MEXICO CITY - Twenty-three foreign banks, including 10 from the United States and two from Canada, have expressed interest in opening full-service branches in Mexico, the newspaper El Financiero reported this week.
The list includes BankAmerica Corp., Bank of Boston Corp., Chemical Banking Corp., Barclays Bank, Deutsche Bank, Bank of Montreal, Banque Nationale de Paris, Sanwa Bank, and Bank of Tokyo.
Under the terms of the North American Free Trade Agreement, the total capital of foreign banks in Mexico cannot equal more than 8% of its banking industry's total net capital in the first year, and 15% in 2000.
Citibank is the only non-Mexican bank currently allowed to operate a subsidiary in the country. Representative offices are maintained by 112 other foreign financial institutions.
