Corficolombiana is a Colombian company dealing in

financial Finance is the study and discipline of money, currency and capital assets. It is related to, but not synonymous with economics, the study of production, distribution, and consumption of money, assets, goods and services (the discipline of fina ...

solutions, with its customers being some of the largest corporations in

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

. Its primary mission is to provide the necessary

capital Capital may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** List of national capital cities * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Economics and social sciences * Capital (economics), the durable produced goods used f ...

to promote the creation, growth, reorganisation, merger and expansion of any type of business.

History of Corficolombiana

Headquartered in

Bogotá Bogotá (, also , , ), officially Bogotá, Distrito Capital, abbreviated Bogotá, D.C., and formerly known as Santa Fe de Bogotá (; ) during the Spanish period and between 1991 and 2000, is the capital city of Colombia, and one of the larges ...

, Corficolombiana was the first

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 Santiago de Cali (), or Cali, is the capital of the Valle del Cauca department, and the most populous city in southwest Colombia, with 2,227,642 residents according to the 2018 census. The city spans with of urban area, making Cali the second ...

Medellín Medellín ( or ), officially the Municipality of Medellín ( es, Municipio de Medellín), is the second-largest city in Colombia, after Bogotá, and the capital of the department of Antioquia. It is located in the Aburrá Valley, a central re ...

Bucaramanga Bucaramanga () is the capital and largest city of the department of Santander, Colombia. Bucaramanga has the fifth-largest economy by GDP in Colombia, has the lowest unemployment rate and has the ninth-largest population in the country, with 68 ...

Barranquilla Barranquilla () is the capital district of Atlántico Department in Colombia. It is located near the Caribbean Sea and is the largest city and third port in the Caribbean Coast region; as of 2018 it had a population of 1,206,319, making it Col ...

and

Santa Fe de Bogotá Santa Claus, also known as Father Christmas, Saint Nicholas, Saint Nick, Kris Kringle, or simply Santa, is a legendary figure originating in Western Christian culture who is said to bring children gifts during the late evening and overnight ...

. Corficolombiana offers three specialized services:

credit Credit (from Latin verb ''credit'', meaning "one believes") is the trust which allows one party to provide money or resources to another party wherein the second party does not reimburse the first party immediately (thereby generating a debt), ...

, 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 A corporation is an organization—usually a group of people or a company—authorized by the state to act as a single entity (a legal entity recognized by private and public law "born out of statute"; a legal person in legal context) and r ...

, 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 (American English) or capitalisation (British English) is writing a word with its first letter as a capital letter (uppercase letter) and the remaining letters in lower case, in writing systems with a case distinction. The term a ...

of more than 130 billion

pesos The peso is the monetary unit of several countries in the Americas, and the Philippines. Originating in the Spanish Empire, the word translates to "weight". In most countries the peso uses the same sign, "$", as many currencies named "dollar" ...

, allowing the company to continue in its financial endeavours. Corficolombiana S.A. belongs to

Grupo Aval Grupo Aval is a Colombian holding company engaged in a wide variety of financial activities, including banking, telecommunications and real estate; in Colombia and Central America. Grupo Aval is controlled by Luis Carlos Sarmiento (estimated net ...

, one of the largest economic organizations in

, with

investments Investment is the dedication of money to purchase of an asset to attain an increase in value over a period of time. Investment requires a sacrifice of some present asset, such as time, money, or effort. In finance, the purpose of investing is ...

in diverse sectors of the

economy An economy is an area of the production, distribution and trade, as well as consumption of goods and services. In general, it is defined as a social domain that emphasize the practices, discourses, and material expressions associated with the ...

. By late 2005 Corficolombiana S.A. initiated a

merger Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are business transactions in which the ownership of companies, other business organizations, or their operating units are transferred to or consolidated with another company or business organization. As an aspect ...

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 Commerce A chamber of commerce, or board of trade, is a form of business network. For example, 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 ad ...

and signed

Articles of Incorporation Article often refers to: * Article (grammar), a grammatical element used to indicate definiteness or indefiniteness * Article (publishing), a piece of nonfictional prose that is an independent part of a publication Article may also refer to: G ...

. 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 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 A letter of credit (LC), also known as a documentary credit or bankers commercial credit, or letter of undertaking (LoU), is a payment mechanism used in international trade to provide an economic guarantee from a creditworthy bank to an exp ...

from a foreign bank in order to finance the purchase of new equipment. In 1980, the Colombian government released its control on

interest rates An interest rate is the amount of interest due per period, as a proportion of the amount lent, deposited, or borrowed (called the principal sum). The total interest on an amount lent or borrowed depends on the principal sum, the interest rate, th ...

, 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 A contract is a legally enforceable agreement between two or more parties that creates, defines, and governs mutual rights and obligations between them. A contract typically involves the transfer of goods, services, money, or a promise to tran ...

at a discount and in promoting projects financed within the guidelines of the

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and grants to the governments of low- and middle-income countries for the purpose of pursuing capital projects. The World Bank is the collective name for the Interna ...

. In 1984, Corfivalle opened an office in

, and a second office in Bogotá. In 1985, the

International Finance Corporation The International Finance Corporation (IFC) is an international financial institution that offers investment, advisory, and asset-management services to encourage private-sector development in less developed countries. The IFC is a member of t ...

extended credit, underwritten by the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, of $6 million to Corfivalle, having a term of 8 years with a 5 year

grace period A grace period is a period immediately after the deadline for an obligation during which a late fee, or other action that would have been taken as a result of failing to meet the deadline, is waived provided that the obligation is satisfied durin ...

. In 1992, the Apex Holding Company was created to for participation in the

stock market A stock market, equity market, or share market is the aggregation of buyers and sellers of stocks (also called shares), which represent ownership claims on businesses; these may include ''securities'' listed on a public stock exchange, as ...

. This company included the IFC of the World Bank, and the Mexican Stock Market, each with 20% of the shares, while Corfivalle maintained 60%. In 1994, Cofivalle Finance

Bahamas The Bahamas (), officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the West Indies in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic. It takes up 97% of the Lucayan Archipelago's land area and is home to ...

Limited was established. This allowed Corfaville to expand its business and to remain one of Colombia's key financial institutions. In 2005 Corfivalle purchased Corficolombiana, but was not the nominal successor. Since 2006, Corfivalle is a trademark of Corficolombiana S.A.

Gallery

Image:Bogotaview.jpg, Corficolombiana building in Bogotá downtown Image:Corp2.gif, Current Corficolombiana headquarters building

References

External links

* (Spanish) {{IGBC Colombia companies Companies listed on the Colombia Stock Exchange Financial services companies of Colombia Financial services companies established in 1959 Companies based in Bogotá 1959 establishments in Colombia