Banco Macro is the second largest domestically-owned private bank in

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

, and the sixth-largest by deposits and lending.

Overview

Banco Macro began operations as ''Financiera Macro'', a

brokerage A broker is a person or firm who arranges transactions between a buyer and a seller for a commission when the deal is executed. A broker who also acts as a seller or as a buyer becomes a principal party to the deal. Neither role should be con ...

specializing in arbitrage founded by Mario Brodersohn, José Dagnino Pastore and Alieto Guadagni, in 1976. The institution was purchased by a competing

arbitrageur In economics and finance, arbitrage (, ) is the practice of taking advantage of a difference in prices in two or more markets; striking a combination of matching deals to capitalise on the difference, the profit being the difference between t ...

, Jorge Brito, in 1985.''Perfil'': Reportage a Jorge Brito
Granted authorization to operate as a

commercial bank A commercial bank is a financial institution which accepts deposits from the public and gives loans for the purposes of consumption and investment to make profit. It can also refer to a bank, or a division of a large bank, which deals with co ...

by the Central Bank of Argentina in 1988, Banco Macro operated as a wholesale bank until 1995, becoming a pioneer in the Argentine

corporate bonds A corporate bond is a bond issued by a corporation in order to raise financing for a variety of reasons such as to ongoing operations, M&A, or to expand business. The term is usually applied to longer-term debt instruments, with maturity of ...

market. During this interim. its business revolved around

money market The money market is a component of the economy that provides short-term funds. The money market deals in short-term loans, generally for a period of a year or less. As short-term securities became a commodity, the money market became a compon ...

investments, trading of government and corporate bonds and financial services for medium and larger companies. Macro acquired capital stock in numerous privatized provincial banks during 1996: Banco

Misiones Misiones (, ''Missions'') is one of the 23 provinces of Argentina, located in the northeastern corner of the country in the Mesopotamia region. It is surrounded by Paraguay to the northwest, Brazil to the north, east and south, and Corrientes P ...

(93%), Banco

Salta Salta () is the capital and largest city in the Argentine province of the same name. With a population of 618,375 according to the 2010 census, it is also the 7th most-populous city in Argentina. The city serves as the cultural and economic ce ...

(98%) and Banco

Jujuy San Salvador de Jujuy (), commonly known as Jujuy and locally often referred to as San Salvador, is the capital and largest city of Jujuy Province in northwest Argentina. Also, it is the seat of the Doctor Manuel Belgrano Department. It lies near ...

(100%). It later acquired Banco Noroeste C.L. and participated in the restructuring of a number of struggling, private-sector and cooperative banks: Almafuerte Coop. Ltdo., Mayo S.A., Israelita de Córdoba S.A. and Mendoza S.A. (increasing its presence in the northern and central areas of Argentina). Macro purchased 60% of Banco Bansud in December 2001. This entity was a leader private bank in the southern part of Argentina, with significant background in its area of influence and a large branch network; but it had been adversely affected by that year's economic and financial crisis. Following the August 2002 purchase of Scotiabank Quilmes, Macro acquired the remaining shares of Banco Bansud and, in December 2004, it acquired Nuevo Banco Suquía S.A. - becoming the third-ranking private Argentine bank in terms of net assets, the fourth in terms of deposits and the fifth in terms of credit outstanding to the private sector. Macro acquired Banco Empresario del Tucumán and Banco del Tucumán, in 2005. These two institutions were made a part of the Macro Group, maintaining Banco del Tucumán as financial agent for the province and incorporating the acquired bank's branches. Macro then acquired Nuevo Banco Bisel S.A., in 2006. Bisel's acquisition made Macro the largest private, domestically-owned bank in Argentina, with around 7,900 employees and 440 branches,. In March, 2006, the bank changed its corporate name from Macro Bansud to Macro, and was listed in the

New York Stock Exchange The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE, nicknamed "The Big Board") is an American stock exchange in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is by far the world's largest stock exchange by market capitalization of its listed ...

(NYSE), becoming the first Argentine company to be listed abroad since 1997. The merger with Nuevo Banco Suquía S.A. was completed in 2007. This further advanced Macro's presence in the interior provinces of Argentina, adding over 250 branches. Macro is the only Argentine bank to have enjoyed 28 consecutive quarters of net profit as of early 2009; in 2008, it earned a net, pre-tax income of US$288 million. The bank's credit outstanding totalled over US$3 billion in March 2009 and its deposits, over US$4.8 billion (making it the fifth-largest in Argentina).

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Banco Macro Companies based in Buenos Aires Companies listed on the Buenos Aires Stock Exchange Companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange Banks of Argentina Banks established in 1976 1976 establishments in Argentina Argentine brands