Banco Itaú

Itaú Unibanco Banco Multiplo S.A
Type	Public (BM&F Bovespa: ITAUB3, ITAUB4 / NYSE: ITUB)
Founded	2008
Headquarters	São Paulo, Brazil
Key people	Roberto Egydio Setubal (CEO); José Carlos Moraes Abreu (Chairman)
Industry	Finance and Insurance
Products	Banking
Revenue	▲R$ 64.7 billion (2008)
Net income	R$ 7.8 billions
Total assets	R$ 632.7 Billion (2008)
Employees	104,000
Parent	Itaú Unibanco
Website	www.itau.com.br

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Itaú Unibanco (BM&F Bovespa: ITAUB3, ITAUB4 / NYSE: ITUB) is a publicly quoted bank with headquarters in São Paulo, Brazil. Itaú is currently merging with Unibanco of Brazil to form Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A, which will be the largest financial conglomerate in the Southern Hemisphere and one of the 20 largest in the world.

Itaú now accounts for about 11% of the Brazilian market for retail banking services. It has subsidiaries in Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay, as well as in Lisbon and London; branches in New York and Tokyo; and a representative office in Shanghai via Itaú-BBA. It is the most important affiliate of Investimentos Itaú (Itaúsa), a large conglomerate that ranks among Fortune magazine's top 500 corporations in the world.

[edit] History

Banco Itaú began in 1945 under the name Banco Central de Crédito and later changed its name to Banco Federal de Crédito. In 1964, Itaú Holding merged Banco Federal de Crédito and Banco Itaú. Later that decade, Banco Itaú acquired Banco Sul Americano (1966) and Banco da América (1969).

In the 1970s, it merged with Banco Aliança in Rio de Janeiro (1973), Banco Português do Brasil (1974), and Banco União Comercial (1974). In 1979, it opened its first operations abroad with a representative office in New York and a subsidiary in Buenos Aires.

In the 1980s, it acquired only one small bank, Banco Pinto de Magalhães (1985). Still, this enabled it to continue growing while other Brazilian banks were getting smaller. In 1984, it converted its representative office in New York to a branch.

In the 1990s, it acquired BFB (Banco Francês e Brasileiro) (1995) from Credit Lyonnais, and also several privatized former state banks:

1997: Banerj (Rio de Janeiro)
1998: BEMGE (Minas Gerais)
2000: Banestado (Paraná)
2001: BEG (Goiás)

During the 1990s, Itaú invested heavily in automation, including ATMs and machines installed on customers' premises. At the same time, it cut its staff by more than 50%.

In 1994, it expanded its international operations by founding Banco Itaú Europa, Itaú Argentina, and Itaú Bank (Cayman). In 1997, it acquired Bamerindus Luxembourg, which is now Banco Itaú Europa Luxembourg. When it acquired Banco Del Buen Ayre in Argentina in 1998, it subsequently incorporated it into Itaú Argentina, now known as Itaú Buen Ayre.

Banco Itaú has also established a number of alliances. In 1996, it and Bankers Trust, New York, created Itaú Bankers Trust Banco de Investimento, the present Itauvest Banco de Investimento. Itaú also has an important stake in Banco BPI, one of Portugal's largest banks. In 2002, Banco Itaú joined with Banco BBA-Creditanstalt S.A. (BBA) to create, in 2003, Banco Itaú-BBA, the largest wholesale bank in Brazil.

In the 2000s, it continued to acquire banks. In 2002, it acquired Banco Fiat, together with all of Fiat's auto financing activities. In 2004, it opened a branch in Tokyo.

Then, in April 2006, Itaú purchased the Brazilian operations of BankBoston, a subsidiary that Bank of America acquired with its purchase of FleetBoston. This increased Itaú's clients by 300,000 and assets by R$22 billion. In return, Bank of America has taken about a 6% stake in Itaú. BankBoston do Brazil had been founded in 1947. With the purchase, the BankBoston name will disappear from Brazil as Bank of America has retained the rights to the name. Itaú also received exclusive rights to purchase BankBoston's operations in Chile and Uruguay. In late 2006, it exercised these rights, and in late 2006 and early 2007, it received the necessary regulatory approvals. These two operations are now Itaú Chile and Itaú Uruguay.

In November 2, 2008, Itaú and the third largest Brazilian private banking group, Unibanco, announced their intention to merge.^[1]. In late February 2009, the Central Bank of Brazil approved the merger.