HSBC Bank (Panama) S.A. was a subsidiary of
HSBC Holdings plc
HSBC Holdings plc is a British multinational universal bank and financial services holding company. It is the largest bank in Europe by total assets ahead of BNP Paribas, with US$2.953 trillion as of December 2021. In 2021, HSBC had $10.8 tril ...
headquartered in
Panama City
Panama City ( es, Ciudad de Panamá, links=no; ), also known as Panama (or Panamá in Spanish), is the capital and largest city of Panama. It has an urban population of 880,691, with over 1.5 million in its metropolitan area. The city is locat ...
, Panama. The bank provides
Personal banking
Retail banking, also known as consumer banking or personal banking, is the provision of services by a bank to the general public, rather than to companies, corporations or other banks, which are often described as wholesale banking. Banking servi ...
,
Corporate banking and
Treasury
A treasury is either
*A government department related to finance and taxation, a finance ministry.
*A place or location where treasure, such as currency or precious items are kept. These can be state or royal property, church treasure or in p ...
services to Panama. In 2013
Bancolombia Group acquired HSBC Panama and renamed it as
Banistmo.
History
The HSBC Group operated in Panama since 1972, when
The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation opened the representative office in Panama City that year. Approval to operate as a licensed banking institution in Panama City was granted in 1973 and in the
Colón Free Trade Zone
The Colón Free Trade Zone is a free port in Panama dedicated to re-exporting a wide variety of merchandise to Latin America and the Caribbean. It is located on the Caribbean coast, near the Atlantic entrance to the Panama Canal, in the province ...
in 1993.
HSBC Bank (Panama) was incorporated on 1999, consistent with the HSBC Group's strategy of creating the global brand, HSBC. In 2000, HSBC acquired the banking operations of
Chase Manhattan Bank in Panama. In 2005, HSBC acquired the group of companies trading under the brand name Financomer, which entered the personal lending market in Panama in 1986.
In November 2006, HSBC acquired
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 w ...
, the leading banking group in
Central America
Central America ( es, América Central or ) is a subregion of the Americas. Its boundaries are defined as bordering the United States to the north, Colombia to the south, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. ...
and gave HSBC access to new markets, with offices 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 ...
,
Costa Rica
Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central American region of North America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the no ...
,
El Salvador
El Salvador (; , meaning " The Saviour"), officially the Republic of El Salvador ( es, República de El Salvador), is a country in Central America. It is bordered on the northeast by Honduras, on the northwest by Guatemala, and on the south b ...
,
Honduras
Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. The republic of Honduras is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Oce ...
and
Nicaragua
Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Managua is the cou ...
. The merger of HSBC Bank (Panama) and Grupo Banistmo was successfully completed in 2007. But the subsidiary of Grupo Banistmo,
Primer Banco del Istmo
Banistmo is the largest bank in Panama and Central America. It was founded in 1984 as Primer Banco del Istmo before it became part of the HSBC Group following its former parent company, Grupo Banistmo's acquisition by HSBC in November 2006. It was ...
, was retained until it merged into HSBC Bank (Panama) in 2009.
Central America banking
Costa Rica
Banco HSBC (Costa Rica) S.A. operates around 40 branches throughout the major cities. HSBC entered Costa Rica in the summer of 2007; it was introduced under the promotional campaign "HSBC is the new name of BANEX". HSBC acquired Banex and has assumed operations in all of its branches.
Banco Nacional de Costa Rica
Banco Nacional de Costa Rica or BNCR is the largest commercial bank in Costa Rica and the second largest in Central America by assets.
It has a 49% stake in Banco de Costa Rica International Limited (BICSA), incorporated with the Republic of Panam ...
(BNCR) and BAC San Jose (Grupo BAC) is HSBC's largest competitor in the market.
Colombia
HSBC Colombia S.A. acquired as part of the purchase of Grupo Banistmo SA in 2006.
See also
*
Primer Banco del Istmo
Banistmo is the largest bank in Panama and Central America. It was founded in 1984 as Primer Banco del Istmo before it became part of the HSBC Group following its former parent company, Grupo Banistmo's acquisition by HSBC in November 2006. It was ...
External links
HSBC Bank (Panama) websiteHSBC Panama was sold to Bancolombia and operated under the name "Banistmo"List of Banks in Panama
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hsbc Bank Panama
Banks of Panama
Panama
Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Cos ...
Companies based in Panama City