| Headline: Mexico Source: Euromoney Date: July 2001
Banacci Best debt house: JPMorgan Best equity house: Merrill Lynch Best M&A house: Citigroup/Salomon Smith Barney Grupo Financiero Banamex-Accival, or Banacci, was the best bank in Mexico even before it agreed to be acquired by Citigroup. It was certainly the largest, with 1,349 branches and more than $35 billion in assets. It is also very efficient, with return on equity of more than 20% for the past two years, notwithstanding that its capital adequacy ratio, at 15.4% (tiers one and two), is the highest in the Mexican banking system. It has a 27% market share in bank deposits, and a 31% market share in loans. Now, with Citibank’s Mexican assets being integrated into either Banamex, the banking part of Banacci, or Accival, the brokerage, the bank will get even stronger. What is more, Citi is determined to ensure that the brand grows north of the border as well, targeting the 30 million Hispanics in the US. The bank loan market is still small. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||