Big bank BHD

[NewsWhore]

Already the second largest bank in the Dominican Republic, the BHD bank increased its operations yesterday with the acquisition of the Personal Bank portfolio from Republic Bank. The purchase was approved by the Monetary Board on 28 September 2006 and came into effect yesterday. The BHD will now have 80 offices and 1,800 ATM machines around the country. The process of transferring existing accounts to the BHD has already begun. Spokespeople for the bank said that the acquisition was a strategic move to expand their business holdings in order to increase their local market share. Republic Bank is a Trinidadian entity that entered the market when it bought Mercantil Bank's portfolio in 2003. This is the second time a foreign bank sells its portfolio and remains a corporate baking entity. Citibank did the same in April 2006, when they sold part of their portfolio to Scotia Bank, of Canada. No details of either transaction were disclosed.

More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#9)