History

1886

Banco Francés del Río de la Plata was duly incorporated under the name Banco Francés del Río de la Plata S.A. on October 14, 1886.

1888

The Bank becomes one of the first companies to be listed in the Bolsa de Comercio de Buenos Aires (BCBA).

1920

Inauguration of the new headquarters at the corner of Perón and Reconquista streets, in the City of Buenos Aires.

1965

Authorization received from the BCRA to start operations in the mortgage sector.

1966

Banco Francés Río de La Plata foundation is created.

1968

The Morgan Guaranty Trust Company of New York purchases 50% of shares and begins a process of strengthening and expansion of Banco Francés S.A. in the wholesale segment.

1978

Morgan Guaranty sells its stake to Sud América Inversiones S.A. and Alpargatas S.A., both Argentine companies. The Bank starts to change its strategy from a pure wholesale banking to a universal bank.

1980

Customer base expansion adding small and medium-sized companies and individuals, along with an increase in the number of branches.

1990

Incorporation of investment banking, capital markets and international banking businesses.

1993

The Bank begins trading at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).

1991

Alpargatas S.A. sell its stake in Banco Francés S.A. to Sud América Inversiones S.A. and Eduardo F. Costantini.
Banco Francés S.A. acquires Banco Santander and Chase Manhattan Bank branches, completing a network of 62 offices and covering the whole Argentine territory.

1996

Banco Bilbao Vizcaya becomes the controlling shareholder of Banco Francés S.A. by the acquisition of 99.90% of Otar S.R.L (major shareholder in Sud America Inversiones S.A. which owned 30.04% of Banco Francés S.A.)

1997

Banco Bilbao Vizcaya aqcuires Banco de Crédito Argentino S.A., thus merging it with Banco Francés S.A., and consequently taking control over Grupo Consolidar.

2000

Banco Francés S.A. is now called BBVA Banco Francés S.A.
Rombo Compañía Financiera S.A. is registered as a subsidiary.

2003

BBVA Banco Frances S.A. acquires 50% of PSA Finance Argentina Compañía Financiera S.A. shares.

2011

BBVA Banco Francés and Consolidar Comercializadora S.A. merge, and as a result, BBVA Banco Francés increases its equity in 516.444 ordinary shares.

2013

BBVA Banco Francés S.A. and Consultatio S.A. signed a sale and purchase agreement, under which the Bank acquired 23 of the 33 floors of the building under construction by Consultatio S.A., which became the “BBVA Tower”.

2015

BBVA Group iniciates its global digital transformation, focusing on the client and the technological development to become the first “Digital Bank”.

2016

The Bank takes control of Volkswagen Financial Services Compañía Financiera S.A. by acquisition of 51% of its shares.

2017

In the last quarter of 2016 personnel began moving to the new headquarters (BBVA Tower), a process that was completed in April 2017.
BBVA Banco Frances S.A. issued ordinary capital by $6,629 million.

2018

February – The Bank undertook a cultural transformation under the name and concept of “agile”. Under this new model the Bank implemented a new organizational structure, providing greater resources to teams and new working methodologies including reorganization of roles and tasks, open communication and synergies fostered by open plan workspaces, and the latest technology available.

December – BBVA Argentina was included in the first Sustainability Index in Argentina, promoted by Bolsas y Mercados Argentinos (BYMA) and the Interamerican Development Bank (IADB) https://ri-bbva.mz-sites.com/responsible-banking/responsible-banking-reports/