| | |  Business News | March 2009 
Mexico Bankers Urge Govt to Decide on Citigroup Sale
 Noel Randewich - Reuters
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Acapulco, Mexico - The head of Mexico's bank association urged the government on Thursday to make a speedy decision about whether Citigroup (C.N) must sell its prized Banamex subsidiary.
Mexican government sources said on Wednesday that a statement was imminent about whether the U.S. government's plan to take as much as a 36 percent equity stake in Citi would put Banamex in violation of Mexican law.
"This is urgent to all of us and we hope it comes out in the next hours or days," Enrique Castillo, head of Mexico's bank association, told reporters at a convention in Acapulco.
Mexico's bank laws bar foreign governments from ownership of Mexican banks. But experts say that rule could be at odds with North American Free Trade Agreement.
Speculation that Citi could sell Banamex, Mexico's No. 2 bank, has put pressure on the peso MEX01 in recent months because of concerns that local investors could have to raise dollars to pay for the acquisition.
Citi, which has said it does not want to offload its Mexican asset, bought Banamex in 2001 for $12.5 billion, a record acquisition in Mexico at the time.
(Editing by Brian Moss) |
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