Canal bank tops bids to take over corruption linked Universal
CANAL BANK is the leader in the contest to take over the scandal laden Banco Universal, which the Superintendency of Banks has ordered to be sold.
The offer of Canal Bank was substantially higher than its main competitor, Group Lafise.
Jaime Gamboa, who is in charge of the bank’s re-organization, said yesterday that the Superintendency of Banks has not objected to the sale, but has ordered that liquidity risk management issues be resolved before the sale is made final, since there could be a wave of withdrawals once the bank becomes fully operational.
The bank was taken over by the superintendency due to several violations of regulations and breaches of court orders.
A major shareholder is Felipe “Pipo” Virzi, who has been linked to a number of corruption scandals within the last government. He remains under house arrest.
