History
The HSBC Group has been operating 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 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, the leading banking group in Central America and gave HSBC access to new markets, with offices in Colombia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua. The merger of HSBC Bank (Panama) and Grupo Banistmo was successfully completed in 2007. But the subsidiary of Grupo Banistmo, Primer Banco del Istmo, was retained until it mergered into HSBC Bank (Panama) in 2009.
HSBC Bank (Panama) of today is the biggest bank in Panama as measured by deposits.
Read more about this topic: HSBC Bank (Panama)
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