Colombian pesos to 1 U.S. dollar.-History:The peso has been the currency of Colombia...
, allowing the company to continue in its financial endeavours.
Corficolombiana S.A. belongs to Grupo Aval, one of the largest economic organizations in Colombia
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
, with investments in diverse sectors of the economy
Economy
An economy consists of the economic system of a country or other area; the labor, capital and land resources; and the manufacturing, trade, distribution, and consumption of goods and services of that area...
.
By late 2005 Corficolombiana S.A. initiated a merger with La Corporacion Financiera del Valle (Corfivalle).
History of Corfivalle
Corfivalle (La Corporación Financiera del Valle) began on April 27, 1961, when more than one hundred investors met at the Cali Chamber of CommerceChamber of commerce
A chamber of commerce is a form of business network, e.g., a local organization of businesses whose goal is to further the interests of businesses. Business owners in towns and cities form these local societies to advocate on behalf of the business community...
and signed Articles of Incorporation
Articles of Incorporation
The Articles of Incorporation are the primary rules governing the management of a corporation in the United States and Canada, and are filed with a state or other regulatory agency.An equivalent term for LLCs in the United States is the Articles of Organization...
. The articles were approved October 2, 1961, by the Office of Banking Supervision. On November 27, the Articles of Incorporation were released to the public and the corporation opened its doors to business that same day, having a supervisor and nine employees on the payroll, with offices in Cali and Bogotá. Also in 1961, Corfivalle opened its International Department, and received its first Letter of Credit
Letter of credit
A standard, commercial letter of credit is a document issued mostly by a financial institution, used primarily in trade finance, which usually provides an irrevocable payment undertaking....
from a foreign bank in order to finance the purchase of new equipment.
In 1980, the Colombian government released its control on interest rates, leading to a significant business boom. 1981, Corfivalle looked to create within the financial system a new type of financial interest involved in the robust capital market, as well as the acquisition of resources necessary to assure the development of the most productive sectors of the economy.
By 1982, Corfivalle specialized in offering credits for the repayment of a contract
Contract
A contract is an agreement entered into by two parties or more with the intention of creating a legal obligation, which may have elements in writing. Contracts can be made orally. The remedy for breach of contract can be "damages" or compensation of money. In equity, the remedy can be specific...
at a discount and in promoting projects financed within the guidelines of the World Bank
World Bank
The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans to developing countries for capital programmes.The World Bank's official goal is the reduction of poverty...
.
In 1984, Corfivalle opened an office in Medellín
Medellín
Medellín , officially the Municipio de Medellín or Municipality of Medellín, is the second largest city in Colombia. It is in the Aburrá Valley, one of the more northerly of the Andes in South America. It has a population of 2.3 million...
, and a second office in Bogotá.
In 1985, the International Finance Corporation
International Finance Corporation
The International Finance Corporation promotes sustainable private sector investment in developing countries.IFC is a member of the World Bank Group and is headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States....
extended credit, underwritten by the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, of $6 million to Corfivalle, having a term of 8 years with a 5 year grace period
Grace period
A grace period is a time past the deadline for an obligation during which a late penalty that would have been imposed is waived. Grace periods, which can range from a number of minutes to a number of days or longer, depending on the context, can apply in various situations, including arrival at a...
.
In 1992, the Apex Holding Company was created to for participation in the stock market
Stock market
A stock market or equity market is a public entity for the trading of company stock and derivatives at an agreed price; these are securities listed on a stock exchange as well as those only traded privately.The size of the world stock market was estimated at about $36.6 trillion...
. This company included the IFC
International Finance Corporation
The International Finance Corporation promotes sustainable private sector investment in developing countries.IFC is a member of the World Bank Group and is headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States....
of the World Bank, and the Mexican Stock Market, each with 20% of the shares, while Corfivalle maintained 60%.
In 1994, Cofivalle Finance Bahamas Limited was established. This allowed Corfaville to expand its business and to remain one of Colombia's key financial institutions.
Since 2006, Corfivalle is a trademark of Corficolombiana S.A.
External links
- Corficolombiana official website (Spanish)