MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Bradesco, one of Brazil's top leading banks is leaving Argentina

“Argentina ceased to be an interesting market and there are no development possibilities for our activities”, point out bank managers.

Bradesco, Brazil's second-largest private bank is ceasing operations in Argentina. Mainly a commercial bank that works with corporations and foreign trade, Bradesco joins a long list of companies that stopped making business in Argentina and have left or are leaving.

Although the bank according to the Argentine bank employees union, refused to sell its client portfolio, or its license and thus ignored potentially interested parties, Bradesco requested its exit from Argentina over two months ago. “It's not an easy task but it has started and the decision is definitive. Argentina ceased to be an interesting market and there are no development possibilities for our activities”, point out bank managers.

Bradesco is one of the leading financial groups in Brazil with a solid performance since 1943, only behind Itaú Unibanco and Banco do Brasil, and also third in South America with US$ 308bn in assets, according to S&P ranking.

Bradesco Argentina took off in 2000 as a subsidiary of Bradesco Brasil aiming at Argentine and Brazilian corporations, and multinationals. At the time, “Argentina was the second strongest economy in South America and offered excellent business opportunities”, said its web in Buenos Aires. Currently, Bradesco is considered a “residual” bank given its low turnover.

Anyhow Bradesco's name in financial circles is impressive and joins other large corporations that have left or are in the process of abandoning Argentina, among which Chilean retail giant, Falabella, Latam Argentina, Walmart and the US pharmaceutics Eli Lilly.

The exodus is the result of a non-friendly atmosphere in Argentina which has also reflected in a drastic drop in foreign direct investment, with only US$ 4,100 million last year.