European banks keep looking to expand in US
A growing number of European banks have acquired assets in the United States and the trend shows now sign of abating. One of the most aggressive has been Spanish bank BBVA (Banco Bilbao Vizcaya0, which bought Alabama-based bank Compass Bancshares in a $9.6 billion deal. BBVA already has a strong position in Mexico (Bancomer), and the Texas banking presence makes sense as an over-the-border partner,
In addition, BBVA I s looking for other bank chains in the US, and has declare that it seeks to be one of the top 20 US banks. BBVA acquired Texas banks Laredo National Bancshares in 2005 and State National Bancshares and Texas Regional Bancshares in 2006. BBVA also bought Valley Bank in California in 2006. All of these earlier acquisitions were smaller.
Compass has retail operations in Texas, Florida, Arizona, as well as Alabama, Colorado, and New Mexico. It started out as Central Bank of the South, and still owns banks under that name/
Other banks that have mad substantial moves in the US over the last decade include BNP Paribas of France, Banco Santander of Spain, and Royal Bank of Scotland. But, as a Financial Times article points out ("Banks are hungry for expansion in the US," 2/17/06), the success of European banks in the US has been mixed. The temptation comes from both the faster growth and lesser regulation of US banks, compared with those in Europe. Burt banks like HSBC (whose predecessor midland Bank got involved with Crocker Bank) and Natwest have had problems in the US market. Allied Irish Bank also got into a financial scandal with its US subsidiary. HSBC is having ongoing problems with its Household Finance Group, with bad debts.
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