The message is given at a critical moment, after the sanctions of the United States Department of the Treasury (through the Finn) to Vector, Interm and CI Banco, and only a few days of the publication of the new Anti -Right Law in the Official Gazette of the Federation, which will enter into force 180 days after July 17.
More obligations, more surveillance
The new law will significantly expand customer identification obligations, operations monitoring and suspicious activities reporting processes. It also hardens the treatment of politically exposed people (PEP) and extends the obligation to conserve customer information from 5 to 10 years, which could raise operating costs throughout the sector.
“The implications will be broad and will require important operational adjustments by financial institutions,” said Pedro Said Nader, partner of the Basham, Ringe and Correa office, consulted by Expansion.
According to the lawyer, the framework responds to an international normative harmonization strategy and may have implications in the T-MEC negotiations.
“It cannot be affirmed that this measure is exclusively to anticipate the demands of the United States, but it is plausible that it is part of a broader strategy to strengthen Mexico’s position in future negotiations,” he said.
Banorte advances for its systemic importance
In this context, Banorte said he has not lowered his guard. In addition to internal adjustments, Ramírez stressed that they continue to invest strongly in prevention. Moreover because they demand their position to be one of the banks of systemic importance in Mexico.
“In matters of technology, customer knowledge and cybersecurity we have easy to triple the expense in recent times. We will continue to do it,” he said. He added that, for this, they have already hired very specialized companies, in addition to training their staff in that same sense.
He also clarified that while all banks have any relationship with other institutions of the system – including the recently sanctioned – Banorte acts under strict guidelines of the CNBV, Treasury and Bank of Mexico, and remains in absolute fulfillment.
One of the messages in which Marcos Ramírez most insisted went to investors and clients, clarifying that the authority asked them to expressly declare that there are no more investigated institutions. “We say it clearly: there is no more,” he said.
Solid profitability and upward consumption
Despite the strictest regulatory environment and an appreciated Mexican weight that reduced value to its dollar revenues, Banorte reported a net profit of 14,618 million pesos, a growth of 4% per year.
The performance was mainly driven by its consumer credit portfolio, which grew 12% per year, to reach 502,381 million pesos. The most dynamic subsegments were:
Automotive credit: 30% annually grew.
Credit cards: advanced 18%.
Mortgages: It rose 8%.
Banorte also maintained a delinquency index of only 1.13%, with a ROE (return on capital) of 23.6%and a roa (return on assets) of 2.3%.
Weight appreciation affects income in dollars
Another relevant point was the exchange rate effect In the results. Ramírez explained that approximately 15% of Banorte’s income are called dollarsso the appreciation of the peso against the dollar this year has reduced its accounting value.
Before you earned 22 pesos for each dollar; Now, only 18. That represents hundreds of millions less in the balance
Marcos Ramírez, general director of Banorte.
This was one of the causes for which, despite the double -digit growth in interest income, the net utility only advanced 4% annualup to 14,618 million pesos.
