Banorte

Banorte was founded in 1992 in the city of Monterrey, Nuevo León, Mexico and is the primary subsidiary of Grupo Financiero Banorte, one of Mexico's largest and oldest financial institutions, which has been present in Mexico since 1899. The "Banorte" trademark is a well-known mark in Mexico. The web domain name "banorte.com" was created in 1998.

It is a Forbes Global 2000 company, with total consolidated assets of approximately $80 billion, more than 30 billion dollars in assets under management, 12,500 employees and 950 branches. It is the only major bank in Mexico not owned by any foreign group.

It was established in 1889 as Banco Mercantil de Monterrey. In 1985 merged with Banco Regional del Norte to form Banco Mercantil del Norte (Banorte). In 1992, it was purchased from the Mexican Government by a group of investors headed by the Mexican businessman Roberto González Barrera. Over the next decade, Banorte transformed itself from a regional bank, based mainly in the northern Mexico, to one with nationwide coverage. In late 2001, Banorte acquired Bancrecer in US$125 million. Bancrecer had been taken over in 1999 by IPAB. Bancrecer had itself taken over another bank, Banco del Noroeste (Banoro), in 1997.

Banorte expanded their business lines to include leasing (Arrendadora Banorte) in 1990, and to warehousing and factoring services (Almacenadora Banorte and Factor Banorte) in 1991. In order to set up a financial group with full services Banorte wanted a securities company under its control, and Banorte acquired Casa de Bolsa Afin in July 1993. In 1997, Banorte established an alliance with the Italian insurance company Generali to offer insurance, pension funds, and Afore's services through their subsidiaries Afore Banorte-Generalli, Seguros Banorte-Generalli and Pensiones Banorte-Generalli.

Banorte has operations in New York (Banorte Securities) and Grand Cayman (Banorte Grand Cayman Branch).

Key numbers for fiscal year ending December 31, 2021 for Grupo Financiero Banorte:

Total Assets: 1.6 trillion pesos (US$90 billion)Equity: 237 billion pesos (US$11 billion)Return on assets (ROA): 1.6%

Return on average Equity (ROE): 15.3%

Money laundering involvement in US Operation Casablanca

Operation Casablanca was a three-year U.S. investigation of major Mexican banking institutions for laundering illicit drug profits. Mexican authorities were not informed about the investigation.

This operations led U.S. Customs agents to arrest 22 high-ranking and mid-level bankers from 12 of Mexico's largest banks when they traveled to the U.S. in mid-May, expecting to attend a banking conference. The investigation produced 160 indictments, including 3 Mexican banks and 26 Mexican bankers. Banorte was among the banks and bankers implicated in money laundry, according to the Operation Casablanca. From the June to July 1998 issue of Money Laundering Alert, Banorte was suspected to have laundered $7,323,103.51, and Banorte faced a civil penalty lawsuit under Title 18, USC Sec. 1956(b) and civil forfeiture action under Title 18, USC Secs. 981 & 984. On July 1, 1999, a U.S. federal judge in Los Angeles dismissed with "extreme prejudice" the forfeiture case against Banorte. No criminal charges were filed and U.S. authorities gave them back $1.4 million seized in the operation. Banorte had implemented anti-money laundering policies and procedures and had detected and closed money laundering accounts prior to Operation Casablanca. These policies and practices assisted Banorte in defending itself against the money laundering charges.

Banorte's entry to the US banking market

In 2006, Banorte acquired 70% of INB Financial Corp stock for $259 million. INB Financial Corp is the holding company of Texas-based Inter National Bank. Banorte exercised its option to acquire the remaining 30% of INB Financial Corp stock for $146.6 million in 2009. As of March 2013, Inter National Bank has $2.1 billion in assets and is the 19th largest Texas bank.