General Electric Co. may buy a consumer bank in Brazil to bolster a network of 55 loan offices in the biggest South American economy, said David Nissen, chief executive of GE Consumer Finance.
“You’ll see in certain select countries, we are moving toward a deposit-taking model, for example in Brazil,” Nissen said in a Sept. 8 interview in New York. He declined to name any banks under consideration by General Electric, the world’s largest company by market value.
Brazil’s economy, growing at its fastest pace since 1996, increased almost 6 percent in the second quarter. Brazilian banks boosted lending 0.9 percent in July from June to 447 billion reais ($154.1 billion), a sixth month of increases, according to the central bank. Banks such as Banco Itau Holding Financeira SA, the country’s biggest by market value, reported record second- quarter profits.
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GE would compete in consumer banking with state-owned Banco do Brasil SA, the biggest bank, with a network of 3,705 branches, and Banco Bradesco SA, the biggest non-state bank with 3,062, according to central bank figures. The non-Brazilian bank with the biggest branch network in the country is ABN Amro Holding NV with 1,138 branches.
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