NEW YORK -- The Federal Reserve Board has approved an application by Banco de Galicia to convert its New York representative office into a branch.
The $5 billion-asset Galicia, Argentina's largest private-sector bank, is the first from that country to gain Fed approval to expand operations in the United States since Congress passed stringent controls on foreign banks in 1991.
The consumer and corporate middle-market bank has 170 branches in Argentina and five in Uruguay. It plans to use the U.S. branch to mange dollar-denominated assets and liabilities and provide banking services to Argentine individuals and companies in the U.S.
The briefs were compiled from staff and wire reports.
