HSBC El Salvador, SA
Encyclopedia
Banco HSBC Salvadoreño, S.A., established in 1885, is the third largest bank in the country. It has some 65 branches, 1,800 employees and $1.5 billion in assets.
under the name Banco Salvadoreño (Bancosal). The bank came to an agreement with Banco Internacional de El Salvador, which had a 25-year monopoly on note issuance, so that it too could issue notes. The government of El Salvador nationalized the bank in 1980 as part of a blanket nationalization of financial institutions, but privatized the bank in 1993.
In November 2006, HSBC acquired Grupo Banistmo
(Banistmo), a Panama
nian banking group that owned Panama's leading bank, Primer Banco del Istmo
, and 106 other branches in Costa Rica
, Honduras
, Colombia
and Nicaragua
, as well as 56.2% of the holding company that owned Bancosal. The next year, HSBC extended two tender offers to acquire the remaining shares in the bank. The bank changed its name to Banco HSBC Salvadoreño and then to HSBC El Salvador.
History
In 1891, the bank, merged with the branch there of London Bank of Central AmericaAnglo-South American Bank
The Anglo-South American Bank was a British and Argentine bank established with the acquisition of the Anglo-Argentine Bank in 1900 by the Bank of Tarapacá and London...
under the name Banco Salvadoreño (Bancosal). The bank came to an agreement with Banco Internacional de El Salvador, which had a 25-year monopoly on note issuance, so that it too could issue notes. The government of El Salvador nationalized the bank in 1980 as part of a blanket nationalization of financial institutions, but privatized the bank in 1993.
In November 2006, HSBC acquired Grupo Banistmo
Grupo Banistmo
Grupo Banistmo was a Panamanian financial services company, and the largest in Central America. It was founded in 1984. In 1999 it began an expansion strategy that has resulted in the acquisition of banks in several Central American countries, as well as Colombia and the Bahamas. It was the...
(Banistmo), a Panama
Panama
Panama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The...
nian banking group that owned Panama's leading bank, Primer Banco del Istmo
Primer Banco del Istmo
Primer Banco del Istmo trading as Banistmo or Banco Del Istmo is the largest bank in Panama and Central America, it is part of the HSBC Group following its former parent company, Grupo Banistmo’s acquisition by HSBC in November 2006. It was the subsidiary of HSBC Bank S.A...
, and 106 other branches in Costa Rica
Costa Rica
Costa Rica , officially the Republic of Costa Rica is a multilingual, multiethnic and multicultural country in Central America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, Panama to the southeast, the Pacific Ocean to the west and the Caribbean Sea to the east....
, Honduras
Honduras
Honduras is a republic in Central America. It was previously known as Spanish Honduras to differentiate it from British Honduras, which became the modern-day state of Belize...
, 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...
and Nicaragua
Nicaragua
Nicaragua is the largest country in the Central American American isthmus, bordered by Honduras to the north and Costa Rica to the south. The country is situated between 11 and 14 degrees north of the Equator in the Northern Hemisphere, which places it entirely within the tropics. The Pacific Ocean...
, as well as 56.2% of the holding company that owned Bancosal. The next year, HSBC extended two tender offers to acquire the remaining shares in the bank. The bank changed its name to Banco HSBC Salvadoreño and then to HSBC El Salvador.