Banco Itaú

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Banco Itaú it is a private-owned bank with its headquarters in São Paulo, Brazil. It is Brazil's 2nd major private bank, behind Banco Bradesco.

History

Banco Itau began in 1945 under the name Banco Central de Crédito, which later changed its name to Banco Federal de Crédito. In 1964, Itaú Holding merged Banco Federal de Crédito and Banco Itaú.

Later that decade, Banco Itau acquired Banco Sul Americano and Banco da América. In the 1970s, it merged with Banco Aliança, Banco Português do Brasil, and Banco União Comercial. At the end of the decade it opened its first branches abroad in New York and Buenos Aires. In the 1980s it acquired only one small bank, Banco Pinto de Magalhães, however, since then it has acquired BFP - Banco Francês e Brasileiro (1995) and several privatized former state banks:

Banerj (Rio de Janeiro) (1997),
BEMGE (Minas Gerais) (1998),
Banestado (Paraná) (2000),
BEG (Goiás) (2001)

In 1994 it expanded its international operations by founding Banco Itaú Europa, Itaú Argentina and Itaú Bank (Cayman). In 1997 it acquired Bamerindus Luxembourg, which is now Banco Itaú Europa Luxembourg. When it acquired Banco Del Buen Ayre in Argentina in 1998, it subsequently incorporated it into Itaú Argentina, now known as Itaú Buen Ayre.

Banco Itaú has also established a number of alliances. In 1996, it and Bankers Trust, New York, created Itaú Bankers Trust Banco de Investimento, the present Itauvest Banco de Investimento. Itaú also has an important stake in Banco BPI, one of Portugal's largest banks. In 2002, Banco Itaú joined with Banco BBA-Creditanstalt S.A. (BBA) to create, in 2003, Banco Itaú-BBA, the largest wholesale bank in Brazil.

In April 2006, Itaú purchased the Brazilian operations of BankBoston, a subsidiary that Bank of America acquired with its purchase of FleetBoston. This will increase Itaú's clients by 300,000 and assets by R$22 billion. Itaú also received exclusive rights to purchase BankBoston's operations in Chile and Uruguay. In return, Bank of America has taken about a 6% stake in Itaú. Banco Boston do Brazil had been founded in 1947. With the purchase, the BankBoston name will disappear from Brazil as BankAmerica has retained the rights to the name.

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