Banco de Galicia y Buenos Aires SA on March 9 confirmed its acquisition of assets and privileged liabilities of Argentina's troubled lender Banco Finansur SA, following Banco Central de la República Argentina's decision to order the latter's restructuring.
In a regulatory filing, Banco Galicia said it would review the details of the transaction but did not disclose the amount of assets and liabilities.
Under the agreement, Banco Galicia will assume responsibility of Banco Finansur's operations, including the management of its eight branches, customer attention and maintaining its staff, the central bank said March 8.
The regulator estimates the restructuring process will entail a 150 million pesos payment from Argentina's deposit insurance fund.
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.
Banco Finansur was put up for sale following a tax evasion investigation into one of its owners, Cristóbal López.
As of March 8, US$1 was equivalent to 20.38 Argentine pesos.
