Banco Central de la República Argentina, or BCRA, on March 8 ordered the restructuring of Banco Finansur SA and accepted an offer from Banco de Galicia y Buenos Aires SA to acquire the assets and assume privileged liabilities of the troubled local lender.
In an official statement, the central bank said it made the decision in order to safeguard Finansur's depositors and staff, noting it considered Banco Galicia's offer "the most efficient between the two offers received." BCRA did not disclose the amount of assets and liabilities involved in the transaction.
Under the agreement, Banco Galicia assumes responsibility of Banco Finansur's operations, including the management of its eight branches, customer attention and maintaining its staff, the central bank said.
The regulator estimates the restructuring process will entail a 150 million pesos payment from Argentina's deposit insurance fund, according to the statement. "The only deposits not included in this solution are those belonging to the shareholders of Banco Finansur S.A. and its related companies," BCRA said.
In January, Banco Galicia, whose parent company is Grupo Financiero Galicia SA, submitted a nonbinding offer for Finansur in a response to a call from the central bank. On March 7, a federal judge followed requests from regulators and lifted an asset freeze on Banco Finansur in order to facilitate the bank's sale and protect affected parties before a March 9 deadline.
According to a report by El Cronista, an unnamed investment fund from either the U.S. or the U.K. also made an offer to buy the troubled bank.
March 9 was the deadline for the final suspension of the financial entity, which the central bank has imposed since November 2017 after the bank failed to meet an agreed-upon deadline for its recapitalization plan. BCRA's focus was to find a buyer before the deadline to protect the bank's depositors and staff in the face of its collapse.
Banco Finansur was put up for sale following a tax evasion investigation into one of its owners, Cristóbal López.
As of March 7, US$1 was equivalent to 20.38 Argentine pesos.
