BBVA Argentina

BBVA (previously known as Banco Frances and BBVA Frances) is an Argentine banking subsidiary. It belongs to the Spanish parent company of BBVA.
In 2019, BBVA unifies its brand worldwide and BBVA Frances was renamed BBVA.
History
It was founded as Banco Frances del Rio de la Plata on October 14, 1886, in a historical period in Argentina where a large number of entities of its type emerged, many of which would quickly disappear due to the Panic of 1890.
In 1888, the shares of the Banco Frances, which are still on the market, began to be listed on the Buenos Aires Stock Exchange. In 1926, the new headquarters of the entity was inaugurated, on the corner of Bartolome Miter and Reconquista streets, in the heart of the financial city of Buenos Aires.
In 1959, she was one of the winners of the first loan that Eximbank made to Argentina. In 1968, the Morgan Guaranty Trust Company of New York acquired 50% of the shares, and began a process of strengthening and expanding the French Bank in the field of wholesale banking.
1970s
During the 1970s, the Compania de Seguros Sud America reconverted its real estate assets into Banco Frances shares, in a procedure led by a new board of directors highly influenced by Luis Maria Otero Monsegur. In this way, South America acquired a large number of shares of the Bank. In 1975, Morgan Guaranty landed in Argentina, and therefore sold its share to two Argentine companies: Sud America Seguros de Vida and Alpargatas. From that moment the French Bank began to adopt other functions, such as retail banking.
1980s
In the first half of the 1980s, the number of branches of the Banco Frances doubled in three years, managing to also cover loans to medium-sized companies, while consolidating the retail branch.
Between 1986 and 1989, the Banco Frances had a joint venture with the Bankers Trust Company, developing investment banking. In 1988, 22 branches of the Banco Espanol/Banco Comercial del Norte were acquired, and that same July the offshore branch began operations in the Cayman Islands: the Banco Frances del Rio de la Plata (Cayman) Ltd.
1990s
In 1991 Alpargatas sold its share to Sud America Inversiones and Eduardo F. Constantini. At the same time, more branches were acquired from Banco Santander and Chase Manhattan Bank, reaching 62 of them.
In December 1996, Banco Bilbao Vizcaya (currently Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria) acquired 99.90% of the shares of Otar S.R.L., from Otero Monsegur y Areco, majority shareholder of Sud America Inversiones, holder, in turn, of the 30.04% of the capital of Banco Frances. The operation was carried out at 375 million dollars.
In August 1997, the Bank acquired 71.75% of Banco de Credito Argentino, with which it merged, strengthening itself with the absorption of the competitor entity.
Since the 2000s
As of March 2006, BBVA Banco Frances had 232 retail branches throughout the country and 27 branches specializing in small and medium-sized businesses.
In 2012, it became the main sponsor of the two most successful football clubs in Argentina, sporting the "BBVA" or "BBVA Frances" logo on the front of their shirts, starting in January at Club Atletico Boca Juniors and since July at Club Atletico River Plate. Since 2015 it has also sponsored "Talleres de Cordoba".