Banco Real was a Brazil

Brazil

Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

ian bank, owned by Spain

Spain

Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

's Banco Santander. ABN AMRO

ABN AMRO

ABN AMRO Bank N.V. is a Dutch state-owned bank with headquarters in Amsterdam. It was re-established, in its current form, in 2009 following the acquisition and break up of ABN AMRO Group by a banking consortium consisting of Royal Bank of Scotland Group, Santander and Fortis...

 had owned the bank but in October 2007, a consortium led by Royal Bank of Scotland

Royal Bank of Scotland

The Royal Bank of Scotland Group is a British banking and insurance holding company in which the UK Government holds an 84% stake. This stake is held and managed through UK Financial Investments Limited, whose voting rights are limited to 75% in order for the bank to retain its listing on the...

 that also included Banco Santander and Belgium's Fortis

Fortis (finance)

Fortis N.V./S.A. was a company active in insurance, banking and investment management. In 2007 it was the 20th largest business in the world by revenue but after encountering severe problems in the financial crisis of 2008, most of the company was sold in parts, with only insurance activities...

, acquired ABN AMRO and proceeded to dismember it. Banco Santander acquired Banco Real from the consortium, together with some other ABN AMRO operations in Italy, particularly Banca Antonveneta. Banco Santander already owned Banco Santander Brazil, which incorporated Banco do Estado de São Paulo (Banespa). Combining its existing operations with Banco Real will make Banco Santander Brazil the third largest private bank in the country, after Bradesco and Itaú.

Santander has named the CEO of Banco Real to be the head of the combined group in Brazil, with the charge to unify the operations; Santander transferred the CEO of Banco Santander Brazil to Madrid, and then to New York. He is now CEO of Santander's US subsidiary, Sovereign Bank

Sovereign Bank

Sovereign Bank is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Spanish Grupo Santander. Based in Boston, Massachusetts, the bank—whose principal market is in the Northeastern United States—has more than $77 billion in assets, operates 723 retail banking offices, over 2,300 ATMs and employs approximately 8,500...

.

History

Banco Real traces its ancestry back to Banco da Lavoura de Minas Gerais

Banco da Lavoura de Minas Gerais

Banco da Lavoura de Minas Gerais was a Brazilian bank, founded in 1925. On March 1, 1971 the bank moved its head office from Belo Horizonte to São Paulo and assumed its current name Banco Real S.A.-History:...

, which was founded in Belo Horizonte

Belo Horizonte

Belo Horizonte is the capital of and largest city in the state of Minas Gerais, located in the southeastern region of Brazil. It is the third largest metropolitan area in the country...

, Minas Gerais

Minas Gerais

Minas Gerais is one of the 26 states of Brazil, of which it is the second most populous, the third richest, and the fourth largest in area. Minas Gerais is the Brazilian state with the largest number of Presidents of Brazil, the current one, Dilma Rousseff, being one of them. The capital is the...

 in 1925. On 1 March 1971, Banco da Lavoura moved its head office from Belo Horizonte

Belo Horizonte

Belo Horizonte is the capital of and largest city in the state of Minas Gerais, located in the southeastern region of Brazil. It is the third largest metropolitan area in the country...

 to São Paulo

São Paulo

São Paulo is the largest city in Brazil, the largest city in the southern hemisphere and South America, and the world's seventh largest city by population. The metropolis is anchor to the São Paulo metropolitan area, ranked as the second-most populous metropolitan area in the Americas and among...

 and the bank assumed its current name, Banco Real S.A. In 1973 Banco Real began to expand its operations abroad, creating Grupo Real del Paraguay

Paraguay

Paraguay , officially the Republic of Paraguay , is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to the east and northeast, and Bolivia to the northwest. Paraguay lies on both banks of the Paraguay River, which runs through the center of the...

 (The Real Group of Paraguay), composed of a commercial bank and three other businesses. In the following year, Banco Real opened a branch on the Brazilian island of Fernando de Noronha

Fernando de Noronha

Fernando de Noronha is an archipelago of 21 islands and islets in the Atlantic Ocean, offshore from the Brazilian coast. The main island has an area of and had a population of 3,012 in the year 2010...

 and acquired Banco de Minas Gerais, which operated 133 branches at that time.

On its 50th anniversary, in 1975, Banco Real operated 512 branches in Brazil, the biggest branch network in the country, in addition to 12 associated businesses including Companhia Real de Investimentos, then the number one in the domestic ranking. It also had 10 units located abroad - in Bogotá

Bogotá

Bogotá, Distrito Capital , from 1991 to 2000 called Santa Fé de Bogotá, is the capital, and largest city, of Colombia. It is also designated by the national constitution as the capital of the department of Cundinamarca, even though the city of Bogotá now comprises an independent Capital district...

, Panama

Panama

Panama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The...

, Grand Cayman

Grand Cayman

Grand Cayman is the largest of the three Cayman Islands and the location of the nation's capital, George Town. In relation to the other two Cayman Islands, it is approximately 75 miles southwest of Little Cayman and 90 miles southwest of Cayman Brac.-Geography:Grand Cayman encompasses 76% of...

, Nassau

Nassau, Bahamas

Nassau is the capital, largest city, and commercial centre of the Commonwealth of the Bahamas. The city has a population of 248,948 , 70 percent of the entire population of The Bahamas...

, Curaçao

Curaçao

Curaçao is an island in the southern Caribbean Sea, off the Venezuelan coast. The Country of Curaçao , which includes the main island plus the small, uninhabited island of Klein Curaçao , is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands...

, Los Angeles

Los Ángeles

Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...

, New York

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

, Toronto

Toronto

Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...

, and Mexico City

Mexico City

Mexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole...

.

In mid-1998, Banco ABN AMRO SA - the Brazilian subsidiary of ABN AMRO

ABN AMRO

ABN AMRO Bank N.V. is a Dutch state-owned bank with headquarters in Amsterdam. It was re-established, in its current form, in 2009 following the acquisition and break up of ABN AMRO Group by a banking consortium consisting of Royal Bank of Scotland Group, Santander and Fortis...

 Bank - acquired Banco Real. ABN AMRO

ABN AMRO

ABN AMRO Bank N.V. is a Dutch state-owned bank with headquarters in Amsterdam. It was re-established, in its current form, in 2009 following the acquisition and break up of ABN AMRO Group by a banking consortium consisting of Royal Bank of Scotland Group, Santander and Fortis...

 had begun its activities in Brazil in 1917 as Banco Holandés da America do Sul

Hollandsche Bank-Unie

Hollandsche Bank-Unie was a second-tier domestic bank in the Netherlands which was absorbed by Deutsche Bank in 2010, but one with a fascinating international history.-Establishment:...

, when it opened two branches: one in Santos

Santos (São Paulo)

-Sister cities: Shimonoseki, Japan Nagasaki, Japan Funchal, Portugal Trieste, Italy Coimbra, Portugal Ansião, Portugal Arouca, Portugal Ushuaia, Argentina Havana, Cuba Taizhou. China Ningbo. China Constanţa, Romania Ulsan, South Korea Colón, Panama* Cadiz, Spain...

, São Paulo (state)

São Paulo (state)

São Paulo is a state in Brazil. It is the major industrial and economic powerhouse of the Brazilian economy. Named after Saint Paul, São Paulo has the largest population, industrial complex, and economic production in the country. It is the richest state in Brazil...

 and another in Rio de Janeiro

Rio de Janeiro

Rio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th...

. In 1945, Banco Holandés opened its first branch in São Paulo

São Paulo

São Paulo is the largest city in Brazil, the largest city in the southern hemisphere and South America, and the world's seventh largest city by population. The metropolis is anchor to the São Paulo metropolitan area, ranked as the second-most populous metropolitan area in the Americas and among...

, and other branches followed. Then in 1963, the bank acquired 50% of the finance company, Aymoré de Crédito, Financiamento e Investimento. Banco Holandés acquired the remainder of the shares in 1970.

In 1993, Banco ABN AMRO moved its headquarters to São Paulo

São Paulo

São Paulo is the largest city in Brazil, the largest city in the southern hemisphere and South America, and the world's seventh largest city by population. The metropolis is anchor to the São Paulo metropolitan area, ranked as the second-most populous metropolitan area in the Americas and among...

. In November 1998 and November 2001 ABN AMRO-Banco Real acquired two Brazilian state-owned banks, Banco do Estado de Pernambuco S.A. (Bandepe) in Recife

Recife

Recife is the fifth-largest metropolitan area in Brazil with 4,136,506 inhabitants, the largest metropolitan area of the North/Northeast Regions, the 5th-largest metropolitan influence area in Brazil, and the capital and largest city of the state of Pernambuco. The population of the city proper...

 and Banco do Estado do Paraiba (Paraiban). Then in October 2003, Banco Real acquired Banco Sudameris from Banca Intesa

Banca Intesa

Banca Intesa S.p.A. was formed in 1998 from the merger of Cassa di Risparmio delle Provincie Lombarde and Banco Ambroveneto...

; in 1998, Sudameris had bought Banco América do Sul, which Japanese immigrants had founded in 1944.